Every time I deal with my UK bank, I’m reminded how utterly useless, inefficient, and expensive the US Banking system is. I just paid my UK credit card from my UK bank and got this response

The payment has been accepted by the beneficiary’s bank who advise that it will be credited by the next working day.

Yes, I paid it on Saturday from FirstDirect, a subsiduary of HSBC. The payment was sent direct to MBNA Limited(UK) bank, who accepted it and will credit it to my account on Monday.

I then went and paid my US CapitalOne credit card from my US bank, Austin Texas based Amplify FCU.  The payment process will not be started until banking hours Monday(8am Central), and not received until Wednesday, and if I’m lucky, credited on Thursday…

Yes, I know if I was lucky enough to have a banking account with the same Bank as my credit card company banks with, the payment would be within 24-hours, but that’s just coincidence, not design.

In other news, I set up one of those funky external account transfers this week to a friends account. You know one of those where they make two small deposits, and if you have access to the account, you confirm the amounts to your banking system. After that, you have credit and debit authority on your friends account. Keep banking weird.

A U.S. federal law of 1996 required the federal government to make electronic payments such as direct deposit available by 1999. Shame the rest of the US, ACH backed banking system has caught up yet.