Why is your late March paycheck expected to arrive later than usual?

Don’t panic, your employer hasn’t forgotten you. If you’re used to getting paid at the end of the month, keep in mind that your March paycheck may come a little later than usual.

Indeed, as reported by the Journal du geek, bank transfers will be suspended for several days in a row, starting at the end of next week. The last days of March and the first day of April are affected. Reason? Goal 2, the system for managing transfers between various European banks, will be closed for a few days.

It is usually on standby every Saturday and Sunday, which explains why shuttles always take longer to arrive on weekends than on weekdays. Target 2 is also closed on holidays. Monday, April 1st is Easter Monday, so Target 2 will be on standby for an additional day, not allowing transfers to arrive until Tuesday, April 2nd.

Banking transactions slow for four days

Moreover, while Good Friday (which falls on March 29 this year) is not legally a public holiday in France, it exists in Germany, as well as in other French border departments such as Moselle, Bas-Rhin or Haut-Rhin. This is why Target 2 will not operate on Friday, March 29, as the European Central Bank confirmed to Le Parisien this Friday.

The four-day closure is therefore synonymous with the suspension of bank transfers from the evening of Thursday 28 March until the morning of Tuesday 2 April. Since this period spans the end of March and the beginning of April, it is possible that many employees will not see their pay drop dramatically until the beginning of the next month, unless their payroll service has factored in this pause.

While banking operations are likely to slow down this Easter weekend, this will not however happen for domestic transfers between two accounts managed by the same bank, nor for instant transfers that do not necessarily need to go through Objective 2. As a reminder, that they are paid, but should soon be free for most customers in France.