Personal Finance

Bank draft - How long to clear?

  • Last Updated:
  • Feb 12th, 2011 9:19 pm
Newbie
Feb 10, 2011
4 posts

Bank draft - How long to clear?

Hi!

I sold hockey tickets to someone on the internet, and since he did not know much about paypal, we agreed that he would send me a certified check instead.

He looks honest, but I guess anyone trying to fraud you would...

So, he sent me the certified check using xpresspost (I know frauding with USPS is a very serious crime in the US, don't know about Canada Post in Canada..) and I went to the bank. I asked them how long it would take for the check to clear and make sure it does not bounce, and they were not very helpful. They told me they would freeze the money for 2 weeks.

I don't care at all about freezing the money, I only care about the check not bouncing back.

The issuer is the Royal Bank of Canada and the buyer is located in Winnipeg. My bank is the National Bank and I'm located in Montreal.

I already deposited the check and did not do any copy of it so I cannot call the issuer bank anymore...

How long would you wait and is there any way to make sure the check is really cleared? I mean.. if they freeze for 2 weeks, is it possible it bounces back after 3-4 weeks for example?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Frank
8 replies
Deal Addict
Nov 26, 2005
3214 posts
387 upvotes
Vancouver
if it is a big 5 bank, they should know if it is nsf within 3 business days. smaller banks will take longer.
Deal Addict
Apr 26, 2004
2337 posts
705 upvotes
GTA
trembl27 wrote: Hi!

I sold hockey tickets to someone on the internet, and since he did not know much about paypal, we agreed that he would send me a certified check instead.

He looks honest, but I guess anyone trying to fraud you would...

So, he sent me the certified check using xpresspost (I know frauding with USPS is a very serious crime in the US, don't know about Canada Post in Canada..) and I went to the bank. I asked them how long it would take for the check to clear and make sure it does not bounce, and they were not very helpful. They told me they would freeze the money for 2 weeks.

I don't care at all about freezing the money, I only care about the check not bouncing back.

The issuer is the Royal Bank of Canada and the buyer is located in Winnipeg. My bank is the National Bank and I'm located in Montreal.

I already deposited the check and did not do any copy of it so I cannot call the issuer bank anymore...

How long would you wait and is there any way to make sure the check is really cleared? I mean.. if they freeze for 2 weeks, is it possible it bounces back after 3-4 weeks for example?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Frank
It can come back after the 2 weeks. If the cheque has been modified it sometimes can take a month or two. You should have made a photocopy of of the cheque, this way you could have gone to the bank and asked them if the cheque was good.
Mortgage Specialist in the GTA
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 23, 2009
1348 posts
98 upvotes
Brampton
Yeah what the previous poster said. You should have gone to RBC and asked them to verify it for you. Now you run the risk of an altered draft coming back to you years from now. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Hopefully he was an honest person and the sum isn't in the high hundreds.
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Deal Fanatic
Mar 21, 2010
6737 posts
3998 upvotes
Toronto
I think that an actual bank draft will clear instantly as it is considered a note from the issuing bank (i.e. if you buy a bank draft with TD, the bank it gets deposited into considers it to be a cheque written by TD, not you), whereas a personal cheque that has been certified by the bank is not.
Newbie
Jan 19, 2011
3 posts
Abbotsford, BC
Next time ask for a bank draft - when the buyer gets the draft from the bank, the bank transfers the funds right then and there from his/her account into their (the issuing banks ) general fund. So, the draft is drawn on the bank's account, not the buyers.
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Sr. Member
Feb 1, 2010
872 posts
173 upvotes
Manatus wrote: I think that an actual bank draft will clear instantly as it is considered a note from the issuing bank (i.e. if you buy a bank draft with TD, the bank it gets deposited into considers it to be a cheque written by TD, not you), whereas a personal cheque that has been certified by the bank is not.
SaveURFinances wrote: Next time ask for a bank draft - when the buyer gets the draft from the bank, the bank transfers the funds right then and there from his/her account into their (the issuing banks ) general fund. So, the draft is drawn on the bank's account, not the buyers.

Banks do not clear Drafts instantly. There is still room for fraud as discussed above. The only way to insure it is good is if the Bank that wrote it confirms that it is good.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jun 6, 2009
981 posts
607 upvotes
quatchi wrote: Banks do not clear Drafts instantly. There is still room for fraud as discussed above. The only way to insure it is good is if the Bank that wrote it confirms that it is good.

Right. There are lots of counterfeit drafts out there. The only way is to certify the cheque at the issuing bank. That will cost you $15.
Newbie
Feb 10, 2011
4 posts
epiphano wrote: Right. There are lots of counterfeit drafts out there. The only way is to certify the cheque at the issuing bank. That will cost you $15.

I went to a nearby Royal Bank of Canada and they told me the "form" was a real one. I asked if there was any way of confirming it is good and they told me they could not and that holding the money for a week would be enough.

I guess that's another case of bad service. I also wish I would have made a photocopy of it... Hopefully everything turns out good. Tickets ( and draft ) are worth 500$ and it's not money I want/can afford to lose.

Thanks a lot for your info. I guess next time I'll go the paypal route.

Frank

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