N.Y. Times: CUs clear deposits quicker than banks

NEW YORK (9/22/09)--Credit unions generally clear deposits quicker than banks do, according to a finance columnist for The New York Times.

In his Saturday column "Hurry Up and Credit My Account," Rob Lieber wrote that many readers have sent him angry questions about overdraft fees after he wrote about them earlier this month. The questions have come as the fifth anniversary for the law known as Check 21 approaches, Lieber noted.

Check 21 allows financial institutions to turn paper checks into digital images and handle them electronically instead of having to send volumes of paper checks around the U.S. on airplanes to settle them.

"Banks can and do move faster than regulations require," Lieber wrote. "And some have pushed their daily deadlines for depositors later by a few hours. Credit unions in particular tend to clear deposits more quickly, according to a 2007 Federal Reserve study of the effects of Check 21."

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Courtesy of cuna.org