Fast transfer to A&L esaver2 is risky

manhar

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm not clear what you've done?

Did you 'push' the first payment from the HSBC website by 'FASTER PAYMENT', or 'pull' it from the A&L website via direct debit?

And what about the second (successful?) transfer...how did you initiate that?

The first attempt was done via the HSBC internet banking website. Here I used the A&L sort code 72-58-10 and esaver account number as instructed by A&L in their correspondence when I first opened the account 3 days ago. HSBC website confirmed the transfer. I rang HSBC later to determine whether it was a fast transfer and had the money left my account, and HSBC replied in the affirmative. My HSBC bank summary indicated that the money had left my account as well. But it did not show up in my A&L esaver2 account summary the next day. Hence the subsequent thread in this forum.

Later today I had another look at my HSBC summary and was suprised to find a "reverse transaction" and the money had ben returned to my HSBC account. Made no sense.

I revisited A&L internet banking website. On the left side of the page, at the bottom there was a drop down box labelled "quick transfer". There was the option to transfer into esaver2 or out of esaver2 from my linked HSBC account. (This link had been established when I opened the esaver account 3 days ago online). I used the "transfer to esaver" option this time and the 10K went through immediately. A dated receipt was offered to be printed out as well.

YorkshireBoy

manhar wrote: »

The first attempt was done via the HSBC internet banking website. Here I used the A&L sort code 72-58-10 and esaver account number as instructed by A&L...

Did you omit the 00000000 collection account number, and put your 11-digit A&L account number in there (and leave the reference field blank)? That would explain why your first payment bounced back.

I revisited A&L internet banking website. On the left side of the page, at the bottom there was a drop down box labelled "quick transfer". There was the option to transfer into esaver2 or out of esaver2 from my linked HSBC account. (This link had been established when I opened the esaver account 3 days ago online). I used the "transfer to esaver" option this time and the 10K went through immediately. A dated receipt was offered to be printed out as well.

Hang on a second!!! That procedure uses direct debit...are you saying that the transfer (which normally takes 3 days in my experience) took place immediately? If you are, I'm amazed!

masonic

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Hang on a second!!! That procedure uses direct debit...are you saying that the transfer (which normally takes 3 days in my experience) took place immediately? If you are, I'm amazed!

Could this be confirmation that the payment has been processed successfully, rather than received into the account?

perky_v

I have an HSBC current account linked with A&L eSaver... gets there instantly (upto 2 hours on weekends)..... 'quick transfer' method uses direct debit, that take 3 days!

YorkshireBoy

masonic wrote: »

Could this be confirmation that the payment has been processed successfully, rather than received into the account?

Possibly, but then the OP said "10K went through immediately"...inferring the movement of money?

Something that is puzzling me here is this statement...

(This link had been established when I opened the esaver account 3 days ago online)

My understanding is that DD's take much longer than 3 days to set up (is it 10 days normally?). Plus, A&L used to say to allow 8 days for your first DD pull to be actioned/completed...which is why we always recommed pulling £1 first, and waiting, before pulling any high value sums in. Do they still?

manhar

masonic wrote: »

Could this be confirmation that the payment has been processed successfully, rather than received into the account?

You maybe right. It still doesnt show in my esaver account.
I clicked on the information button next to the "quick transfer" sign and this info came up:
Information: Quick Transfer


Quick transfer provides an easy way to make a one-off payment/transfer to leave today to someone you have paid before or to another of your registered accounts.

I presume my esaver is a registered account?

masonic

manhar wrote: »

Quick transfer provides an easy way to make a one-off payment/transfer to leave today to someone you have paid before or to another of your registered accounts.

I presume my esaver is a registered account?

Yes it it, but Quick transfers take the same amount of time to reach your account as normal transfers of the same type (in the case of direct debits no less than 3 days) - they are just quicker to input as A&L has most of the details already. Quick transfers are only 'quick' to set up, not quick to receive. This is not the same as the Faster Payments system, which actually relates to the speed of the transfer process.

masonic

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Plus, A&L used to say to allow 8 days for your first DD pull to be actioned/completed...which is why we always recommed pulling £1 first, and waiting, before pulling any high value sums in. Do they still?

The last time I opened an A&L savings account without linking it to an A&L current account was at least a couple of years ago, at which time A&L were still advising people to allow 8 days (I don't know if that's still the case). My initial transfer did not take any longer than usual. I reasoned at the time it was because I'd left it several days after seeing the direct debit listed online before I had a chance to set up the transfer. It's never really clear whether a new direct debit is going to work as you expect until you test it, which is why I do an initial £1 transfer wherever possible.

Swipe

I wouldn't worry too much about the loss of 3 days interest as, in the grand scheme of things, the esaver2 will only be paying about 4% at the end of the month and about 3% by the end of December

masonic

Swipe wrote: »

I wouldn't worry too much about the loss of 3 days interest as, in the grand scheme of things, the esaver2 will only be paying about 4% at the end of the month and about 3% by the end of December

In that case, 3 days lost now will seem like a fortune next year!