tim..... wrote:

"brightside S9" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:21:02 +0100, "robgraham"
wrote:

If you're referring to the new faster payment scheme, then how long it
actually takes depends on whether *both* banks/BSs are part of it. If
they are, then it's generally about an hour or so. If not, then it's up
to 4 days.

And if the amount transferred is below any limit the transmitting bank
/BS has imposed for the faster payment. e.g A&L have a £250 limit.

What a pathetic limit.

What is pathetic is not how high the limit is, but that there is one
at all. A two-tier system makes no sense at all, it's just as daft
an idea as having first and second class post. It makes no sense to
charge less for second class when it actually costs more to handle.
The infrastructure for moving stuff around is the same for both classes
but it costs extra to store second class post in a queue for the next
day, and it also costs more to split post into the two streams.

What kind of limit is it, by the way? I presume it's a lower one,
i.e. amounts above £250 go fast, amounts below go slow. Otherwise
one could get around it by transmitting larger amounts individually
in several chunks which are each below the limit.

If it's an upper limit, it could also be gotten around, but it would
require the payee's co-operation. If you need to send £50 quickly,
just send £300 and ask the payee to send £250 back straight away. :-)