accidentally used wrong bank account with insufficient funds

[tohku]

I'm not too familiar with ACH payments and it's currently 3:28 AM as of writing this so I can't call my bank at the moment and would appreciate an answer if one can be given.

I have two different bank accounts and I accidentally used one as a payment method which doesn't have enough money to cover the purchase. Since it's an ACH payment and money shouldn't be removed for another couple of day, would it be enough to deposit cash in my bank ASAP (when the banks open at 8 AM) in order to avoid an overdraft fee? 

[kernowlass]

@tohku 

As you have not added your country to your community profile or said in your post then we can't help at the moment.

[tohku]

@kernowlass 

Ah, my bad... I live in the United States. My assumption is that since no money has been deducted, depositing money before it is deducted would keep it positive and result in no overdraw. But again, I'm unfamiliar with the processes behind ACH payments so I could be wrong.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@tohku 

Transfers from bank accounts are never instant, that is why when you buy something paypal credit the seller upfront for you and paypal take the wait for the funds to transfer to pay them back again, this is so you get your item without delay.

Takes several working days to transfer as Paypal use the slowest (cheapest) transfer option BUT funds normally leave your bank account from a few hours up to a few days later.
So if you add the funds promptly then you may still be ok and paypal won't have taken the funds yet BUT if they do and it fails then they will put your paypal account into negative and then try again a few days later.

If your bank however lets the payment go through then any overdrawn fees is between you and your bank to sort out really, good luck.