Is it the law that SEPA transfers have to take 1 day maximum?

JackieChang · 20-03-2018 6:21pm #1

I transferred some money to a German account and paid €18 extra for "express" which means it gets to the account in 1-2 business days.

Did I just waste my money? I read afterwards that SEPA transfers even between countries should only take one day.

CeilingFly · 20-03-2018 6:23pm

yep - express usually means same day if done before the cut-off time. (usually about 12 noon but depends on the bank)

If you did a standard payment and before the cut-off time, it should be there next day.

JackieChang · 20-03-2018 6:33pm

I did the €18 express transfer yesterday. So Ulster Bank have had all day to do it. Still not in the German account. Feckers.

CeilingFly · 20-03-2018 7:27pm

JackieChang wrote: »

I did the €18 express transfer yesterday. So Ulster Bank have had all day to do it. Still not in the German account. Feckers.

you do know yesterday was a bank holiday??

JackieChang · 20-03-2018 8:17pm

CeilingFly wrote: »

you do know yesterday was a bank holiday??

Yes. Which means they had from whatever hour they open today to whatever time they close to get the transfer done.

You literally told me Express is same day. And I made sure to get it in before today's cut off time by doing it yesterday.

CeilingFly · 20-03-2018 9:39pm

JackieChang wrote: »

Yes. Which means they had from whatever hour they open today to whatever time they close to get the transfer done.

You literally told me Express is same day. And I made sure to get it in before today's cut off time by doing it yesterday.

I didn't. I said it "usually" means same day.

I don't know about the German bank system. Uk is similar to ours and it will hit a uk account that afternoon.

Also there's no "law".

Yggr of Asgard · 20-03-2018 9:53pm

The Payment Directive sets out that your SEPA transfer needs to be credited to the receiver latest the next business day if you did the payment before the local cut off time. And such transfer can not cost more than a domestic transfer. So if your bank charges for a domestic transfer they can charge you the same for the SEPA transfer. That is the "law" and if they would have charged you 18€ for a SEPA transfer you could complain to the regulator, but they did not, from reading your description, you did an express transfer, for which they can charge you whatever they want.

If you decide to go for the "express" option, what the bank then gave you is a SWIFT transfer which is going via a different network and processing times depend on several factors, including if the receiving bank is part of SWIFT or if there are intermediary banks in the middle (like for smaller receiving banks). Usually the money should be there within minutes or hours, but definitely the same day.

So, to answer your question, yes you just wasted money, you could have done a SEPA transfer and it would have been there Wednesday (giving the Monday bank holiday) but in some cases (depending on the receiving bank) it might even be there the same day. It depends on the receiving bank connection to the Bundesbank and European clearinghouse and how often they book.

Which German bank was the account going to?

Quackster · 20-03-2018 10:11pm

From my experience of transferring from my Irish credit union account to my German N26 account, if I set up an online transfer from my credit union account tonight, it will hit my N26 account sometime tomorrow afternoon - considerably less than 24 hours later.

Paying €18 for an 'express' transfer within the SEPA zone, you were royally screwed OP IMO.

Yggr of Asgard · 20-03-2018 10:13pm

N26 does multiple batch windows a day so they process incoming SEPA transfers quickly. Some old-fashioned banks do it only a couple of times a day, some forward-looking ones do it near realtime but it will always be latest next banking day.

tracey turnblad · 20-03-2018 10:20pm

Would you consider both receiver and giver setting up revolut card? Instant transfer for free

JackieChang · 20-03-2018 11:12pm

CeilingFly wrote: »

Also there's no "law".

Well the title of my post was "Is it the law that SEPA transfers have to take 1 day maximum?" and your first word was "Yep". So I thought you were referring to a law.

For the other folks asking - I'm transferring to N26.

Fred Swanson · 21-03-2018 12:15am

This post has been deleted.

21-03-2018 1:11am

Its not a law, its a rule that banks must comply with while participating in the Sepa scheme

JackieChang · 21-03-2018 9:56am

Well the money still hasn't feckin arrived. Transferred on Monday Eve.

Fred Swanson · 21-03-2018 9:57am

This post has been deleted.

21-03-2018 10:03am

JackieChang wrote: »

Well the money still hasn't feckin arrived. Transferred on Monday Eve.

If it was a sepa payment, monday evening would have been past cutoff so it would be processed yesterday and per sepa rules it can take up to close of business the following day to come in depending on when the bank processes its settlements.

If you paid €18 it sounds like you did an international payment which can take 2-3 days. Whoever advised you to do that hasnt a clue. Its more suitable for payments to outside the sepa zone. I would certainly look to get it refunded.

Quackster · 21-03-2018 11:24am

N26 does not participate in the Swift network so if the transfer from Ulster Bank was made in this manner, it could be several days arriving or not at all.

If it doesn't find its way to N26, it will eventually arrive back into your Ulster Bank account.

JackieChang · 21-03-2018 2:42pm

It's €500 so hopefully it's not lost in cyberspace forever. I'll be asking for a refund if it's not in the account by close of business today.

JackieChang · 21-03-2018 10:40pm

Arrived @ 17:10.

Fred Swanson · 21-03-2018 10:49pm

This post has been deleted.

JackieChang · 22-03-2018 2:25am

I'm still going to request a refund of the €18. Didn't arrive in 1-2 business days.

22-03-2018 8:22am

JackieChang wrote: »

I'm still going to request a refund of the €18. Didn't arrive in 1-2 business days.

You sent it monday evening? And it reached the destination before close of business wednesday??

JackieChang · 22-03-2018 9:34am

368100 wrote: »

You sent it monday evening? And it reached the destination before close of business wednesday??

It arrived after cob Wednesday. 5.10pm

22-03-2018 10:45am

JackieChang wrote: »

It arrived after cob Wednesday. 5.10pm

5.10.is hardly after COB now. Clutching at straws there.
If i were you id insist on a refund on the basis a sepa transfer costing a few cent would have done the same job

Fred Swanson · 22-03-2018 10:48am

This post has been deleted.

JackieChang · 22-03-2018 1:19pm

368100 wrote: »

5.10.is hardly after COB now. Clutching at straws there.

If I owed Ulster Bank €500 by COB and arrived at 5.10pm when it was closed do you think they'd say "ah shur tis grand"?

24-03-2018 12:42am

JackieChang wrote: »

If I owed Ulster Bank €500 by COB and arrived at 5.10pm when it was closed do you think they'd say "ah shur tis grand"?

Yes they would! Monies are paid into accounts all through the day....its how sepa file transfers work and banks run their cob late at night so if you were to make a payment then theoretically as long as its paid before the cob runs then your payment would show as on time.

Some Bank of ireland branches open until 5pm one day a week, aib is similar. By the time the cashiers balance it can be well after 6pm in cases and cheque/cash transactions can be processed up until they balance....i.e. after 6pm and the payments still show on time.

If you have a gripe, the beneficiary bank are the ones who didnt process their sepa file until 5.10 so fault is not with the bank you sent it with.....you might call it a day at 5pm and drop tools and leave but thats not the case for everyone....close of business means their close of business.....not whatever time you finish your job at.

Is it the law that SEPA transfers have to take 1 day maximum?

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