Faster Banking!!..I don't think so !!!

jennifernil

For me the problem is that when I put in for a FP, it just refuses it, and that's with Halifax. I have not been able to do one for a week now.

Fedz

Is the receiving bank/sort code FP enabled?

You can check here.

When you say 'put in for faster payment' do you mean you get the option? As for me it does it automatically if the receiving sort code is FP enabled and it's under the max. allowed FP limit.

jennifernil

I have checked the sort codes, they are enabled.

On my "transfer page" I get offered to choose todays date for an immediate payment (FP) , but when I do it tells me it cannot do it and offers me an alternative date (usually the next day, but sometimes 2 days ahead).

Last week, as a test, I selected a next day instead transfer and it did indeed go, and arrive, the next day, so was actually an immediate FP on the day. Despite them saying it could take 3 working days. And that was fine.

The problem is that you cannot rely on this, it could take longer.

And for me, right now, I cannot make a same day, i.e TODAY, payment.

malc_b

masonic wrote: »

But if a bank tells everyone what the limit is, then it's likely to result in a whole lot of payments being 'fiddled with' so that they go via faster payments. That results in a much higher volume of faster payment traffic than the bank intended, and that's why they are not making it easy to find out what these limits are (that, and the fact they seem to be varying them quite regularly).

Actually there is nothing right with that at all. For a bank not to make clear its dealing with customers is to breach FSA rules. I'm tempted to make a formal complaint about this and probably will once I have more data. It is increasingly looking like Halifax restricts FP to a max of 3 per week and £500 each. You can find out the 500 limit sometimes when you phone and ask what is going on with FP but no one has ever mentions the 3 per week limit to me.

And why is the Halifax restrict FP traffic anyway? Of course there is the financial incentive to gain the 3 BACs days when customer's money is in transit. And the fact that if FP worked you would not be restricted to keeping emergency savings with the same bank as your current account. The reason Halifax give is that they are still testing the system - yeah right, and I believe in the tooth fairy too.

Fedz

It can't be a max of 3 per week as I have done 3 per day for the past week to my savings account with Yorkshire Building Society and they ALL have gone via FP and been in my account almost instantly

I can't fault Halifax myself for reliability

I certainly agree that Halifax should make it clear if their is a cap on the FP amount as opposed to customers having to guess, it's not very open and honest :rolleyes:

malc_b

Can I ask if your total exceed £1500? Perhaps the cap is £500 one, £1500 per week. Or it could be £1500 to one account per week. I'm reporting my experiences here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=16421227&postcount=53
So far I'm still locked out for Halifax -> Tesco. And on past form it will be a week before it starts working again.

Maybe the limits have been changed since there is a report 900 FP which implies the limit is higher. It could be that the 3 per week has been recently removed too but those of us locked out have to wait a week to be re-enabled. All of this is just guess work that I should NOT have to make if Halifax were open and honest :mad:

masonic

malc_b wrote: »

Actually there is nothing right with that at all.

I agree. Halifax et al should not have stated that they were Faster Payment ready until they were prepared to send all payments up to £10k using the service.

Milarky

jennifernil wrote: »

I am no good at links, but when you get up the "transfer money" screen for your account there is a link to info on faster payments, it talked about the £500 limit at the bottom of the page IIRC.

There is no limit information I can see on this page:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/OnlineBankingHelp/fasterpayments.asp

However, the thing to do is amend the amount until the message on the payment screen changes to say it will go via Faster Payments. Note that Halifax uses the 'Faster Payments' descriptor on your Recent Transactions page. Aslo you get an automtic email saying the same thing. For the paranoid among you use the 'Print Screen' button just prior to payment. Then you can paste the on-screen information into your 'Paint' program and save a copy. Should the payment not arrive then you have 'proof' that Halifax has not delivered and can sue them at your ease.

Actually got a bit of diappointing news from First Direct today; their standing orders won't go via FPS until 'late 2009'. Now Halifax/FD do immediate FPS, so anyone with both accounts could route SOs (or some at least) through Halifax given the indeterminate hold up at the 'World's Local Bank'.

So in the FP world all is not settled and customers will need to consider 'work arounds' for some time to come to realise the potential saving of time promised.

Historic note:
Enquiries with OFT have determined what was apparent anyway - it was never agreed that banks would use FPS by a particular date. APACS merely says that banks 'committed' [with no timescale] to 'use' FPS [but obviously however it suits them] by virtue of joining the Faster Payements Service.

Fedz

AFAIK their's no daily, weekly, monthly, yearly frequency limit only an amount per transaction limit

weesax

malc_b wrote: »

Halifax have limits. You won't know there are limits because Halifax, almost certainly breaking FSA rules on keeping the customer informed, do not publish the rules online in the FP pages. The current maximum FP is £500 (the system limit is £10k). There is also a limit of 3 FP per day (or may be 3 FP to same account per day).

There is no limit on the amount of transacyions, £500 for a sip and £15000 for a bill payment. This is fact as I work on the fraud monitoring of fps so please get your facts right