Direct Debits

[iwbus]

What time of day do wages/direct debits get switched around in building society accounts? Theoretically I should get paid today AND have a small DD going out but this doesn't normally show until about 0500/0600. Shouldn't I have access to my wages at midnight on payday?

[Sammy Snake]

I don't think there is a set time.  I know at NatWest that my wages generally show up at about 3:00am or around that time on payday, definately not midnight.

[Oneeyedvic]

Direct debits are the first thing that go out of an account on the day. In fact, with NatWest online banking, it will show you a direct debit on Saturday that is due to go out on Monday.

This also means that if you have a direct debit due out on Wednesday, if you queued up at the bank on Wednesday morning and paid in cash at 9.01am, the direct debit would still bounce.

[stevie21]

To elaborate on Oneeyedvic's comment, with my bank, any automatic credits such as a salary or benefits are credited first and THEN the direct debits go out. That way, if your wages are needed to cover a DD going out the same day then you'll be fine.
The comment about paying cash in the same day is completely valid and I wish more people knew this.

To reiterate, there isn't a set time. It can be any time at all between midnight and 7am. If the bank has zillions of transactions to process in that day's batch then it'll be closer to 7am so it differs from day to day and, no, you shouldn't rely on having access to your wages on the stroke of midnight.

[spammylou]

All banks process things differently; but as a rule systems update from midnight/early hours.  Like someone else said it depends on the volume of stuff processed.   I used to work for HSBC, they are now on a realtime system, which can alter things again if you bank with them.

[sdf823rj]

Hi
There is no set time for Direct Debits to be processed if you have signed an open mandate, which most of the 35 million people who use DD have.

However, there is a way to control your DD's so you never face 'unpaids' or bank charges.

The simple way is to issue a Mandate change. Anyone can make one up but the Originators (those issuing mandates in the first place) make it virtually impossible. You can write a mandate form in any way you like as it is YOUR account, YOUR money and your payment.

See http://a2q.co.uk/ for some help.

I used to runa DD scheme so there is not much I don't know about DD.

Regards
AM