Help, just lost 250£ at an ATM

mroller

Hi,

I have opened a flexaccount with Nationwide and gave the cash card to my parents who live abroad. They use it to withdraw money at ATMs on my behalf.

It worked fine for months, now, the day before yesterday, my father tried to get ~250£, the transaction was approved but the ATM didn't give him the money and said there is a technical problems. He got a ticket saying that the money was withdrawn though

He returned to the bank this morning and explained what happened, they checked and said that indeed the money wasn't withdrawn, they also said that it's up to me to go to Nationwide and get my money back.

Now I am lost, dont know what to say to nationwide, are we allowed to give our cards to someone else? Or should I just tell them that it was me who tried to use the card?

BTW, the money has come out of my account.

Please help.

olly300

No you are not allowed to give your card and pin to someone else it's against their terms and conditions.

It's happened to me before but the amount involved was only £20. I went back home and checked my account online to see if the money had been debited from my account.The money was debited and then paid back in 2 hours later.

Check your account again to see if the money was debited back in.

If not just own up to get the money back. Explain to the Nationwide what the issue is i.e. why your dad must have a card for your account and you can probably get an account with an extra card so your dad has permission to withdraw money out on it.

sgx.saint

Not 100% sure, but I do believe it is against a banks terms and conditions to let someone else use your card etc.

In this situation though I think your best bet is to just be open and honest and just explain it was a one off.

jimmyjim_uk

Surely the bank which messed up should sort it out for you. Why should you have to sought out their mistake?

As for Nationwide you could phone them pretending to be abroad.

If you admit you let someone else use the card they will definately not pay up.

vickitoria100

I am also confused as to why you have to contact Nationwide - a similar thing happened to my dad and it was the bank who own the atm who sorted it for him, not the bank with whom the account is with. I'd contact the bank abroad yourself.

jimmyjim_uk

Another thought. If you do phone Nationwide make sure you phone them from a mobile. Their call centre might have caller ID. Phoning from an English landline pretending to be abroad will look dodge. Calling from a mobile abroad to the UK displays the same number as if it were made from the UK

Good Luck.

mroller

Thanks a lot everybody.

I will try to speak to the bank abroad myself indeed and explain. (I am going there in a week anyway).

BTW, the local bank recognise the mistake and completely believe my dad, I am just wondering how to get this information to Nationwide, maybe someone who works with a bank can help?

Separate question, would Nationwide accept to add my dad as a joint account holder if he is not a UK resident? (this would make it compliant with their T&C in the future)

mroller

jimmyjim_uk wrote:

Another thought. If you do phone Nationwide make sure you phone them from a mobile. Their call centre might have caller ID. Phoning from an English landline pretending to be abroad will look dodge. Calling from a mobile abroad to the UK displays the same number as if it were made from the UK

Good Luck.

good point, but I am still trying to decide whether to do this or be open and honest. I presume if I do it I would call from a landline where the caller id is not displayed (from my work for example)

Cheers everybody.

olly300

Banks in different countries operate differently which maybe the reason why you haven't had your money back.

mroller wrote:

Thanks a lot everybody.

I will try to speak to the bank abroad myself indeed and explain. (I am going there in a week anyway).

BTW, the local bank recognise the mistake and completely believe my dad, I am just wondering how to get this information to Nationwide, maybe someone who works with a bank can help?

Separate question, would Nationwide accept to add my dad as a joint account holder if he is not a UK resident? (this would make it compliant with their T&C in the future)

If you haven't had the money debited back then just tell Nationwide asap. The longer you leave it the more you will look like you have something to hide. Either phone them as suggested else where, or go into the branch and tell them verbally. You are allowed to travel frequently to and from countries, and you don't have to give anyone the reason for your frequent trips as it's no ones business.

If your dad has a British passport or any right to live in the UK, then there should be no problem getting him on the account, you may have to use your UK address for him but they shouldn't really be a problem as long as you agree to it.

I've used my UK bank account when I lived aboard to pay debits etc in the UK and had a foreign address. Some things I could redirect so I used a relations address with their consent.

Kintoo

mroller wrote:

good point, but I am still trying to decide whether to do this or be open and honest. I presume if I do it I would call from a landline where the caller id is not displayed (from my work for example)

Cheers everybody.

Banks are not to harsh (At times) if you are honest, I have 2 bank accounts in my name and I left my GF use one and she made the mistake of going into the bank giving them the card and trying to deposit money.

They asked why she had the card and she said she uses the account not me, they took the card off her and asked for me to go into the bank. I did and explained she was my partner and did not have any real ID so could not open an account and they issued a card in her name (Very nice of them)...

This was halifax btw

mroller

vickitoria100 wrote:

I am also confused as to why you have to contact Nationwide - a similar thing happened to my dad and it was the bank who own the atm who sorted it for him, not the bank with whom the account is with. I'd contact the bank abroad yourself.

was it abroad? did they just credit your account or gave the money to your dad in another way?