Alternate title: "Creative Financing".

I almost changed the thread title, but decided to "stick with the crowd".

My online banking lets me issue checks (U.S. for "cheques") to anyone I 
want.  For businesses these transfer electronically in a day or two; for a 
private party, it goes through the mail.  Still, I don't have to mess with 
PayPal or worry about whether I can trust them.  As an added benefit, I can 
delete all email purporting to be worrying about my PayPal account without 
reading it, since I don't have an account (as well as with the Bank of 
Tennessee, Frostbite Falls Credit Union, or the Fifth Third Bank--that last 
one's real, by the way!)

This story didn't actually happen to me, but saying so will keep it 
simple.  I sent my sister a check to cover some previous expenses.  When 
the bank statement arrived, I saw she had cashed the check.  I was 
interested to see how long it took for her to cash it.  Much to my surprise 
she had cashed it almost immediately.  I checked my records to see when I 
had issued it.  What I found was that she had cashed the check the day 
before she received it!

I called the bank to find out what was going on.  Oh, the help line said 
cheerfully, we have a feature that helps prevent overdrafts!  Seems that 
when you issue the check, the funds are debited from your 
account.   Apparently this prevents you from thinking  you have more money 
than you do, thus preventing overdrafts.  When the check is posted, they 
pay the recipient (or that bank).  In the meantime, guess who has the money 
to play with?

I'm glad that in real life, it isn't my bank that  does this.  Not that I 
have much love for them.  The last time I changed banks to get away from 
them, they simply bought the bank I had switched to!

Barry

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