Will checking bank accounts replace the egg hunt as the most popular activity over the Easter weekend? From this Thursday evening, March 28, and until Tuesday morning, transfers will in fact be impossible due to the closure of the Target 2 system, the platform which manages the flow of money between banks in the euro zone. It is traditionally closed on weekends, January 1st, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Problem is, this year, this extended four-day weekend (even if Good Friday is not a public holiday in France except in Alsace Moselle) falls at the end of the month, right when salaries are paid. The pay for the month of March may therefore not arrive in your account until April if your employer has not anticipated it. At the risk of finding yourself in the red for a few days. A possibility far from being isolated since 37% of households are overdrawn at least once a month according to the Cofidis barometer of the purchasing power of the French published in September.
Which services are affected?
The closure of the payment settlement system, managed by the European Central Bank, will prevent interbank transfers between Thursday March 28 at 6 p.m. and Tuesday April 3 at 2:30 a.m., i.e. more than 100 hours, explained the Bank of France. Internal transfers, in which the payer and the recipient are in the same bank, are insured, as are instant transfers, effective in 10 seconds but not necessarily free.
Direct debits entered on these days will be recorded the following business day. But those that are essentially recurring (telephone subscriptions, Internet, rent, etc.) should be insured since creditors call them days or even weeks before the execution date.
Will your March salary arrive in your account... In April?
The Target2 closure schedule for 2024, established by the ECB, was made public by the French Banking Organization and Standardization Committee (CFONB) on November 24, 2023. “These schedules are also relayed by the banks to their corporate clients,” specifies the French Banking Federation. Some companies and administrations have therefore anticipated transfer orders by a few days so that salaries are paid before this suspension of the payment processing service.
Conversely, if the transfer order is placed on Thursday after 6 p.m., it will only be processed on Tuesday from 2:30 a.m. and may not appear on the beneficiary's account until Tuesday or even Wednesday morning. The payment of retirement pensions will not be affected since it is scheduled for April 9 (March pension) for Cnav and April 2 (April pension) for Agirc-Arrco. That of family allowances will arrive in the accounts on April 5.
How to anticipate?
If you have not yet received it, do not hesitate to ask your employer (or even the union organizations of your company or your administration) for the exact date of payment of your salary. “By consulting your bank account, you can see whether your salaries have been paid or are about to be paid, and whether deductions are planned, these being notified in advance,” specifies also the French Banking Federation.
In the event that the transfer order is not issued by your employer before this Thursday and you fear finding yourself in the red before it falls, you can also draw on your precautionary savings (livret A or any other liquid savings account) to sufficiently fund your account.
What if your account is overdrawn this weekend?
If you find yourself in the red between now and Tuesday April 2 because you have not received your salary on time, there are two possibilities. If you have negotiated an authorized overdraft, payments will be made but you will have to pay interest. For those above 400 euros, a threshold recognized by the majority of banks, they charge agios proportional to the amount of the overdraft and its duration, with a capped debit interest rate (the usury rate today at 17.52%). For those less than 400 euros, certain establishments charge a lump sum (minimum fixed interest charge), independent of the amount of the overdraft.
If you are not authorized by your bank to have a debit account or if you exceed your authorized overdraft limit, payments that come through may be rejected. And fees may apply for these incidents: 8 euros per operation up to 80 euros per month.
“If there is a problem with your account, following income received later than expected, contact your bank advisor to see if adjustments are possible,” the FBF is still advised. “There could be a form of benevolence,” agrees a banker. But only if the overdraft is due to the delay in receiving the salary. »