The Perfidy of Banks, Part 2

Way back in January 2006 I wrote a post about how much I hate banks entitled "The perfidy of banks." Well, the rest of the year has not dampened my antipathy for the banking system. I actually have reasonably good online banking experiences more recently with Washington Mutual, Bank of America and Citibank. Now, I have another example of banking oerfidy to share.

In preparation for my upcoming trip to India I have had to make an international wire transfer of funds from a U.S. banking account to an Indian banking account. Having become accustomed to nearly instantaneous wire transfers between my U.S. domestic bank accounts, I expected something similar when I initiated the transfer on Tuesday, December 5, 2006.

The funds did not get credited to their intended account until Tuesday December 26!

But what is so amazing is that I was told that this IS NOT unusual. After I started enquiring with Citibank where the $%$U&*!! my money was, they told me that an electronic wire transfer can take "up to fourteen business days" to reach its destination. The funds were sent through the S.W.I.F.T. network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) which means the funds are routed from bank to bank using unknown intermediary banks. The SWIFT protocol only requires an initiating bank and a beneficiary bank. Inquiry messages about previous transfers also go through the SWIFT network! I was told that there was no way that the initiating bank could communicate directly with the beneficiary bank. In this day and age of instantaneous internet-based communication I was dumbfounded.

"How does one send money from the U.S. to an international account?" I asked increduously.

"This is the best way."

One explanation for the delay is the involvement of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the Federal Reserve in international transfers of U.S. funds to foreign accounts. I still don't understand how businesses could tolerate such delays.

Also, I'd like to know how all those people in the movies and on television are instantly transfering money to the Cayman Islands and numbered Swiss bank accounts. I guess that's why they call it "fiction."

How long do YOU think a transfer of money from a bank account in the USA to a bank account at a different bank in another country should take?

To me, I think I could have Fedex'ed or DHL'ed a check to the person and had them deposit nito their account and that would have been faster.