The APACS is responsible for bank clearing in Britain. It is this institution that ensures that when you deposit a cheque into your account, the money will be moved from the cheque’s account to yours.

Who is the APACS?

The APACS is a trade association in the UK that represents 31 members and 97% of the total UK payments market. This organization forecasts payment trends, completes market research, and lobbies on behalf of the industry. It is this association’s self-proclaimed mission to ensure that the “UK payments industry operates to the highest international standards and that payments are safe, reliable, and resilient”.

How long does a cheque clearing take

Given the amount of information that must be processed, this is a very quick system. Especially when we consider the care that must be paid to ensure that the right accounts are debited and credited. Here is a brief outline of how the process works.

Day 1 - You deposit a cheque into your bank account. That same day, your bank will process the account and the cheque’s details will be registered at its home bank.

Day 2 - Your bank will deliver the cheque to an APACS exchange centre and the cheques home bank will come retrieve it.

Day 3 – The cheque’s home bank will remove the paid amount from the account (if enough is there) and pay that amount to your bank. If there is not enough money to pay the cheque’s value then the cheque will bounce.

Day 4 - The cheque will clear your account, meaning that your bank has received the money on your behalf.

Bouncing Cheques

This system has been designed to ensure that the bank can actually collect the money for you. Although it is estimated that 99% of cheques that are written do clear, the 1% of bounced cheques does add up. In fact, some estimates suggest that there are tens of thousands of bounced cheques every day in Britain’s banking system.

Internet Accounts

Internet accounts are able to share information at a much more rapid pace, not having to rely on the physical transfer of paper information. For this reason, internet and phone transactions are often quicker to clear, meaning that you receive confirmation of your payments and deposits quicker.

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Tags: APACS, Bank, Banking, Cheques, Money Management

Bank charges are specific fees set by the bank, when you fail to follow the agreed terms of the bank. When you approach any bank to open an account or apply for a credit card, you have to enter into an agreement and abide by that bank’s rules. In UK, bank charges are also called as penalty charges. Some of the reasons for penalty charges include:

1. Cheque Bounce
2. Exceeding the limit of credit card
3. Direct debit, which exceeds the overdraft limit
4. Failing to pay bare minimal payment on the credit card

However, bank charges have to reveal factual charges incurred by financial institutions.  A recent study depicted that, if your cheque gets bounced, some banks charge around £39 and £12 for missed payments on credit card and £28 each day, if your account does not have adequate balance.

These charges are far above the authorised charges that banks may charge you. If you are a victim of such unfair penalty charges or bank charges, then you can always fight your way to get the refund. It will involve taking legal action against the bank.

Procedure To Reclaim The Bank Charges:

1. Take out all your bank statements of past six years and see for any levied or penalty charges remarks. You cannot claim the bank charges that were charged before six years. You may obtain the past statements of last six years from the bank by writing letter to customer service section of the bank.
2. If your bank authorities tell that they will charge you for this information then state them clearly that as per Freedom of Information Act, you have the right to access the monetary information and this service is free.
3. Sum up the charges of past six years. If you think your bank has been unjust to you and has unduly charged you, then write a mail to bank demanding the repayment. Request the bank to repay the amount within 28 days and mention that if it fails to agree, then you will file a legal action against them.
4. Post this letter by register delivery to make sure that financial institution receives it. Send the letter to address of customer service section of the bank.
5. Bank will respond to it by either fulfilling your claim partly or fully or it may refuse to meet the claim entirely.
6. If the bank refuses to meet the claim or agrees to give only a percentage of your claim, directly move to court for some legal action.

Internet Court Service:

Visit any Internet court service, enter your information, and claim the amount. You will have to pay some fee to seek this service, but it will help you to obtain the claim.

Your case will be in court for hearing and bank will be obliged to defend their case. Next, if the bank decides refrains from defending the case, then it will have to pay the entire claim along with the court fees that you had incurred over the time.

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Tags: Accounts, Bank, Banking, Cheques, Current Account, Debt, Money Management, Savings, UK Credit Cards