Paying by Cheque

[loopy84]

If I pay for goods at a supermarket, (e.g tesco,) on a saturday by cheque, how long will it take to clear?

[Ethel]

My Tesco no longer accepts cheques - but it would clear on Thursday.

[loopy84]

You can still use cheques in tesco, was trying to work out how long it would take to clear

[dzug]

It would clear for Tesco on Thursday but it's going to hit your account at least a day earlier, maybe two.

[loopy84]

cool, thanks i don't understand about the cheque clearing process. Dont get paid till Friday thpught i could buy some food by cheque but don't want it to bounce.

[loopy84]

perhaps i should leave it till monday, dont want to get charged for a cheque not going through

[dzug]

If you give Tesco an cheque on Monday and they bank it on Tuesday, it's still going to hit your account on Thursday and be bounced and/or incur a charge.

Rough times as follows

Day 1 paid in
Day 2 to clearing bank
Day 3 to your bank
Day 4 confirmed/rejected to clearing bank

And if you/Tesco happen to use the same bank it can be cleared on day 1.

[PrinceRainie]

depends on

1) when Tesco's actually do their banking
2) who they bank with
3) who you bank with

[EverClean]

It's against the law presenting a cheque for payment when you know you don't have the funds to cover it at that time.

All our local supermarkets and petrol stations have stopped taking cheques as payment.

When I worked for BP we used to swipe the cheque card anyway to se if it came up dud.

[PrinceRainie]

i think its only against the law in the states if you write a cheque knowing that you dont have the funds to clear the cheque.
In the UK its just frowned upon by the banks, but having said that they rather like it as they can then charge you a fortune for bouncing it!!