A cheque can't clear in stages can it? I'm very confused

[FlorenceKettle]

So I paid a cheque in to my account 2 days ago for £101. Hasn’t cleared yet as not reflected in my balance.

Yesterday I was £450 in credit. Cheque not cleared. I then randomly checked my account last night and I was £480 in credit. Nothing paid in. Just my balance had changed. I couldn’t work out where a random £30 had come from.

Today My husband transferred me £620 for various things.. I did some shopping bits and had a balance of £1020. Cheque still not cleared

I have just checked account now and balance is £1080. Again, nothing paid in. Nothing showing. Just my balance has changed.

Can this bloody cheque for £101 be clearing in stages? It can’t can it?!

It literally is just my balance that is changing. There are no 'in' payments. £30 last night and £60 an hour ago.

So, what is this? Can a cheque clear in stages?! I know it can't of course but I don't understand.

Tried calling the bank but the advisor I got through to didn't really understand what I was saying.

PS I've amended the amounts by the way. I'm not sharing my actual bank balance but the amounts of £30 and £60 are correct

It’s not the cheque clearing - it’s your bank allowing you access to uncleared funds as the cheque is a relatively small amount and you’re a trusted customer.

If it doesn’t clear for some reason and you’ve spent some of it they’ll still take the full amount back. I don’t know why the powers that be think this is a good idea.

Well I never knew that! How very strange. You learn every day. Thank you for that. I just couldn't understand it. I never pay cheques in but last time I did, it cleared in one go

No, a cheque can't clear in stages.

Why don't you request a mini statement at an ATM so that you can see why the balances have changed?

@Gigglinghysterically I think @ElizaPancakes has it actually so mystery solved super quickly.

I’ve never heard of that. They sometimes add the cheque amount to your balance as if it has cleared but state it is not available until it has. Can you access a statement online? That should show you the details of how your balance is calculated.

Could it be previous pending payments being released back to your available balance?

Was it actual balance you were looking at or was it available balance?

My actual balance. I've never known anything like it. Nothing showing as paid in for those two amounts. Just my balance has increased

Normally when you pay a cheque in it shows on your balance but your available balance would be less to show it hasn't cleared. Available balance can also fluctuate depending on pending debit cards transactions

Is it the actual balance or the available balance that you are seeing?

If it’s available balance, it could be that funds that were earmarked had the earmark removed.

Example
1.Actual balance = £200, available balance , £200

1. Potential payment earmarked = £30
2. Act Bal =£200, av Bal= £170
3. Earmark is removed or times out
4. Act Bal =£200, av Bal = £200

I think you saw the lower amount of your av Bal at step 3, then saw your av Bal brought back into line with act Bal at step 5 due to the earmark.

If it was me, I’d phone the bank to find out exactly what was going on.

I paid a cheque in to my bank a few months ago for £500, £100 was added to my balance almost immediately and the rest when it had cleared a few days later. I didn't know it did that as I've never used cheques before and had no idea what the £100 was from at first, so I left it just in case but ElizaPancakes suggestion makes sense

Definitely an increase of funds and it's my available balance. Anything pending I can see.

@AnotherRanger it's happened to you as well? It's quite odd they do this. It makes no difference to me when this cheque clears but I've never known them to allocate some immediately.

Isn't it that the cheque did clear but then a payment for something went out...and then there was only 30 pounds of the cheque's funds left?

No banks do not allow trusted customers access to uncleared funds or part of uncleared funds. That's illegal and strictly against FSA regulations and the banking code of conduct. So not sure what's going on with the cases mentioned on here but it's definitely not that.

Agree with Eliza. Has happened to me in past and really confused me!

@HennyPennyHorror no, not that.

It literally is as explained. Just strange. Of course I very much want this to keep happening but it only happened after paying this £101 cheque in two days ago. Balance increased by 30 quid and then today £60 quid. Nothing paid in, nothing pending. Just this cheque awaiting clearance

I'll call the bank again tomorrow

The £30 or £60 might be a visa debit card payment - it gets notified, but not paid immediately - but your usable balance reflects the payment.

if you have on line facilities, you might be able to see it as a pending item.

Not ask transactions will show in your pending especially if they are contactless

I didn't know that either! I paid a cheque in yesterday (nationwide) and was gobsmacked it's all cleared and available today! Apparently this is the norm now? Makes the old seven working days seem an age!

Definitely not any debit card payments - they're accounted for

And no contactless payments recently. I always know exactly what my balance is and what's come out.

So it just has to be two amounts from this cheque. Which is strange

Isn't this a sign of someone potentially committing fraud with your bank details? I've heard they make small payments as "tests" before taking money out.

@HennyPennyHorror nah doubt it. And they're welcome to commit fraud by mysteriously bumping up my bank balance

I'll clear this up tomorrow . Has to be amounts of this cheque clearing I think. Hopefully there'll be a clear explanation

Henny the money isn’t going out, it’s going in.

Can I be the first to say, “Cancel the cheque!”