Cash transferred into wrong account

annie42

My son transferred a sum, by phone, from his Barclays account to my Santander account. It didn't arrive so he rang his bank who said the account number was wrong by one digit. They say they will write to the recipient as they can't just take the money out of that persons account. My question is if the recipient has no funds how can we find out who was at fault. If it was the bank then I think they should cover the loss. Presumably the conversation was recorded, can I request a transcript if there is a dispute?

CLAPTON

your son should urgently ask for a transcript of the call.

agrinnall

If the account number was wrong by one digit it is very likely that the number will fail modulus checking (this assumes that Santander bother to modulus check, which may be a bit rash, even though it's a pretty standard thing to do) in which case the payment will either be returned or it'll go into a suspense account. Barclays can't write to the recipient as even if the number is valid they have no way of knowing who it belongs to, only Santander will know that. What Barclays will do is put a trace on the payment asking Santander to determine what happened to it. If it's in a suspense account they will return it, if it's gone to a customer account they will write to the customer to advise them of the error and ask for it back.

annie42

What is modulus search mean please and can we can we use any lack of a search to support our case?

Lokolo

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

Use this, see if the account exists first.

pqrdef

agrinnall wrote: »

If the account number was wrong by one digit it is very likely that the number will fail modulus checking

With an FP, either the account exists or it doesn't. If it doesn't, the transfer will fail when it's attempted and the money will not be sent, it'll just be credited straight back to the sending account.

annie42

Thanks I'llcheck if the account exists.

fort

Surely the payment transfer should have failed due to the account name not matching?

Gromitt

fort wrote: »

Surely the payment transfer should have failed due to the account name not matching?

They don't get the account name, so checking that is not possible.

annie42

Barclays contacted the recipient of the funds who has spent it. He has however agreed to repay and Barclays have set up two standing orders to leave his account in January and February. Hopefully the matter will be resolved.

stclair

annie42 wrote: »

Thanks I'llcheck if the account exists.

Did the account exist according to the website?

Has a complaint been raised if the bank was at fault?