Is on-line banking safe?

innovate

Just to depress everyone: never mind whether online banking is safe - - may be the question should be whether banks are safe.

If this list is anything to go by, there's loads of room for improvement. No medals for any of the UK banks.

tosyn

innovate wrote: »

So you'd need to know the exact name of the account holder, in addition to the exact sort code and account number?

Eg. you want to pay Paul Smith on 01-02-03 12345678
Do you send the money to Paul Smith? P Smith? P. Smith? Mr P Smith? Mr P.Smith? Mr and Mrs Paul Smith? Mr Paul Smith and Mrs Emma Smith? Mr. P. M. Smith? Mr Paul M. Smith?

And god forbid if there is a P Smith 01-02-03 12345678 and a Paul Smith 01-02-03 22345678 - - which one would you want the software to pick for you?

Obviously, there is clever software that could find approximate matches, but the cost of implementing this would be huge, and the result would in many cases still not be precise. Plus, instead of figuring out what the correct account name might be, double-checking the sort code and account number seems significantly less effort for us busy users.

The above are some of the reasons why banks do not want to add that level of complexity. I guess sometimes its better to keep problems as it is rather than trying to find the solutions to something if it only affects a minority who can't type-in correctly.

Oh, by the way has anyone tried putting an "&" in the payment reference - my HSBC won't let me add anything other than alphabets and numbers.

Miss_Havisham

at the bank I worked for years ago the account number algorithm ensured that it never produced consecutive numbers. The only way anyone could make a mistake with one account number and end up with the money on another was if they made the mistake using the same algorithm.

Another check is that payments are channelled down the sort code quoted on the payment and then into the account number quoted on the payment.

So, you'd have to get the algorithm right on the "wrong" account number and get the sort code right for the branch where the erroneous account resides. (Sorry, as clear as mud).

More likely is that one digit is typed in wrongly, the payment goes off to the correct branch sort code, the branch can't pay it into a non-existent account so the money sits on an "unapplied" account until (a) a member of staff unravels it and returns to sender, or (b) the payer gets his\her own bank to trace the payment through the system and get it back.

99 times out of 100 the error will be with the person completing the on-line payment instruction. One major issue that the DM has overlooked is that banks often take ages to trace and correct such payments.

cepheus

You can see if there is a valid account number with similar digits to yours by checking here. It only gives you about 10 tries though. As far as I can see there is no-one with consecutive digits to my account number on the last two digits

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

CLAPTON

probably the most likely keying error, especially for the dyslexic amounst us is transposing two digits.

pimento

callum9999 wrote: »

It is right... But then it's also common sense. Enter the wrong account number and the payment will go to the wrong account - who knew...

What if the person you're sending money to gives you the wrong number by mistake?

callum9999

pimento wrote: »

What if the person you're sending money to gives you the wrong number by mistake?

What about it? The payment goes off to the wrong account (or some kind of holding account) and you have to try and get it back (or hope the bank/computer realises and sends it back automatically) just the same.

Though there may be a valid use I'm overlooking, I don't like how unidentified payments are kept in "suspense accounts" - or whatever the right name for them is. Is there a reason why they can't just bounce it back automatically if they can't identify who it's for?

pimento

If it does find a valid account to go into, the owner of that account doesn't have to give it back I don't think.
It's the fault of the transferer or the person who gave the wrong information but the penalty for an honest mistake shouldn't necessarily be to lose your money. I think the point of the article was to say this.

pinkdalek

innovate wrote: »

Just to depress everyone: never mind whether online banking is safe - - may be the question should be whether banks are safe.

If this list is anything to go by, there's loads of room for improvement. No medals for any of the UK banks.

No nothing is safe, supermarkets will be next, followed by petrol suppliers and energy suppliers, then the emergency services will collapse, the whole entire western civilisation will fall into a nightmare chaos...... But don't panic we will still have a Daily Mail to read

callum9999

pimento wrote: »

If it does find a valid account to go into, the owner of that account doesn't have to give it back I don't think.
It's the fault of the transferer or the person who gave the wrong information but the penalty for an honest mistake shouldn't necessarily be to lose your money. I think the point of the article was to say this.

They do have to give it back. If they don't it's theft (surely you've seen the occasional news story we get where people have had £1m put in their account by mistake so withdraw it all and run off abroad - then end up getting arrested for theft?).