My bank does ACH transfers within 2 days, why would Paypal take longer?

[karmi]

Most of us have done the ACH transfers by now, unless we've been hiding out in a cave somewhere.

When I request an ACH transfer before 12 noon Eastern time, the banks -- this includes 3 different institutions I have dealt with in the past five years -- process the transfer the same day, and the funds go out overnight, and show up in the receiving account the next day.

When I request an ACH transfer after 12 noon Eastern time, the transfer does not make it into that night's overnight transfers, so it doesn't get transferred until the next day's overnight batch.  

It shows up in the receiving account on the day after next. 

So if I withdrew money from my Paypal account into my bank at say, 3 pm today (Tuesday), I can't expect it to be in my bank tomorrow, but it should go in Wednesday night's ACH transfers, and it should show up in my bank  on Thursday at the latest. 

So my question is, why does Paypal say it takes longer, and that the funds will be there by the 16th?  They should be there by Thursday, for a Tuesday request.   They should be there tomorrow, if I did it before noon today. 

Since I know how long my ACH transfers have been taking, why should Paypal take longer than anybody else? 

Does Paypal get a special, cheaper rate for delaying payments to group them into some sort of larger batches?

If so, Paypal should not tell us the funds have been sent, because in the case of my banks, if the funds have been sent, the timetable is just as I described above.

So what is the deal with Paypal and the ACH transfers?  Does Paypal behave differently from other financial institutions?

Every other financial institution I have dealt with gives specific timeframes for when funds will be transferred.   This is not a secret, it's not rocket science, it's not some cloudy issue.  

Paypal needs to give us specific information on exactly what Paypal's specific timeframes are, just as the banks and other places do.  

Paypal is being vague, and is keeping its users in the dark.   That isn't right.

Paypal can and should prevent bad customer relations by being VERY specific and up front with Paypal users who have funds they need to withdraw. 

While our banks may all have different policies on when funds will be available, Paypal should not be the source of any confusion, and should not leave anyone wondering when Paypal will actually send the funds. 

Paypal is the ONLY unknown in my equation!

[karmi]

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@karmi wrote:

Most of us have done the ACH transfers by now, unless we've been hiding out in a cave somewhere.

When I request an ACH transfer before 12 noon Eastern time, the banks -- this includes 3 different institutions I have dealt with in the past five years -- process the transfer the same day, and the funds go out overnight, and show up in the receiving account the next day.

When I request an ACH transfer after 12 noon Eastern time, the transfer does not make it into that night's overnight transfers, so it doesn't get transferred until the next day's overnight batch.  

It shows up in the receiving account on the day after next. 

So if I withdrew money from my Paypal account into my bank at say, 3 pm today (Tuesday), I can't expect it to be in my bank tomorrow, but it should go in Wednesday night's ACH transfers, and it should show up in my bank  on Thursday at the latest. 

So my question is, why does Paypal say it takes longer, and that the funds will be there by the 16th?  They should be there by Thursday, for a Tuesday request.   They should be there tomorrow, if I did it before noon today. 

Since I know how long my ACH transfers have been taking, why should Paypal take longer than anybody else? 

Does Paypal get a special, cheaper rate for delaying payments to group them into some sort of larger batches?

If so, Paypal should not tell us the funds have been sent, because in the case of my banks, if the funds have been sent, the timetable is just as I described above.

So what is the deal with Paypal and the ACH transfers?  Does Paypal behave differently from other financial institutions?

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Ok, I am answering my own question here, since Paypal did not step up to the plate.

There apparently is no difference between Paypal and other ACH transactions.  

The funds sitting in my Paypal account were shown as 'sent' on Tuesday, May 10th, after 12 noon.

Today, Thursday, May 12th, they were in my checking account by mid-morning.  Great!

My only question now is, why did Paypal confuse the issue by telling me my funds would not be there until Friday or Monday?  Needless worry and confusion, no doubt caused by the fact Paypal was set up to serve Ebay sellers, not the general user who is simply transferring funds.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi karmi, and welcome to the forums!

ACH transfers can take 2-5 business days. This is true of ACH transfers between any two institutions. Depending on the time of day, your transaction might be batched early, or it might be batched in the next business day's transfers. It then goes through the clearinghouse before it gets to PayPal. Depending on the processing time at each stop, it could potentially take as many as 5 business days, but it doesn't always.

For non-US accounts, the processing time can even go up to 7 business days, but again, it's not always that long. I'm glad your funds got where they were going quickly!

Thanks for coming back to respond on your thread. The community forums are a platform for members to help other members. Moderators post when and as we can, but our duties are primarily behind-the-scenes administration rather than answering questions. To get answers directly from a PayPal representative, you can click Contact Us at the bottom of any PayPal page and call or email.

Olivia