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How long does a bank transfer take?

Some transfers can occur in seconds, while others may take a few days.

Yahoo Personal Finance· Getty Images
Sarah C. Brady
·Contributor
4 min read

Have you noticed your bank transfers moving faster in the last few years? Thanks to relatively new payment systems, including the Federal Reserve's FedNow and the Clearing House’s Real Time Payments (RTP), more than half of all U.S. banks have the ability to complete transfers in a matter of seconds.

Does that mean your next bank transfer will be instant? Unfortunately, no. Depending on a few details, such as where you're sending the money to and from, it could still take one to three business days (or more) for your transfer to clear.

Here’s a breakdown of how long bank transfers take.

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When you initiate a transfer via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) — which is a common option for transfers between banks and credit unions — it often takes several days to go through.

You might see the debit or credit reflected in your available account balance right away, but these so-called "real-time" transactions usually take one to three business days to clear, and that doesn't include weekends or holidays. So if you initiated a transfer on the Friday night before Labor Day, for example, it could potentially take six days to process.

One exception is same-day ACH, which is usually used for bank-to-bank transfers. If both the sending and receiving institutions have this service, the transfer can settle within one business day.

If you send money from your online account or banking app to another bank account, it can potentially go through in an instant.

For banks that use FedNow or RTP, money can be sent or received from one account to another in seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is true of transfers between accounts at the same bank or between accounts at separate banks that both use the services.

Some banks let you move money fast with Zelle. This digital payment network lets you transfer money between checking and savings accounts, as long as both accounts are enrolled in the service. Zelle transfers can clear in minutes, whether they're sent to an account at the same bank or not, but they're not processed on weekends or holidays.

Read more: Which banks are open on Sunday?

Want to send money from your bank account to your mobile wallet? If you make an electronic transfer, it will likely take a few days to go through. Here's what to expect:

  • Venmo: 1-3 business days (instant transfers available for a 1.75% fee)

  • PayPal: 3-5 business days

  • CashApp: 1-3 business days

To speed up the process, check to see if you can use your debit card to fund your mobile wallet instead since debit transactions can clear in seconds.

Read more: Is it safe to store money in apps like Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App?

Wire transfers are losing popularity, but they still give you a fairly quick way to send money. Domestic wire transfers are usually processed on the day they're sent and sometimes even go through in minutes.

International wires usually take one to five business days to go through, with varying timelines depending on the receiving country and other details like currency exchanges.

It's possible to make instant bank transfers, but there's no guarantee your transaction will go through that fast. The speed of the transaction depends on the networks each institution uses — both on the sending and receiving ends — along with other details of each account and transaction.

Still, you can make choices that cut down on delays, including:

  • Bank with an institution that uses an instant payment service, such as RTP or FedNow.

  • Don't initiate your transfer after business hours, or close to a weekend or bank holiday.

  • Make sure you have the correct account details for the recipient's account.

  • Enroll in Zelle before agreeing to accept a Zelle payment.

  • Keep sufficient funds in your account until an outbound transfer is complete.

Depending on the bank, you may also be able to speed things up by paying a fee for an expedited service, such as same-day ACH.

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