Bank Error in my favour... What to do???

Walshy_J86

Hi all,

A bit long winded, but I felt worth going into in detail...

Early in April, I took out a new credit card with 'Bank A' in order to transfer the balance across from 'Bank B' as the 0% deal was running out.

I called 'Bank A' once I had activated the card, to put through the balance transfer of around £1000. There was a problem with the transaction, and so I was asked to call back later. Again I called but they were still having issues with their systems, so I asked them to call me once the balance transfer had been complete. 24 hours later I received a call to confirm the balance transfer had been completed. I checked my account balance online with 'Bank A' which showed a negative balance of £1029 (inclusive of the transfer charge) as expected.

2 weeks later, I checked with 'Bank B' to check the balance had cleared as planned, only to find there was a POSITIVE balance of £9000 - I checked and it appears the transfer of £1000 was made 10 times in total. I checked my online banking with 'Bank A' which still showed as only owing them £1029.

This is where I am upto. Neither account has changed, I still owe 'Bank A' £1029 and am in credit with 'Bank B' to the tune of £9000, and I have had not contact from either bank.

I must admit I would not feel guilt about keeping it as it has NOT come from someone elses account by mistake, it has arisen due to a system error by bank themselves.

So my question is, WHAT DO I DO?

(I'm not daft enough to go out and spend it all, as know as soon as I did so, the bank would come back and ask for it back!)

I appreciate some will say 'call the bank and give it back', due to moral issues etc, but is that truly the best thing to do?

Would I not be better transferring it to a high interest account and earning some interest on it, at least until they ask me for it back?

I know that if you spend the money when you know it isn't yours it is seen as theft - would that still be the same if I didn't spend it but transferred it to a high interest account?

How long would I have to wait before the money is 'safe' - is there a limit on how far they can claim money off you, as per the 7 year rule that is the other way round?

Any other issues I need to consider?

Any help appreciated!!!

MichaelCR

Walshy_J86 wrote: »

Hi all,

A bit long winded, but I felt worth going into in detail...

Early in April, I took out a new credit card with 'Bank A' in order to transfer the balance across from 'Bank B' as the 0% deal was running out.

I called 'Bank A' once I had activated the card, to put through the balance transfer of around £1000. There was a problem with the transaction, and so I was asked to call back later. Again I called but they were still having issues with their systems, so I asked them to call me once the balance transfer had been complete. 24 hours later I received a call to confirm the balance transfer had been completed. I checked my account balance online with 'Bank A' which showed a negative balance of £1029 (inclusive of the transfer charge) as expected.

2 weeks later, I checked with 'Bank B' to check the balance had cleared as planned, only to find there was a POSITIVE balance of £9000 - I checked and it appears the transfer of £1000 was made 10 times in total. I checked my online banking with 'Bank A' which still showed as only owing them £1029.

This is where I am upto. Neither account has changed, I still owe 'Bank A' £1029 and am in credit with 'Bank B' to the tune of £9000, and I have had not contact from either bank.

I must admit I would not feel guilt about keeping it as it has NOT come from someone elses account by mistake, it has arisen due to a system error by bank themselves.

So my question is, WHAT DO I DO?

(I'm not daft enough to go out and spend it all, as know as soon as I did so, the bank would come back and ask for it back!)

I appreciate some will say 'call the bank and give it back', due to moral issues etc, but is that truly the best thing to do?

Would I not be better transferring it to a high interest account and earning some interest on it, at least until they ask me for it back?

I know that if you spend the money when you know it isn't yours it is seen as theft - would that still be the same if I didn't spend it but transferred it to a high interest account?

How long would I have to wait before the money is 'safe' - is there a limit on how far they can claim money off you, as per the 7 year rule that is the other way round?

Any other issues I need to consider?

Any help appreciated!!!

Place it into a savings account, Untill the bank ask for it back (if they do), That way at least you make some interest for yourself from it.

Gordon_Hose

Personally I'd call them and make them aware of the error.

dazza.mk

Hmmm assuming this isn't a troll how do you intend to transfer a +£9k balance on a credit card to your High Interest account?, even if you have a card that allows Super Balance Transfers you could easily hit Money Laundering Regulations.

Then of course when they reclaim the payment your Credit card would (presumably) over the limit resulting in charges.

Walshy_J86

dazza.mk wrote: »

Hmmm assuming this isn't a troll how do you intend to transfer a +£9k balance on a credit card to your High Interest account?, even if you have a card that allows Super Balance Transfers you could easily hit Money Laundering Regulations.

Then of course when they reclaim the payment your Credit card would (presumably) over the limit resulting in charges.

This is something else I was considering. Dont want to do an actual balance transfer as then I would lose the 5% transfer charge that Bank B charge, leaving me out of pocket if/when Bank A come asking for their money (if indeed the problem was at their end). One thought I has was to use the credit card from 'Bank B' to pay for my daily spending, and transfer money from my current account into a savings account to mirror it? Is this illegal? Cant see why it would be?

Is is possible to close your account and have the positive balance sent to you in a cheque, whereby you would not pay a transfer fee???

dmg24

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Personally I'd call them and make them aware of the error.

That would be because you have morals, something severely lacking around here at times ...

cepheus

Might this 9k accidental credit for you result in a missing payment for someone else? It's like finding a wallet on the pavement, surely you want to give it back ASAP so as to put the persons mind at rest?

Trajal

Finding a wallet in the street with money in it and keeping it without reporting to the police is 'theft by finding' and is a criminal offence.

This is the same situation in my view. Of course no one can push your moral compass for you, however I strongly feel that you would sleep better at night by calling it in as a mistake to the bank.

No one is likely to thank you for it, but it's the right thing to do.

Anyway, under money laundering exercises, they will almost certainly pick this up automatically anyway, if you have come forward and told them about it, brownie point for you. I suggest calling it in, chuckling about it to the customer service person, and demanding a bottle of wine as a gift for your honesty.

You never know!

Walshy_J86

cepheus wrote: »

Might this 9k accidental credit for you result in a missing payment for someone else? It's like finding a wallet on the pavement, surely you want to give it back ASAP so as to put the persons mind at rest?

This is not a payment which has come from another individuals' bank account, or a random transaction appearing - it seems as if the bank has simply duplicated the transaction x 10, and not charged the other account of mine... so the moral dilemna is not as harsh as it would be otherwise...

NekoZombie

They'll notice the error - A repeated transaction like that will be rectified at some point. I'm amazed your card isn't already frozen!

meer53

Call the bank. If you move it you may suddenly find that it is corrected by the bank without them contacting you. It's very easy to debit a credit card to correct an error, i do it every day at work. Your integrity may be questioned if you just leave it where it is, the bank will realise that you know it's happened, if you start spending it then it doesn't look too good on you does it ?