If I made a deposit this morning and my account says the money is "pending," can I make purchases greater than the amount in my bank account?

can I make purchases greater than the amount in my bank account? one would imagine not…

If you used an ATM, your deposit will not register in your account until Monday.

This is why I always give a deposit to a real teller. It’s immediately deposited to my account and the money is there, when I need it.

I would strongly advise against doing that. I was in the banking field for over 20 years, and I had always had a couple o customers each day that did just that. They would then come in and ask for their overdraft fees waived. I usually had to say NO. I would wait until the monies show as available funds in your account before you go to use them. It also depends if it was a cash or check deposit that you made.

@john65pennington I did go to a real teller, but the money doesn’t show up as available. I think it may be because I deposited checks and not actual cash.

And thank you, @echotech10. I will avoid doing that.

@chicklit you are very welcome :)

Even when checks “show up in” your deposit statement, the funds are not in place until the check clears at the clearinghouse, which can take several business days. This is how many check frauds are perpetrated.

Wait for the checks to clear before depending on the funds’ availability.

“Available” is the key word. Don’t exceed your available balance.

At my bank, ATM deposits are available quicker than teller deposits. I assume they want to discourage using the expensive people and branch and encourage using the cheap machines.

Also, a portion of an ATM check deposit is immediately available, and 100% is available the next business day.

The specifics vary. A large check takes longer to become 100% available.

It really depends on the amount available, what does it say is available on the slip?? Usually it gives you your current and available balance. Your current balance is your total balance with your total deposit and your available balance is what you have available to use.

If you made a deposit this morning (Saturday), the funds might not show as available before Tuesday. Your bank’s website or account interface probably states how long it takes. Wait until you can see them posted. Otherwise as far as your account is concerned, they’re not there.

You can depend on it that if there’s an advantage to be taken, it’s the bank that’s going to take it.

In the future you should ask your bank how long it will take for the funds you deposit to become “available.” They will show up on your deposit receipt whether they are available or not. It all depends on whether the deposit is a check or cash, who issued the check, whether it is an in state or out of state check, a cashier’s check, etc. and the bank will have different policies on how long it takes a deposit to clear. It can be a bad idea if you are paying by check when you don’t have sufficient funds because you will get hit with overdraft charges but I’m thinking if you use a debit card online the transaction will simply be denied if there are not sufficient funds in your account. I could be wrong about that though.

here each bank has their own policy pertaining to fund availability and can make funds available sooner. Cash is available immediately however checks depend on where they are drawn from and who they are from. My biggest suggestion is call your banks customer service and they can tell you what is available and when.

Chicklit, I did not make myself clear to you in my first answer. My deposits were all cash and that is a different story compared to check deposits.

Checks must clear before they are shown on your balance.

Nope. Your are going to have to wait. You can always charge it on a credit card, and by the time the bill comes the money will be available. But, I generally don’t recommend buying something until you can actually pay for it. Even if you do use a credit card.