Complaint Review: FIFTH THIRD BANK - CAPE CORAL Florida

I had two accounts at this bank (one checking on savings) Income tax came into the savings account via direct deposit. I went to the bank to transfer the funds to the checking acount and guess what THREE DAY HOLD! yep Cash from MY savings to my checking from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT direct deposit The did me a huge favor day 10 to informed them of my desicion to close that account moved to xxxxxx and havent looked back! No they arent perfect either but none of that crazy B.S.and great customer service

I just wanted to clear some things up about floats and why the are applied to accounts. I am aware of this information, because I spent some time in the banking industry. Floats are not applied to an account by a bank. The float is applied according to the laws of the Federal Reserve. When a customer deposits a check, it is sent to the Federal Reserve that is closest, geographically speaking, to the bank used for the deposit. Then, that Federal Reserve sends it to the Federal Reserve used by the bank the check is drawn from. If the Federal Reserve used happens to be the same for both institutions, that is called a local check and thus there is no float. But, if a check is drawn from a bank that is geographically far from the bank it is deposited into, then there is a float applied. There are 1, 2, and 3 day floats. the length of time is determined by the Federal Reserve. The question asked by the Federal Reserve is "How long will it take to send this check out for payment and collect the funds?" Legally speaking, a customer cannot use money that is not collected in their account. And, to refute that a customer is giving the bank an "interest free, 3 day loan" is incorrect. The bank techically has not received the money from the account the check was drawn from, and yes, this applies to Cashier's checks as well. Cashiers checks are referred to as "safer" because they are being drawn from a banks General Ledger, but that doesn't mean it is automatic. the check still has to travel to be collected. So, in conclusion, funds are not immediately available when a check is deposited because it is very illegal to write checks against uncollected funds. some of you may know this more so as "check kiting". Because of this, Federal Law regulates the availability of money in accounts to avoid trouble for consumers.

Ken If you have "never seen a 5/3rd" why comment? What is your game? Why do you resort to name calling? I didn't call you names. Are you just mad 'caus Barbie left you for GI joe? As for what I would do with a problem at Fifth Third. Go to small claims. The customer service will not give you any usefull help or information. Until you get to the VP level they will not work with you and will not give you any information that could be used against them in court. The will lie to you and tell you that "That information is not available" etc. Then strech it for years until they send you a letter telling you that it's been seven years and it's too late to do anything. You could try (((ROR REDACTED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SECURITY PURPOSES))) (I took a lot of effort to get her e-mail address as the people at this level don't normally deal with the lowly public) To the editor post my comment or delete Ken's it's only fair. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Ken If you have "never seen a 5/3rd" why comment? What is your game? Why do you resort to name calling? I didn't call you names. Are you just mad 'caus Barbie left you for GI joe? As for what I would do with a problem at Fifth Third. Go to small claims. The customer service will not give you any usefull help or information. Until you get to the VP level they will not work with you and will not give you any information that could be used against them in court. The will lie to you and tell you that "That information is not available" etc. Then strech it for years until they send you a letter telling you that it's been seven years and it's too late to do anything. You could try (((ROR REDACTED E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR SECURITY PURPOSES))) (I took a lot of effort to get her e-mail address as the people at this level don't normally deal with the lowly public) To the editor post my comment or delete Ken's it's only fair. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Elaine, your information in your first post was not complete. When did you make this deposit? If it was made after the banking day closed on a Friday you would indeed have a 3 day hold with even a Cashier's Check. Ken is right, that Cashier's check fraud is prevalent now and there are many, many instances of large cashier's checks coming back as fraud. Many foreign and domestic scammers have inundated our banking system with these checks, walking away with the cash or "selling" a prize in the form of a fraudulent cashier's check to an unsuspecting consumer. The consumer wires funds to the company for a "processing fee" and receives a cashier's check in return. The check is deposited and comes back as bogus. This a a very common scam and banks and consumers both have lost a lot of money on this in recent years. As a result, they are now more cautious. They have a responsibility to protect the assets of the bank. Contrary to popular belief the bank is not a free funnel for your money. 3 days is not unreasonable. Banks use the Automated clearinghouse to process transactions but this is not an instantaneous procedure. A little about how it works: All ACH transactions are settled pretty much the same way checks are. The clearinghouse takes all of the ACH files received daily from member banks, it then divides them by the originating bank (where the check was either cashed or deposited) and the paying bank (the bank where the check was drawn), then it totals the accounts, and credits or deducts the accounts accordingly.

It gets a little old here whenever anyone tries to make a point and you get some pea brain like Thomas saying "you must be an employee"! Why is that Thomas? Because I point out how the banking system works? Or is it because I suggest that if the op sat with a manager they might waive the hold? Seems like a pretty constructive suggestion to me. Since you seem to have difficulties with the concept, I will try to make it easy for you... I have never even SEEN a 5/3 bank. Can you deal with that?

It seems Fifth Third has people online just to stop people from expressing their views. Is this your Full-time job Ken? Disputing complaints for fifth third must take a LOT of time.

Since the funds behind that check are in another bank until it is collected, they not only are not getting an interest-free 3-day loan, but you are expecting them to grant YOU an interest-free 3 day loan. That being said, most financial institutions are reasonable. If you were to sit with a manager or CSR, show them the check and explain that you are in a bind, there is a fair chance they will verify the check is good and give you immediate credit. (a 3 day loan!) You also have to realize, there is currently a HUGE amount of fraud involved with very good fake money orders and cashier checks. If the bank is reluctant to give immediate credit, you have to understand the problems they are facing with this type of check.

I understand your situation completely. However, I have worked in a bank (a small town bank) for many years. Reg CC is the hold that they are refering to for the 8 day hold. By getting the cashier's check you are basically feeling a little better about the transaction and so is the bank, but it must still clear the system. For some reason there is this misconception that a Cashier's check or a Certified check is the same as cash, and that is basically untrue. We are seeing more and more fraud these days with cashier's checks. In fact I the US post office sent out a memo about fradualent money orders. Legally, unless your acct is less than 30 days old, the bank only has to give you $100.00 from that check until it clears. If you acct is less than 30 days old, they dont have to give you anything. Working in a small rural area you would not think that I would see things like this but I do. In the month of November alone, we had 2 offical checks (or cashier checks, same thing) come back, one was drawn on a non existing bank, the other one was fradulent. In the case of the first one, We put a Reg CC 8 day hold on, but by law, since their acct is not less then 30 days old, we have to give them $100.00 that day, and then $5000.00 of the $18,000.00 check within 3 business days. The check came back on day 7 of the Reg CC hold. The customer is no where to be found, and the bank will take a $5,100.00 loss. Fairly similar situation in the second case. This check should be in your ledger balance upon deposit. Most banks (and I know 5/3 does) allow you to write checks on uncollected funds. Could you write a check for your emergency. We do this at my bank too, because we will have the check hit your acct and if what you deposited bounces, we can then bounce the checks you write back, if we give you cash and your deposit bounces, we may never see you again. I know this seems extreame, but this does happen alot more than people realize. I dont think they are borrowing your money for 3 days interest free because they have not collected the funds yet, so the money is sitting in an acct at the drawee bank. Bottom Line: Banks are stuck between a rock and a hard place on the float issue. People want access to their money ASAP, but unfortunetly, checks bounce, fraud is out there and banks must protect themselves from that. My advice: Had this situation came to me, I would evaluate many things, How long have you been a customer of ours? (if you have been with us for 20 years, fraud is much less likley to happen then if you are new to the bank) How often are you overdrawn? What is the amount of the check and how much are you wanting? Where did you get the check and for what reason? Why is it that you can't right a check for this emergency? Do you normally make deposits of this type (amount or from bank/company/person) etc.... and then you have to make a decision based on the information and not to forget to CIY. Thanks Hope that helps