Transferring money: Swift, BACS, CHAPS, etc.

MaryJo

I have bought a house and now need to transfer £20,000 of deposit money from my Nationwide current account to my solicitor.

Nationwide charge £20 for a CHAPS transfer so I'm wondering whether or not I should simply use the free payments/transfer facility that is built into Nationwide's online banking, which I believe uses BACS? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to either?

My solicitor has also requested that my bank fax a letter to him on the day of the CHAPS transfer to confirm that funds have been issued. I'm not sure how I should deal with this if I'm doing a transfer from my internet banking.

Should I just go into my bank and pay the £20 for CHAPS?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

zppp

MaryJo wrote: »

I have bought a house and now need to transfer £20,000 of deposit money from my Nationwide current account to my solicitor.

Nationwide charge £20 for a CHAPS transfer so I'm wondering whether or not I should simply use the free payments/transfer facility that is built into Nationwide's online banking, which I believe uses BACS? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to either?

My solicitor has also requested that my bank fax a letter to him on the day of the CHAPS transfer to confirm that funds have been issued. I'm not sure how I should deal with this if I'm doing a transfer from my internet banking.

Should I just go into my bank and pay the £20 for CHAPS?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

If this is what they have requested, I would do it. If you send the payment via the internet, according to APACS you would need to send 20 x £1000 payments to go through as a faster payment. A CHAPS is normally same day, and is a solicitor's preffered method of transfer for that type of amount.

Plus making mutliple high value transactions to the same payee will be flagged up for money laundering.

noh

Depends on how quickly he needs the money.
A BACs transfer will take 3 working days or you could just give the solicitor a cheque if there is enough time.

Paul_Herring

zppp wrote: »

Plus making mutliple high value transactions to the same payee will be flagged up for money laundering.

I don't think so. The source and destination of the funds is known, so it can't be money laundering. If the money was simply withdrawn in cash, then you might have a case for it being flagged at the other end.

What might happen, however, is that Nationwide might block the account under suspicion of fraud.

zppp

Paul_Herring wrote: »

I don't think so. The source and destination of the funds is known, so it can't be money laundering. If the money was simply withdrawn in cash, then you might have a case for it being flagged at the other end.

What might happen, however, is that Nationwide might block the account under suspicion of fraud.

Thats exactly what I meant, Nationwide could block the account if this unusual account activity.

AML policies do also include multiple transfers - there is a responsibilty on both banks to prevent money laundering, and, dealing with such systems it would be reported automatically, as is unusual activity. However, if money is going into a client's account for a solicitors it should be fine - they recieve large amounts of money on a regular basis.

opinions4u

Send it via CHAPS.

It makes it much easier for the solicitor to identify the funds as relating to your house purchase.

£20 is peanuts in comparison to all the other costs you are currently paying for.

MaryJo

Thanks for the advice. I'm just gonna pay the £20 and use CHAPS to save any hassle.

Mikeyorks

MaryJo wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I'm just gonna pay the £20 and use CHAPS to save any hassle.

No practical alternative - if you want to get the house! And the account number you have been given is probably one which is CHAPS specific ...... so not worth messing with alternatives and risking problems with the purchase.

oliverp_2

Considering this site is designed for money saving I'm a bit surprised at those answers.

The odds of this transaction being flagged for anti money laundering reasons are low, and the odds are the same whether you send it via BACS or CHAPS. Besides, you aren't money laundering, so there wouldn't be a problem and if there was, the bank would be straight in touch.

Point is, if the solicitor can wait the 3 days, why not use BACS via online banking and save yourself £20.

System

You could just give your solicitor a cheque.
They will normally need 5 clear days beforehand.

The Flexaccount comes with a cheque book or you could get a counter cheque (a cheque written by the building society) free of charge before the 7th June.

Remember with CHAPS, it only guarantees same day, but as I found out this is simply before the close of business.

zppp

oliverp wrote: »

Considering this site is designed for money saving I'm a bit surprised at those answers.

Why? It is quite standard for a solicitor to request a CHAPS payment.

oliverp wrote: »

The odds of this transaction being flagged for anti money laundering reasons are low, and the odds are the same whether you send it via BACS or CHAPS.

The money laundering scenario was only mentioned to warn the OP against making multiple transactions rather than one.

oliverp wrote: »

Besides, you aren't money laundering, so there wouldn't be a problem and if there was, the bank would be straight in touch.

You're wrong. The bank would not contact someone suspected of money laundering as this is tipping off I'm afraid.

oliverp wrote: »

Point is, if the solicitor can wait the 3 days, why not use BACS via online banking and save yourself £20.

The nature of house purchases means that solicitors prefer CHAPS because it is instant. Bacs payments can be recalled once sent, cheques can bounce etc.