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i still don't understand why bank transfers take as long as they do.

for me to transfer money electronically from one of my checking accounts to the other, it takes maybe 5 days to process and clear. yet if i physically drive to one bank, withdraw the same amount in cash, then drive to the other bank and deposit it, it clears on both sides within a day.

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Check clearing is ridiculous as well. Congress passed the Check 21 bill to make checks clear faster and prevent people from "floating" checks.

Of course, now banks electronically clear the checks very quickly but take another week or so to actually deposit the money into the client's bank account. During this time they make money off of your money without you having any access to it. It's ridiculous.

In uk most banks now transfer money within 2 hours.

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