While many of us enjoy the benefits of direct deposit payments, there are still occasions when we have to deposit money using a physical cheque. Perhaps your employer prefers paying workers with physical cheques, or you’ve received a financial gift from a friend or family member.
Whether the transaction is business or personal, the deposit process is often much slower when paid with a physical cheque. Unlike direct deposits, funds from a physical cheque aren’t always available immediately.
If you bank at CIBC, you may wonder: does CIBC hold cheques? If so, how long are your funds put on hold after being deposited? To learn how long CIBC has cheques and why, keep reading below! We’ve also included some other related FAQs.
When account holders at CIBC deposit a physical cheque into their account, they will often have to wait a short period before they can access the funds, particularly for larger amounts.
So, how long does CIBC hold cheques? At CIBC, cheques are put on hold immediately and will be available after four business days. CIBC recommends keeping your cheque for at least five days before voiding it to ensure you can access the funds you owe if the money doesn’t go through on the first deposit attempt.
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Federal law states CIBC cannot hold your cheque funds for eight days. If more than eight days have passed and your funds aren’t available, contact the bank and speak to a customer service representative. You can also file a complaint challenging the withholding of funds if necessary.
When the bank puts a hold on funds deposited through cheque, this is done for several reasons.
If it is a substantial sum of money, the bank may want to ensure that the company or person who wrote the cheque has enough money in their bank account to cover the amount. This may also be done to ensure the person who wrote the cheque hasn’t added a stop payment to the funds they owe you.
Other reasons include checking the cheque details with the person issuing the money to ensure all the information is correct or to clarify that the account the money is being taken from hasn’t been closed by the account holder.
As mentioned above, CIBC must hold the federal maximum cheque no longer than eight days. However, there are some exceptions to the maximum hold period.
If you’re still unable to access your funds after eight days, review the following exceptions to ensure none apply before filing a complaint:
Now that you know how long CIBC holds cheques for and why, you likely have other questions related to CIBC cheque deposits. For instance, how can you deposit a cheque at CIBC? Why isn’t my eDeposit working?
To learn the answer to these and other related questions, keep reading below for more!
If you’d like to deposit a cheque into your CIBC account, you can do so one of two ways- through eDeposit, or by visiting your local CIBC location. Let’s examine each method below:
To add cheque funds to your CIBC account through eDeposit, follow the steps below:
To deposit your CIBC cheque in person, you can bring it to your local CIBC and insert it into one of the bank’s ATM machines. The machine will scan the cheque and deposit the funds into your account, which will be available for use after the four-day wait period.
If your cheque isn’t being deposited into your account from eDeposit, this is likely because the pictures you took of your cheque aren’t clear enough for the system to confirm.
To get a clearer photo of your cheque, try the following for the best results:
Another possible reason your cheque may not be deposited is that the front image is missing a signature. If so, contact your employer or other cheque issuer to correct this.
CIBC allows account holders to deposit cheques totaling up to $250,000. If you need to deposit a larger balance, you may have to request that your money be issued in multiple cheques. In this case, you may also look into the option of using direct deposit instead.
At this time, CIBC will only accept cheque deposits that are in Canadian currency. If you’re receiving payment in foreign currency, contact the issuer to arrange an alternative form of payment, such as direct deposit.
However, if you are unable to set up a payment through direct deposit, you can also accept foreign payments through a money-sharing service like PayPal or Knightsbridge FX, which will automatically change your funds into CAD after being received.
Further, you may also be able to set up a payment through e-transfer if the country you’re receiving funds from is compatible with Interac.
If you’re looking to transfer funds between different accounts in the US, try Knightsbridge FX. With Knightsbridge, you can minimize your international money transfer fees and get the most out of your money transfers.
When account holders deposit money from a cheque into their bank account, CIBC may hold their funds for about four business days and up to eight business days.
If CIBC puts your funds on hold, this may be to ensure that the account the money is being withdrawn from has sufficient funds to cover the payment, among other similar reasons.
However, if you require access to your funds immediately for bills or rent payments, you can contact CIBC customer service to see if you can receive a portion of your funds before the four-day wait period.
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