Sort code not recognised bank details invalid

sgaorishal

I have recently opened a new Reward Current Account with the Halifax. I've had trouble with some companies unable to pay money into it. topcashback.co.uk say the bank details are invalid and another company says the sort code is not recognised. I've used an online sort code search and the sort code Halifax have given me doesn't come up with a branch but when I entered several other sort codes they have all come up with a valid branch.
I have telephoned Halifax but they insist there is no problem and seem unable to help. There is definitely a problem butb I don't know how to go about sorting it. Any theories out there?

opinions4u

What is the sort code?

(Plan B would be to open a savings account and have the TopCashback payment sent to that)

agrinnall

Not all sortcodes relate to a physical branch, so may not be found depending on how you do the search. If you tell us the sortcode we can find out more about it, and other people may be able to advise if they also have the same sortcode and have experienced any issues with it.

jfh7gwa

sgaorishal wrote: »

I have telephoned Halifax but they insist there is no problem and seem unable to help.

Yep, that doesn't surprise me. Pretty much my experience of any time there's been a problem with my Halifax account. :mad:

Ben8282

You keep talking about the sort code that Halifax have 'given you'. Does this sort code correspond to the sort code on statement/cheque book/debit card? Could you have noted it incorrectly? Have YOU tried to pay some money into the account using these details?

Which branch did you open the account at? Can you try to find out the sort code of this branch and see how it compares to the one you have been given?

sgaorishal

The sort code is 11 52 07 account opened by telephone not at a branch

noh

From http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/demos/bankvalidator.aspx

Sort code 115207
Bank
Halifax

Branch
Halifax Direct



Address
Halifax Savings


Po Box 470

Town
Halifax

Postcode
HX1 2WR

Phone
0845 720304

xylophone

Most peculiar - 11 is the Bank of Scotland/Halifax code and it is recognized here http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/resources_and_publications/sort_code_checker/

However, the sort code checker here http://findsortcodes.co.uk/results.php?post=Submit+your+choices&searchstring=halifax+++&page=129 doesn't seem to show it and the standard look up tool doesn't either.:eek:

agrinnall

It is a bit odd, several sort code checkers haven't found it but the Payments Council one definitely has it and says the following:

Faster Payments can be sent to this sort code.
Bacs Credit payments can be sent to this sort code.
Bacs Direct Debits can be set up on this sort code.
CHAPS Payments can be sent to this sort code.
Eligible for Cheque & Credit Clearing.


Which suggests that payments should go to it OK. However, the fact that some checkers don't recognise it may point to it having been omitted from one or more of the files used to update financial systems with current valid sortcodes - if you google for sortcode file you will see a variety of these. Unfortunately I don't know what you can do about it other than continue to raise it with any company that can't pay you, and with HBOS themselves, providing them with evidence from this thread to back you up.

rb10

I would guess that 11-52-07 is a relatively new sort code that Halifax have only recently started using.

When a payment is sent from one bank to another, they look up the sort code in an internal sort code directory, to see where the payment is to be sent. Banks are supposed to update this fortnightly, or so.

Unfortunately, many fail to do this, meaning that their system doesn't recognise newly created sort codes.

When I worked for Halifax, we opened a new branch, which had a new sort code. The new sort code was activated around 2 months before the branch opened, which should have given time for others to update their systems. But it took HSBC 9 months to recognise it, and it was only after many customer complaints that they added it in. Even after that, Virgin Media still didn't recognise it when I set up a direct debit with them - I had to go through their complaints process for them to recognise my sort code.

If companies say that the sort code is invalid, tell them that they are wrong, and that it definitely exists. They should be able to manually override the system. Send in a complaint if necessary.

Halifax won't be able to do anything - the links above show that they have done their part, and made the sort code available. The onus now lies on other companies to keep their systems up to date.

pqrdef

rb10 wrote: »

Halifax won't be able to do anything - the links above show that they have done their part, and made the sort code available. The onus now lies on other companies to keep their systems up to date.

I don't buy this. Banks should recognise that it takes the world a long time to update its tables, so they can't introduce new sort codes (or card BIN numbers) at the drop of a hat. They should register codes about a year before they start using them. Two months is useless.

If they don't do this, then they're knowingly issuing their customers with accounts and cards that they're going to have trouble with. And they seem to think "not our fault" is a good enough excuse. Well that tells us about banks' attitudes to their customers.