Saving using multiple current accounts

135

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  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 17,607 Forumite
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Archi_Bald wrote: »
    I never knew that changing your mind is only allowed after 24 hours, lol.

    Seriously, though: I have been making over a dozen same-day ins & outs by SOs for years and never had a problem.

    I have, however, been pulled up by Halifax only last week, when I manually FPed £1,000 into a longstanding Halifax account from one of my Santander accounts (this Halifax account has had £1,000 SOs on the same day from and to another account for years). I then immediately tried to FP my £1,000 back to Santander (which was a new payee on the Halifax account), and found myself instantly locked out of Halifax, and with blocked online access. Even though I had just passed the telephone verification for setting up a new payee. The payment to Santander was not made. Somehow or other I had walked straight into one of their automated fraud prevention traps.

    Halifax didn't bother calling or texting me about this "fraud", I had to contact them. It turned out to be a rather painful 30 or so minute telephone call with the Halifax fraud team who were extremely unhelpful and tried to make me answer what I considered totally unreasonable questions - e.g. multiple-choice Qs about data on my Experian file - - like: on which of the following 3 dates in 2009 (!!!!) did you open a current account? I eventually convinced the guy that it was hideous to believe people remember the exact date on which they opened a current account 5 or 6 years ago, and that if he wants to know what Experian hold about me he should consult Experian.

    After what felt like a small eternity, I could convince him that all was in order and he re-instated my online access and allowed the payment back to Santander.

    I've had similar problems when trying to send a payment from Cahoot (Santander) to an account I've used many times before. It even included some trick questions about old addresses that I had over 15 years ago and were never associated with this account. It does seem strange the way some of these fraud detection systems kick in, they pick up payments like this but then let a single credit card payment that is more than my total credit limit and is a card holder not present. Even more bizarrely they couldn't understand why I thought they should have stopped it!
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • mad_rich
    mad_rich Posts: 868 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    To be honest, I'm rather glad when the fraud-prevention systems kick in, and glad that they are inconvenient to get past. Rather a day's delay on a payment than a fraudster gets through!

    That said, sometimes I do wonder where they get their algorithms from. A few years ago, I was using my debit card for everything from day to day spending to online gambling, foreign transactions (both physically and virtually), and some giant transactions to fund savings accounts. The only thing that triggered the fraud alert - almost without fail - was buying tickets from The Trainline!
  • Rollinghome
    Rollinghome Posts: 2,676 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    I'm more than happy to have anti-fraud checks but are other peeps as puzzled as I am by calls along the lines of: "Hello, is that Mr ******? This is ***** Bank about your account, but first I have to go through a few security questions with you."

    What? They've phoned me. They've withheld their number and I haven't a clue who they are. And they want me to provide identifying details to prove who I am.

    They're always surprised when I suggest that proving who they are might be appropriate so presumably most people find it less strange than I do.
  • patientperson
    patientperson Posts: 481 Forumite
    First Post
    Rollinghome wrote: »
    I'm more than happy to have anti-fraud checks but are other peeps as puzzled as I am by calls along the lines of: "Hello, is that Mr ******? This is ***** Bank about your account, but first I have to go through a few security questions with you."

    What? They've phoned me. They've withheld their number and I haven't a clue who they are. And they want me to provide identifying details to prove who I am.

    They're always surprised when I suggest that proving who they are might be appropriate so presumably most people find it less strange than I do.

    I for one agree with you. In my case I point blank refuse to provide any ID on such incoming calls.
  • pocketstrings
    pocketstrings Posts: 80 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    OK, but my Santander month runs from the 16th of the month, so half way through the month makes it around the 31st.

    Another poster said to avoid the end of the month for SOs and not make them after the 26th, but that would only be 10 days into my Santander month. So when should the SO of £1000 come out of my Santander account into the FD one?
  • pocketstrings
    pocketstrings Posts: 80 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    PS I just tried to apply for the TSB current account and they said I couldn't have one, despite me being in credit, having savings etc. Do you think it's because I'm not working? I have regular disability benefit income.
  • LXdaddy
    LXdaddy Posts: 693 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Rollinghome wrote: »
    I'm more than happy to have anti-fraud checks but are other peeps as puzzled as I am by calls along the lines of: "Hello, is that Mr ******? This is ***** Bank about your account, but first I have to go through a few security questions with you."

    What? They've phoned me. They've withheld their number and I haven't a clue who they are. And they want me to provide identifying details to prove who I am.

    They're always surprised when I suggest that proving who they are might be appropriate so presumably most people find it less strange than I do.

    I agree. I have had one of these recently where I was setting up a new account and wanted to transfer some money from an existing account. I did my normal move a couple of quid to confirm that I had sort code and account correct, check that it shows up on the other side - Ok now move £5,000. That also shows up on the new account so all is Ok. But when I later tried to sign on to the original account again I find that the on line banking is not available - call this number for help. After identifying myself and answering the normal sorts of questions I find that the account has tripped a fraud prevention, someone will look into it, the account should be back on line within a day or two, if there is a problem someone will ring me. Obviously I'm not happy with "a day or two" so escalate the call. I'm then told that it shouldn't take more than about an hour so the original time estimate was incorrect.

    A little later someone calls me and wants verification that I am the account holder. I answer some questions but insists that he gives me some information to verify his identity. It's a difficult situation but I certainly do want to know who I'm talking to - I did almost expect the call so not quite as suspicious as I would normally be.
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,708 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    pocketstrings wrote: »
    OK, but my Santander month runs from the 16th of the month, so half way through the month makes it around the 31st.

    Another poster said to avoid the end of the month for SOs and not make them after the 26th, but that would only be 10 days into my Santander month. So when should the SO of £1000 come out of my Santander account into the FD one?

    So anywhere between the 5th and the 12th, or the 20th and 26th would be clear of both your Santander month end and a calendar month end.

    The days to avoid are
    1. the 29th-31st as they don't exist in some months;
    2. the last four days of the 'month' as a weekend and double Bank Holiday (eg Good Friday/Easter Monday, Christmas Day/Boxing Day, New Years Day/2nd Jan (4th Jan in 2016)) will delay any standing orders by four days. That last one is particularly tricky as the 2nd Jan is only a BH in Scotland, so could play havoc with a cross-border swap.
    3. the first four days of the 'month' in case a payer tries to be helpful and sends the order early (to ensure it's there on the due date). This last is probably paranoia on my part.
    Hope this clears any confusion.
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • Herbalus
    Herbalus Posts: 2,634 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Rollinghome wrote: »

    What? They've phoned me. They've withheld their number and I haven't a clue who they are. And they want me to provide identifying details to prove who I am.

    I wouldn't rely on this. I heard a feature the other day where it can be faked relatively easily.

    I was always impressed when I got a message from the bank with the name "santander" on the screen, and assumed there must be an authorised list of companies that can make their name appear as the sender even if that name is not in your phone book. Then I learnt that an advertising agency sent a text message to festival attendees with the name "mum" as the sender to remind people to play safe or whatever.
  • pocketstrings
    pocketstrings Posts: 80 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    This forum is AMAZING! So helpful and informative - I am always impressed. I tried to use the eBay forum to ask a question once and in no time at all it just descended into completely uncalled-for abuse, arguments etc!
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