What is the cut-off time for same-day withdrawals?

There is no single cut-off time for a same-day withdrawal in the UK. Each provider sets its own, and they range from 11am at one credit union to 11.45pm at Chase. Most savings providers sit between 1pm and 4pm, and a request made after the deadline is treated as arriving on the next working day.

The time that matters is the moment the provider receives your instruction, not the moment you decide to move the money. Miss it by five minutes and the payment slips a day, which matters most on a Friday, before a bank holiday, or when the money is needed for a bill.

This page sets out the cut-offs providers publish, how they differ between account types, what happens at weekends, and where to find the deadline that applies to your own account.

Same-day withdrawal cut-off times range from 11am to 11.45pm

The spread is wider than most people expect. At the early end, HertSavers Credit Union requires same-day withdrawal payment requests to be submitted by 11am¹. RCI Bank processes a withdrawal to your linked account the same day only if the request arrives before 1pm, and after that the funds appear the next business day⁸. RCI also applies an earlier 11am cut-off where 24 or 31 December falls on a business day, a seasonal exception worth knowing if you move money at Christmas⁸.

At the other end, Chase sets the cut-off for same-day instructions at 11.45pm each day on its current accounts². That is unusual: most providers close their payment runs in the afternoon or early evening, and a handful extend into the evening. Charter Savings Bank makes electronic payments received before 9pm available for withdrawal that day, and anything later the next day⁹. Shawbrook asks for an online withdrawal request by 9.30pm on a working day for funds to reach you the next working day, and that deadline excludes requests sent by secure message⁷.

Between those extremes sit the majority. Ford Money pays funds to your connected bank account by close of business the same day if the request is made before 1pm on a working day, and by close of business the next working day if it is made after³. Transave uses the same 1pm line⁴. Gatehouse Bank states that movements of money in or out requested before 1pm on a working day will be processed the same day⁵.

The practical effect is that two people withdrawing the same amount at the same moment can see different arrival times purely because of which provider holds the account. The cut-off is a property of the provider's processing, not of the banking system as a whole.

Notice and regular savings accounts: 2pm to 3pm

Accounts that require notice, or that are designed for regular saving rather than instant access, tend to have cut-offs in the early to mid afternoon. Recognise Bank's notice account sets its cut-off at 2pm, with requests before that time actioned the same day and requests after it the following business day¹⁰. BDCU applies a 2.30pm deadline for a same-day payment transfer to another bank account¹¹. Secure Trust Bank's Access Account pays funds by close of business on the next business day for requests made after 2.30pm on a business day¹².

A cluster sits at 3pm. Harpenden Building Society's 18-30 Regular Saver requires payment requests by 3pm, with later requests processed the following working day¹³. Its SIPP Instant Access Account uses the same 3pm deadline for requests submitted through Harpenden Online¹⁴. Enterprise Credit Union processes standard withdrawals requested before 3pm on a working day the same day, and says the money usually reaches your bank after 4.30pm¹⁵.

Some go slightly later. Westcountry Savings and Credit Union makes same-day payments to a nominated bank account if you contact it before 3.30pm, on both its junior savings and its community and charity accounts¹⁶. Advance Credit Union pays share withdrawals to your nominated bank account the same day if the request is received before 4pm¹⁸. The Nottingham applies a 4pm cut-off to online savings accounts, and treats a Faster Payment after 4pm as started the following working day¹⁹.

Notice accounts add a second condition on top of the cut-off. Saffron Building Society's Regular Saver requires a minimum of 24 hours' notice for cash withdrawals or closures between £500 and £2,500, so the cut-off time is only the last step in a process that began the day before²⁰.

Current accounts that process payments until late evening

Current accounts are where the latest cut-offs appear, because the provider is running payment files throughout the day rather than once. Chase's 11.45pm deadline for same-day instructions is the latest in the sources behind this page². Danske Bank shows card transactions as "midnight tonight", except on the last business day of the month when the time becomes "15:30 today"²².

Several providers publish cut-offs for specific payment rails rather than a single account-wide deadline. Bank of Scotland states that a CHAPS request made before 4.25pm on a working day arrives the same day, and one made after that is processed the next working day²³. Metro Bank's Cash Account says a CHAPS payment made before 2pm on a working day will usually reach the recipient the same day, and payments after 3pm the next working day²⁴. AIB (NI) receives incoming payments until 18:20²⁵.

Arab Bank (Europe) credits non-cash payments to an account on the same business day provided the incoming funds arrive before its normal cut-off time of 4pm²⁶. Charter Savings Bank makes electronic payments received before 9pm available for withdrawal that day⁹.

The pattern is that a current account with a late cut-off is not necessarily faster end to end. A CHAPS payment has its own deadline and its own cost, and a Faster Payment sent after a provider's cut-off is simply treated as started the next working day. The urgent withdrawal cost page covers what providers charge for speed, and the other account charges page covers transfer and withdrawal fees more generally.

If I request a withdrawal at 1.05pm, when will the money arrive?

The answer turns entirely on the provider. At Ford Money, Transave and Gatehouse Bank, a request at 1.05pm has missed the 1pm deadline and is processed the next working day³. At Recognise Bank, whose cut-off is 2pm, the same request is actioned the same day¹⁰. At Harpenden Building Society the line is 3pm, at Advance Credit Union 4pm, and at Shawbrook 9.30pm for online requests¹³.

Some providers set different deadlines by amount. Newbury Building Society's Charity Account processes requests for sums over £10,000 and up to a maximum of £50,000 made between 9am and 3pm on business days the same day, and requests after 3pm on the next business day²⁷. Its Access 180 account uses the same 9am to 3pm window for sums over £10,000 and up to £50,000²⁸. The same provider's published terms also describe online withdrawal requests for sums up to £10,000 made between 9am and 5pm on business days being processed the same day, so the two documents give different windows for different amounts and the provider's own pages do not reconcile them²⁸.

Investment accounts behave differently again. Interactive Investor says a cash withdrawal requested before 2pm will usually arrive the next working day, and one requested after 2pm within two working days²⁹. Its urgent cash withdrawal service pays requests made before 2pm into your account by the end of the same day³⁰. NS&I processes an instruction received on a banking day before 8pm that day, but the payment then normally reaches your account two banking days later for an online instruction, or between two and four banking days later for a phone instruction²³.

Can I withdraw from savings on a Saturday and get the money that day?

Rarely. Most published cut-offs are expressed in working days, which means a Saturday request is treated as arriving on Monday, and a Sunday request likewise. Shawbrook states that a withdrawal request made after the cut-off point on Friday, or at any point on a Saturday or Sunday, will see funds arrive by midnight on Tuesday, plus an extra day if there is a bank holiday⁷.

The same logic applies to bank holidays. Ford Money's next-working-day promise excludes public and seasonal holidays³. Enterprise Credit Union's 3pm cut-off applies Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays¹⁵. A request made on a Saturday morning at a provider with a 1pm weekday cut-off does not become a same-day payment simply because the clock has not reached 1pm.

There are exceptions in the current account market, where a provider running payments every day may process a weekend instruction. Chase's 11.45pm cut-off is described as applying each day rather than each working day². Even then, the receiving bank's own processing can add time, and a payment started on a Saturday may not show in the destination account until Monday.

Cheque deposits follow a separate timetable. Under the image-based cheque clearing system, if a customer pays in a cheque on a weekday before their bank or building society's advertised cut-off time, the funds are typically withdrawable by 23.59 on the next weekday, bank holidays excluded and provided the cheque does not bounce³¹.

Why do some banks have a 1pm cut-off when others allow payments until nearly midnight?

The cut-off reflects when the provider assembles and submits its payment files, and how it has chosen to connect to the Faster Payments system. A provider that runs a single afternoon file will set a cut-off in the early afternoon; one that runs files through the evening can offer a much later deadline. Chase's 11.45pm cut-off and Gatehouse Bank's 1pm cut-off are both choices about processing, not differences in the underlying payment network².

Account type matters as much as provider. Instant access savings accounts are built around quick movement, so their cut-offs cluster between 1pm and 4pm. Notice accounts and regular savers are not, so their cut-offs sit earlier and are often paired with a notice requirement. Current accounts, which handle standing orders, Direct Debits and card payments all day, tend to have the latest deadlines.

There is a related rule worth knowing if a payment goes the wrong way. Some banks give you until midnight on the day you go overdrawn to pay money back into your account before an unarranged overdraft charge applies, though this is a matter of each bank's own policy rather than a universal right³².

Where to find your own account's cut-off time

Your provider's cut-off is stated in its terms and conditions, its key facts or summary box document, or its help pages. Search the document for the words cut-off, cut off, same day or working day. The summary box for an easy access account, for example, states plainly that withdrawals made before 1pm on a working day will be paid the same day and anything after 1pm the next working day³³.

If the deadline is not stated, or the document gives two different times, ask the provider directly before relying on the money arriving that day. Where a provider publishes conflicting windows for different amounts, as Newbury Building Society does for its Access 180 account, the amount you are withdrawing determines which one applies²⁸.

Two habits reduce the risk of a missed deadline. First, treat the cut-off as the time the provider receives the instruction, not the time you start. Second, if the money is needed for a dated payment, allow a full working day rather than relying on a same-day promise, because a request that misses the cut-off by minutes slips to the next working day and a Friday request can slip to Monday.

If a payment does not arrive when the provider said it would, the writing a complaint page sets out how to put the problem in writing, and the free consumer advice page covers where to go if the firm does not resolve it. The savings accounts section explains how the different account types work, and the current accounts section covers the accounts with the latest processing times.