Customer transfers £20k to wrong account. Blames bank?
Discussion
When I transfer money online, I always double check where I am sending it, regardless of the amount, but for £20k, I would at least double check, so how is it the banks fault!
Also seems a little suspect that he knows that £9k has been spent, as the bank are apparently being unhelpful, I suspect he knows where its gone..
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/couple-could-...
Also seems a little suspect that he knows that £9k has been spent, as the bank are apparently being unhelpful, I suspect he knows where its gone..
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/couple-could-...
I often send huge amounts of money via online banking and I triple check constantly. It's very easy to make a simple mistake and send the money to the wrong account, especially if you do it often and are in a rush.
Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for the couple
Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for the couple
StottyGTR said:
Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
Because it would then no longer be an instant transfer, if someone could reverse it X Hours/days later....For large transfers, its usually best to send a few quid over first to check, then send the balance over.
Contract Killer said:
StottyGTR said:
Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
Because it would then no longer be an instant transfer, if someone could reverse it X Hours/days later....Furthermore if the bank mistakenly credited my account with £20,000 and I spent it, I imagine I would be soon in front of a judge explaining why I spent someone else's money. Within the realms of common sense I can't see why the same shouldn't apply for an accidental bank transfer.
yknot said:
Thank you for posting this on the forum I will do the £1 transfer, before the remaining amount, for all future payments! 
If you want to be super careful then transfer an odd amount like £1.03 or £0.87 first. The £1 thing is generally sufficient but it’s not impossible for someone else’s £1 transaction being mistaken for yours by the recipient.StottyGTR said:
I often send huge amounts of money via online banking and I triple check constantly. It's very easy to make a simple mistake and send the money to the wrong account, especially if you do it often and are in a rush.
Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for the couple
Fully agree, always stressed me out. Now I send a few quid first AND double check! Its always baffled me as to why this is un-reversible, its a small simple mistake with horrifically disproportionate consequence.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for the couple
John145 said:
I remember hearing on R4 earlier in the year of a woman who ticked the wrong person in a list of previous payments to a builder who did some work for her.
So she rang him up asked him to send it back and he said no. Apparently there’s also no legal framework to get it back!
There is a legal framework. A beneficiary who has received a payment in error is required to give it back. If they deliberately refuse, then it is theft; the Theft Act 1968 covers this adequately, and the police should be interested.So she rang him up asked him to send it back and he said no. Apparently there’s also no legal framework to get it back!
The issue is that the bank cannot unilaterally intervene and recover the funds, because the bank is not to know if it is a mistake or not. Industry code of practice has been significantly strengthened recently, and the receiving bank is required to act as intermediary and to liaise with the customer after it has been notified of a possible error, and to do this within strict time frames. This avoids the problem that used to happen when Mrs A accidentally pays money to Mr B's account, and contacts Mr B's bank: "Nothing to do with us, you'll need to contact our customer", says the bank manager. "OK. So can you give us the customer's details, so we can contact them?" "No sorry. That information is confidential."
A beneficiary can of course dispute a claim that a transaction is mistaken; but to do so fraudulently would not look good if the police were brought in to investigate theft.
The big sticking point is if the recipient has spent the money in good faith by the time the mistake is noticed, and is unable to give it back. In that case, the sender has a big problem, because in this case, no law has been broken. There are legal avenues, such as civil legal action, which could lead to CCJs or charging orders, but these are not quick or cheap, or easy or guaranteed to work, especially if the recipient doesn't have any money or assets with which to pay the judgement.
If its a material amount I do the £1 transfer and get confirmation of receipt.
Sounds like the customer is a f
king moron.
ETA: The 'Best Endeavour process'
When I hear the term Best Endeavour used it usually means we won't actually achieve it, but we'll have a go
Sounds like the customer is a f
king moron. ETA: The 'Best Endeavour process'
When I hear the term Best Endeavour used it usually means we won't actually achieve it, but we'll have a goEdited by Henners on Monday 4th December 19:31
Do different banks have the same account numbers? A sort code identifies each bank, surely it cant be that hard to have different types of account numbers for each branch. I don't know how many customers each bank has but if its 10 million each the last time I looked there was a number bigger than a million.
WatchfulEye said:
John145 said:
I remember hearing on R4 earlier in the year of a woman who ticked the wrong person in a list of previous payments to a builder who did some work for her.
So she rang him up asked him to send it back and he said no. Apparently there’s also no legal framework to get it back!
There is a legal framework. A beneficiary who has received a payment in error is required to give it back. If they deliberately refuse, then it is theft; the Theft Act 1968 covers this adequately, and the police should be interested.So she rang him up asked him to send it back and he said no. Apparently there’s also no legal framework to get it back!
The issue is that the bank cannot unilaterally intervene and recover the funds, because the bank is not to know if it is a mistake or not. Industry code of practice has been significantly strengthened recently, and the receiving bank is required to act as intermediary and to liaise with the customer after it has been notified of a possible error, and to do this within strict time frames. This avoids the problem that used to happen when Mrs A accidentally pays money to Mr B's account, and contacts Mr B's bank: "Nothing to do with us, you'll need to contact our customer", says the bank manager. "OK. So can you give us the customer's details, so we can contact them?" "No sorry. That information is confidential."
A beneficiary can of course dispute a claim that a transaction is mistaken; but to do so fraudulently would not look good if the police were brought in to investigate theft.
The big sticking point is if the recipient has spent the money in good faith by the time the mistake is noticed, and is unable to give it back. In that case, the sender has a big problem, because in this case, no law has been broken. There are legal avenues, such as civil legal action, which could lead to CCJs or charging orders, but these are not quick or cheap, or easy or guaranteed to work, especially if the recipient doesn't have any money or assets with which to pay the judgement.
dazwalsh said:
I recently had to send 50k to a solicitors account and I was so nervous of getting it wrong I checked it about 17 times.
Those kind of transfers worry me as solicitors IT security is generally terrible and there are a few cases of hackers messing with their systems to replace bank account details and pinch mortgage payments etc. Best to ring up and check details prior to payment but our last mortgage had some bargain bucket firm who never answered the phone and expected to do everything online..This problem is going to get a lot worse in the next few years before it gets better IMO, barely even touched the surface so far.
I was told by HSBC that account numbers are not sequential and so they contain some kind of checksum. This prevents the money from going to the wrong account if a single digit has been mistyped.
Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
EddieSteadyGo said:
I was told by HSBC that account numbers are not sequential and so they contain some kind of checksum. This prevents the money from going to the wrong account if a single digit has been mistyped.
Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
There must be more to the story than claimed.Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
A few years ago I had to transfer some money and the recipient initially gave me the wrong sort code but correct account number and it was rejected as the “checksum” did not work.
Then the sort code was corrected and the account number changed to the wrong one and again the transfer was rejected as the “checksum” did not work.
hashtag said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
I was told by HSBC that account numbers are not sequential and so they contain some kind of checksum. This prevents the money from going to the wrong account if a single digit has been mistyped.
Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
There must be more to the story than claimed.Instead, the money goes into the bank's holding account waiting further instruction as it won't have been directed to a valid account number.
A few years ago I had so transfer some money and the recipient initially gave me the wrong sort code but correct account number and it was rejected as the “checksum” did not work.
Then the sort code was corrected and the account number changed to the wrong one and again the transfer was rejected as the “checksum” did not work.
How does he know £9k has been spent, unless the recipient bank has already told him? Article seems to suggest the banks are working on the issue, but it takes a little time.
Be nice for the banks to issue a guarantee of sorts. But in this faceache/ttter age, people are permanently unhappy about everything and everything has to be done yesterday, otherwise cue frowny face and letters with black lines on it.
Be nice for the banks to issue a guarantee of sorts. But in this faceache/t
tter age, people are permanently unhappy about everything and everything has to be done yesterday, otherwise cue frowny face and letters with black lines on it.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff