Was your March salary paid in April? Here’s why your transfer is late

The European payment system will be closed for four consecutive days at the end of the month due to public holidays.

Since then, your March salary may not be received till April 2.

What if your March salary is paid in April itself? If you are used to paying at the end of the month then this will be waiting for you. Because, incidentally, between public holidays and weekends, sending or receiving money from your bank account will be (much) more complicated than usual in the coming days.

Specifically, when your company pays you your salary, the transfer goes through the European Central Bank’s (ECB) payment system “Target 2”. Through this international platform, banks exchange payment instructions, allowing you to benefit from your salary in your account a few hours or days after your company pays you. Except this “Target 2” system is not open every day, as explained by the French Banking Federation.

Closed for four consecutive days

Therefore, interbank transfers are impossible on every Saturday and every Sunday of the year. So far, nothing unusual, but the closing days also include some public holidays. If Friday March 29, 2024 (Good Friday) is not a public holiday in all of France, it is in part of Europe: on this date, “Target 2” will be closed. The same will be true for Easter Monday, which falls on April 1 this year.

Therefore, between two public holidays and two weekends, the “Target 2” system will be closed on March 29, March 30, March 31 and April 1. Four consecutive days off – a rarity – which comes at the end of the month, when most companies pay their employees. So your salary may appear in your bank account only on the following working day i.e. Tuesday 2nd April.

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The only exception to the rule: instant transfers. This operation, which requires frequent payments and which allows you to send or receive money in a few seconds, is possible 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will not close on the Easter weekend. However, it is not certain that your company uses this payment method to pay your salary.