Sounds like a dumb question huh? 1+1=2, 2-1=1, right?? Well then, kindly place this concept for me in the banking world. What about time stamps? I have provided an example of an exercise I carried out over the weekend in order to recreate the event.
We'll use Bank of America (BoA, Cause it's the one I used.) Numbers have been dumbed down to compensate for my comprehensive abilities. All amounts are inclusive of taxes.
Relevant points:
- BoA Charges $35.00 for every transaction that overdraws the account
- No overdraft protection was used in this instance so no funds were moved to compensate.
- Debit Card was a Visa ... if that's even relevant (...???)
Primary Account has $10.00 in it at 8:00 AM after all purchases have posted.
1:32 PM - $1.16 Double cheese Burger
1:54 PM - $1.00 Soda at vending machine
2:47 PM - $2.35 Pizza
3:32 PM - $1:00 Another soda
4:08 PM - $7:00 Withdrawn from ATM machine.
Hierarchy of purchases on my online account at the end of the day ... (no fuckin time stamps)
$ 10.00 : $03.00 - $7.00 Withdrawal
$ 03.00 : $02.00 - $1.00 Soda at vending machine
$ 02.00 : $00.35 - $2.35 Pizza
$ -00.35 :$01.35 - $1:00 Another soda
$ -00.00 :$02.51 - $1.16 Double cheese Burger
$ -02.51 : $37.51 - $35.00 Overdrawn item fee
$ -37.51 : $72.51 - $35.00 Overdrawn item fee
Essentially, if I would have let this go unchecked and deposited back the $7, I would have been charged for three items rather than one. Why is this? Why do ATM transactions post before merchant transactions?
It's horseshit and defeats principles of finance ... (wait, what's that? There are none?) I mean, if the purpose of being entrusted with a VISA card is to have enough funds to cover transactions, why don't they keep their end of the bargain and use the fuckin' time stamps???
This is predatory if you ask me ...