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I would like to set up a recurring transfer that is guaranteed to arrive at its destination by a certain date.

Example

A recurring transfer is delivered from Online Savings Account 123 to Checking Account 456 every other Wednesday. That is, it is deposited into Account 456 on the Wednesday.

What I've tried

I have tried to estimate delivery times by sending the money 3 days before I need it to be in the destination. However, this is not 100% accurate. Furthermore, I have to estimate even more time if a holiday or weekend occurs within the 3 day window. This can lead to human error if I forget to add on the one or two days.

Question

What strategies do people follow when they want to guarantee the arrival time of money transferred between banks? Are my expectations unrealistic? Are there any options to set a "Deliver by" date at certain banks?

More Info

The transfers are initiated online.

Most of the time, I'm transferring funds from an online savings account to a brick and mortar bank.

It is an external transfer (occurs between two different banks).

I am in the United States and all of the banks are also in the United States.

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Transfers are defined to arrive on a specific number of business days, nearly always one business day (if you submit it before the cutoff time). The exact number of days depends on the receiver bank, but when you try to create a transfer, it will tell you when it will arrive, before you send it out.

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  • So is your solution to set recurring transfers to be sent the day before the day I need the funds to be delivered?
    – user2954463
    Sep 20, 2017 at 13:51
  • Basically, yes. When you try it, you will get the exact duration shown, but it probably will be one business day.
    – Aganju
    Sep 20, 2017 at 13:53
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    Maybe I need a new bank. I'm experimenting with GS Bank right now, and they are terribly unreliably. They say 1-3 days for an external transfer, but it's often longer. And a transfer scheduled for today, 9/20/2017, still has not been sent.
    – user2954463
    Sep 20, 2017 at 13:54
  • @user2954463 Probably all you can do is talk to the bank in question (GS Bank) and ask them why its so variable, and if there's anything that can be done to make it more reliable. If they say there's nothing that can be done, consider switching to a different bank (stipulating reliability of such transfers when deciding which).
    – TripeHound
    Sep 21, 2017 at 9:30

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