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Home >> Accounts >> Checking Accounts
Check Holds, Same Bank, Different Customers
I recently deposited a large check at my bank, drawn on another large bank account which was from life insurance. The check was a disbursement from my father's estate in the amount of $96,000. My bank placed a fifteen day hold on the check, and yet my sister deposited the exact same amount, at a different branch of the same bank, and was granted immediate access to the funds. Now I'm getting the run-around from the branch and they're refusing to return my calls or see me when I go in to ask for the manager. Why the discrepancy? I'm furious they're holding funds for fifteen days.
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 Assuming that the check was drawn on a non-local bank, your bank can hold all but the first $100 for up to five business days (one week), or it can impose what is called an "exception hold" because of the size of the check (over $5000) on the excess over $5,000 for up to eleven business days (fifteen calendar days or more, if holidays are involved). That would give you access to $100 on the first day after deposit, another $4,900 on the fifth business day, and the remaining $91,000 on the 11th business day. If you've had some problems with overdrafts in your account, your bank could delay access to the whole $96,000 until the 11th business day.
Although the regulations covering funds availability apply to all checking accounts and all banks, the decision to impose a hold is often made by individuals. That could explain why your sister's deposit was not held and yours was. As for your bank branch's staff and its apparent reluctance to respond to your calls and visits, it's not always true that "the squeaky wheel gets attention."
Published on BankingQuestions.com 3/14/07
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