How easy is it to trace a bank draft bank to an account?

sandy_smith_2

Hi there,

I would like to gift an elderly uncle some money. This person, who has helped me out in the past, is in a bit of financial difficulty however is far too proud to accept any help from friends/family.

So, if I go to the bank and request a draft from my bank in his name and mail it off anonymously, how easy is it to trace back to me. I'm aware it would be fairly easy to find out which branch it was from but anything else?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

PS - if anyone has another idea to anonymously gift someone money, I'd like to hear it.

ShelfStacker_3

Going to his bank and paying it in in cash could be an idea. Dunno about anywhere else, but if you have his postcode and his name we'd find it quite easy to find his account details and stick the cash straight in (and if you asked for a reference of something like "GIFT", it'd probably be totally anonymous).

Cheaper than a draft, too.

opinions4u

Your idea should work.

The bank would be able to trace it back to you but would have to breach data protection rules if they disclosed this information.

No idea if postal orders still exist, but they'd be another option too!

dzug1

opinions4u wrote: »

Your idea should work.

The bank would be able to trace it back to you but would have to breach data protection rules if they disclosed this information.

No idea if postal orders still exist, but they'd be another option too!

Postal Orders still exist, yes. Maximum individual one is £250. The fee can be exhorbitant - up to 10% of the value, though I think it's capped at £10.

And there is no indication as to the post office of issue - another plus for anonimity

Extant

Some places (Halifax, Nationwide, Abbey) seem to print the customer's name on their drafts/cheques.

Most of the banks have hand written drafts (Barclays, Natwest, HSBC) so they should be completely anonymous.

If you're going to pay in cash, I'd second the idea of putting on a narrative - so that he doesn't panic and try to report it to the bank or something.

But that's going to be a risk either way, I would have thought.

nimbo

the problem with postal orders might be that if they went missing in the post, then they could be cashed by anyone....

it might be a bit of a pain, but surely it would be safer to put the mony into his account, this happened to my sister, and when she mentioned to the bank that £500 had just appeared in her account they refused to tell her where it had come from.... (even after she'd told them she'd checked with her dad and our mum and neither had put it there, so she was convinced it wasn't for her...)

rb10

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Some places (Halifax, Nationwide, Abbey) seem to print the customer's name on their drafts/cheques.

Most of the banks have hand written drafts (Barclays, Natwest, HSBC) so they should be completely anonymous.

If you're going to pay in cash, I'd second the idea of putting on a narrative - so that he doesn't panic and try to report it to the bank or something.

But that's going to be a risk either way, I would have thought.

Halifax do not now print the customer's name on the cheque, although the branch it was issued at will be on there.

CLAPTON

seems a very bad idea to me.

suppose it simply confuses him and he refuses to bank the draft... you have lost the money and he hasn't gained anything

agsnu

And people tend to get confused by credits they're not expecting (e.g. BACS or cash) - and then they get their bank to investigate that it's not a mistake etc.

hippey

Looking at the fact you mention he is proud, would he actually pay the cheque in? Obviously if he did not you might not be able to claim the money back.

Just a thought

noelphobic

if he saw that a cheque had been paid into his account and didn't recognise it he could ask his bank for a copy of the cheque which they would provide, although possibly they would charge him for it.