The Osko service, PayID, PayTo and New Payment Platform are all designed for near real time payment processing in Australia with speed, security and ease of use holding equal centre stage positions.
It is for reasons of security that the banks may hold payments. We see banks doing this when new payees are involved or they otherwise wish to allow for a cooling off period. This happens at your banks sole discretion.
How long are payments held for?
Typically from 8-24hrs but sometimes up to 48 hours. Weekends seem to have longer hold times.
Will all payments be held?
No – Not all payments are held; in fact, the majority of payments are not held. All banks and financial institutions will hold funds from payments in different circumstances but typically they will hold first-time payments to new accounts or payments of high value for security reasons.
Do you or GoEscrow receive any notifications?
No – The banks will just hold the transaction and basically not inform anyone although some banks are now sending an SMS notification to the account holder.
How will I know?
If you make a payment into escrow by your online banking by PayTo, PayID or EFT-Osko and you do not see the transaction status change to “PARTIALLY FUNDED” or IN ESCROW” within a minute or two then your bank has held the payment. Some banks may show the status as “Processing” or “Pending”.
What can you do?
Call your bank and ask them if they have held the payment to confirm any security questions with you. The will often just require your confirmation.
What will happen when the funds are released?
Your bank will eventually process the payment as normal and on receipt the transaction status will change to “PARTIALLY FUNDED” or IN ESCROW”. GoEscrow systems will email and update all parties as usual.
Are settlement payments from GoEscrow ever held?
Yes receiving banks may hold payments before depositing to the payee but this is very rare.
More Information
PayTo is a major change for Australian payments. For help understanding PayTo Click Here.