What's the difference between avaliable balance and current balance?

what's the difference between "avaliable balance" and "current balance" on your checking account? they are showing two different things.|||AVAILABLE balance is as it says what is AVAILABLE from all the info the bank has at this moment.


current balance may not be fully available because of a deposit that has not cleared, or not available because there are transactions that have not been posted. these transactions can be bank card purchases or withdrawls or holds put on your account by some one you made a purchase with.


To be sure what your balance is keep a register and go by it not what the bank says.


I will tell you a funny story. Looking at my register I noticed that my husband had crossed out my balance and put in a new amount. I said,"Dear did you find a math error in the book?" He said, no that is the balance the bank gave me". Pointing to the register I said, " but the bank does not know that I wrote these three checks".


I worked in customer service for two banks and the most annoying question, we heard a thousand times was," Is my available balance available?"|||I'm used to seeing "available balance" and "current balance" in relation to a credit card type of account where you have a total you can't go over.





For example, if your account/card has a limit of $500, your current balance means how much you have used to date, while the available balance is how much remains to spend.





Example:





Total: $500


Spend $200 at the mall


Current balance: $200


Available balance: $300





Make sense?|||I can tell you one way they are similar.


They are both equally worthless to use when operating a checking account.


You have to use a manual check register. Only then will you know exactly how much you've put in vs. taken out.





Available balance is what is in your account right now including check card holds.


Current is typically higher because those charges haven't posted.


They are both worthless because neither balance reflects checks that are in the mail that you wrote but have not made it to the recipient, nor have any pre-scheduled debits been subtracted. Check card holds that have dropped, but not posted also will be missing.





If you depend on ATM and online banking balance figures to operate, you WILL have problems unless you keep a lot of extra cash in the account. |||the current balance is what is uncleared funds going through your account the available balance is cleared funds in your account that you can spend