It is FINALLY a sign of progress that the six Cayman Islands retail banks has announced they have signed a contract making pigeons that have been used up until now, redundant.

Brian Esau, President of the Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association, in a Press Release, said, “New innovations and technology are changing the way consumers and businesses access, move and use their money. In addition to being highly reliable, this system is extremely secure and is more cost-effective, secure, and quicker than processing paper cheques and other forms of payment-related information.”

This new and innovative technology is an Automated Clearing House (ACH).

In the old days, our paper cheques were carried by a pigeon in its beak to the various banks for processing. Overseas cheques e.g. to and from the USA, UK, etc. obviously took more than the three days time local banks have taken to clear. The pigeons have had to fly a lot further. Fourteen business days was normal, which took over three weeks as pigeons don’t fly on Saturdays and Sundays or Bank Holidays. These pigeons have been well trained.

No one, however, at any of the banks could explain to me why, when I wrote a UK cheque and deposited it in my account here, the money disappeared from my UK bank within 24 hours! Perhaps these were one way super pigeons that used rocket fuel as a diet.

All that is now history and it is going to be cheaper for us the customer. Notice the words Mr. Esau used – “MORE COST EFFECTIVE”!

This obviously means we the consumer will now reap the benefits of this cost effectiveness. I can’t wait to see by how much we are going to benefit. It’s very exciting isn’t it?

ACH transfers, however, aren’t as fast yet as wire transfers. According to The Balance website it states:

“Wire transfers move funds from one bank to another in one business day, and the funds can even be made available within that day.

“That said, sometimes when you receive a wire transfer, you won’t see the funds immediately. A bank employee generally needs to review the transfer and get the funds into your account (the process is not 100% automated). If time is of the essence, request your wire transfer first thing in the morning. International wires can take an extra day or two.

“ACH transfers often take two to three business days to complete. Banks process ACH payments in batches – they’re all done together instead of being handled individually, first-come-first-served. At some point, ACH transfers might become same-day transfers, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

This is the very interesting paragraphs:

Cost to Send and Receive

“Wire transfers: there is almost always a fee to send a wire transfer. Banks might charge between $10 to $35 to send a wire within the United States, and international transfers cost more. Receiving a wire transfer is often free, but some banks and credit unions charge smaller fees to receive funds by wire. If you fund the transfer with your credit card, you’ll pay much more due to higher interest rates and cash advance fees.

“ACH transfers are almost always free – especially if you’re receiving funds in your account. Sending money to friends and family using apps or P2P payment services is usually $1 or so (if anything), and most businesses that send money by ACH pay less than $1 per payment.”

“ ACH transfers are almost always FREE”.

SOURCE: https://www.thebalance.com/ach-vs-wire-transfer-3886077

Isn’t it nice to get such good news just before Christmas?

Thank you the partner banks – Fidelity Bank (Cayman) Ltd, Cayman National Bank Ltd, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Limited, RBC Royal Bank Cayman Limited, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd and Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Limited.

Now what about those redundant pigeons?

Will they be given away?

Whoops. Sorry. They are banks’ property. Given away? I don’t think so. And that’s a given fact. The best I can hope for is to look for reduction in the prices of pigeon soup on the shelves of our supermarket stores.

See today’s iNews Cayman story “Cayman Islands banks announce Automated Clearing House agreement”