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This has long been a pet peeve of mine. I used my online banking bill payment on Monday afternoon to pay my credit card balance. It's 48 hours later and I checked my credit card balance and the payment hasn't gone through yet. (not the same bank) It leaves my bank account instantly. I've noticed if I use my debit or credit card somewhere it's instantly out of my bank account or onto my credit card balance. If I go into my overdraft or use my line of credit for even a part of a day the bank charges me interest. The paranoid part of me thinks the bank is earning interest on my money as it sits in limbo. If they do this to all customers it's a LOT of money they're sitting on making interest. (Can you tell I don't like banks, lol.)  
 
Edited by bigmoe, 2022-03-02 13:49:54

When you make a payment it takes it out of your account right away and sends it to your credit card company (visa, M/C, etc). Then the credit card company needs to receive the transaction and up date this records. Two different companies so the transaction isn’t instant.

When I buy something at Walmart on my credit card it shows up within minutes when I check my credit card account online. Two different companies. Instant!

I pay my Credit Card bill and all my bills one week before the due date. It usually takes a few days to come through so that way I'm certain not to be late on my payments.

I pay my bills by cheque at the bank and get a printed stamped receipt so I know that’s it’s paid. Don’t trust online banking or electronic payments and I certainly don’t trust automatic payments. I can’t afford mistakes or missed payments.

I once paid my phone bill a couple days before the due date and got a late fee from the cell phone company. So ridiculous!!

When you pay with your credit card it gets sent to your credit card company who instantly approved the transaction. The amount comes off your available balance but does not actually post to your account for 24 to 48 hours. That's why your online account will show "pending purchase" and "approved purchase".  
 
Doing a payment on your credit card from your bank account is a slightly different thing. There is not an instant notification sent to your credit card company from your bank-that takes 24 to 48 hours.  
 
If I do some bill payments from my bank account now-any time before midnight tonight-my credit card payment will show up on my credit card after midnight tomorrow night. (My card is not affiliated with my bank.) If I pay my cell phone bill at the same time, my cell provider will email me at noon tomorrow saying thank you for the payment. If I pay those same bills any time on Friday, my credit card company will not have the payment showing up until after midnight Monday night. My cell provider would acknowledge the payment at at noon Monday.  
 
If you paid your card more than 48 hours ago and it still is not showing up on your card, that seems like very slow service between the 2 financial institutions.

I pay most of my bills on Friday morning (payday for me) and find that most of the funds are received by about Wednesday afternoon. I figured that 72 hours seems about right given that most of that cash is (I assume) going out of province.  
 
This brings to mind a new question. Will dealing with a credit Union versus a big bank make a difference?  
 
I've noticed that e-transfers that used to be instant at a big bank are delayed by 15 minutes to 45 minutes within my credit union.  
 
Edited by Simonwalcal, 2022-03-04 23:00:22