Encounter with friendly Capital One professional

“When I didn’t have a Capital One account I could come in here with a check written by a Capital One account holder and walk out with the full amount in cash. Now that I’m a Capital One account holder I have to wait for the check to clear. What’s with that?”

Helpful, nonplussed Capital One employee said I could still cash a Capital One check as before–get the full amount in cash–but if I were to simply deposit a check there would be at least a day waiting period before the checked cleared.

“What you’re saying is, I can cash the check in full no problem, just like before. So that means I could turn around and immediately deposit that cash into my account and have instant access to the money?”

She agreed, tentatively, a distant suggestion on her face she knew what I was getting at.

“I’m not angry,” I said, “I’m just trying to understand. Do you see how absurd this is? That’s not very institutionally efficient, is it?”

She then told me that if I tell the teller when depositing a check (from another Cap One account) that I need the money available immediately, she could make it so.

We’ll see how that conversation goes.

Derek Bridges