The drafting bank always tells the depositing bank if those funds are available, which is what they did here: it’s how checks work. You would discover the same information yourself, when it cleared or didn’t.
If you take a check to the drafting bank, they’ll check the funds in the account right then and there and either pay you or tell you there are insufficient funds.
All that happened is they did it on the phone rather than through a clearing house or in person, but the exact same information was exchanged:
1. The account number and amount on the check was reported to the drafting bank, which both the depositor and his bank knew from the check already.
2. The drafting bank confirmed those funds were available, which would have been revealed when the check cleared or didn’t through other means.
Having a bank call another bank to clear a check isn’t uncommon — I’ve had it done with payroll checks for the same reason, that I needed to pay rent.
The drafting bank always tells the depositing bank if those funds are available, which is what they did here: it’s how checks work. You would discover the same information yourself, when it cleared or didn’t.
If you take a check to the drafting bank, they’ll check the funds in the account right then and there and either pay you or tell you there are insufficient funds.
All that happened is they did it on the phone rather than through a clearing house or in person, but the exact same information was exchanged:
1. The account number and amount on the check was reported to the drafting bank, which both the depositor and his bank knew from the check already.
2. The drafting bank confirmed those funds were available, which would have been revealed when the check cleared or didn’t through other means.
Having a bank call another bank to clear a check isn’t uncommon — I’ve had it done with payroll checks for the same reason, that I needed to pay rent.