Moving CAD and USD between banks | General comparisons | Discussion forum

Heddie said
When life presents you with a controlled experiment it is logical to ask questions...

Just recently I moved funds between two online banks, both located in Canada: CAD to CAD and USD to USD. I noticed the CAD transfers were in the receiving account the next day and dated the same day as the initial transaction while the USD transfers were dated on the following business day. The time of day of the transaction was the same for both currencies and this same transfer was replicated a few days later with the same outcome.

Does anyone know why the transfer times are different? I wonder if there are two different systems in place to transfer these funds? What are the differences behind the scenes?  

There are cutoff times for each transaction type. I know USD take 2 days to transfer CAD takes 1 day. When you PULL funds they are done the same day. The other bank does not process until one day later.

These rules can, in a practical sense, only be guidelines because each FI takes its own sweet time about getting on with the transfer.

Meridian/motus are the worst, in my experience. It typically takes 4 business days to make the transfer if initiated there, and then there is an extended Hold period as well for pulls, so that the whole performance can take two weeks. And when they do finally clear, it typically shows up very late at night on my screen, so that it is effectively the next day.

The Payment Canada rules govern the part of the transfer after the transfer is entered it into one of the clearing systems.

How much time passes until the requested transfer is actually entered into a Payment Canada system is up to the originating financial institution. Some are quite quick and the funds can end up posted in the receiving account by dinner time the same day.