Why Santander takes two days to clear its own cheque

A cheque issued by Santander itself takes two days to clear at Openbank

Why does a bank need two days to deposit a cheque it issued itself? That was the question one customer asked when taking a Santander cheque to a branch to pay it into their Openbank account, the group's online subsidiary. The balance appeared instantly as pending, but the money was not available. Two days later, it arrived.

The bewilderment is justified. If the payer is Santander itself and the receiving account is at Openbank, which is also Santander, the funds verification should be immediate. It is not: the bank applies the same timeframe as if the cheque came from another institution. And one wonders whether what is actually being held back is a liquidity buffer at the customer's expense. This is not a complex transaction: it is an internal procedure.

Old banking habits do little for trust. There was a time when moving money between two institutions was a luxury: a transfer between Caja Duero and Caja Madrid could cost 150 euros, and the solution was to withdraw the cash and cross the street. That philosophy of "if the bank charges you, walk right past it" still resonates. The difference is that now the two-day hold is not charged in euros, but in time and patience.

In the end, the customer took the money out of Spain. Others wonder whether the same could be done today without raising suspicions. Perhaps the cheque travels on foot from the branch next door. Or, more likely, the system simply earns two days of interest at the expense of whoever is waiting.