MSE News: Faster current account switching is coming – but cards not included

pqrdef

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Why on earth would anyone think debit cards were included...?

Well, they might not understand how the banking system works. Or they might be misled by the Payments Council's habit of talking as if it runs the whole payment system, and ignoring the existence of the half that it doesn't run.

rb10

brewerdave wrote: »

..yes -but I have a letter from Santander saying the changeover is complete dated 12th August- but that they haven't had confirmations from A,B,C etc that their records have been updated ...and there is nothing more they can do!

Certain organisations (local councils are often a culprit) refuse to act on the advice of a bank, and instead require you to contact them directly.

It should just take a quick phone call or letter.

Archi_Bald

rb10 wrote: »

Certain organisations (local councils are often a culprit) refuse to act on the advice of a bank, and instead require you to contact them directly.

I can't wait to hear how this issue has been resolved once the Current Account Switch Guarantee is with us. I suppose "If there are any issues in making the switch, we will contact you before your switch date" is their get-out-of-jail-card.

I wouldn't personally let any bank make any switch for me (unless I set up some a special, basically unused, account for the purpose) but I feel very strongly that if the Payments Council, George Osborne, and the banks tell us that it takes 7 days, it should take seven days. Not a day longer, and partial completion isn't acceptable.

Archi_Bald

Let's remind ourselves what Gideon is said to have said:

Osborne said in a speech today: "From September this year, every customer of every bank in Britain will be able to switch their bank account from their existing bank to another one in seven days.

"All they will have to do is sign up to a new bank – and the rest will follow. All the direct debits, the standing orders, everything will be switched for you with no hassle. This is a revolution in customer choice."

From http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2013/02/osborne-confirms-plans-for-quicker-current-account-switching

He's obviously not thought this through himself, and neither have his speech writers.

pinkdalek

It's so good to see the negativity around this place. Something which is being introduced to make switching easier, yet it seems as per usual there a those who just focus on the negative and pick out faults. Typically trivial queries which aren't really on reflection that stressful to sort out are they?

Really you should all work for the Daily Mail, you'd love it.

pqrdef

Archi_Bald wrote: »

I can't wait to hear how this issue has been resolved once the Current Account Switch Guarantee is with us.

But that's the point. It won't matter if the council takes its time. If it sends a payment claim to the old account, BACS will redirect it to the new account.

It'll also tell the council what it's done. So there'll be no point in the council saying they won't do this and they'll only do that, because their principles are being subverted anyway and there's nothing they can do about it. So they might as well just get on with updating their records.

pqrdef

Archi_Bald wrote: »

He's obviously not thought this through himself, and neither have his speech writers.

He's wrong even in BACS-land. For instance, I've got a two-year bond where I gave my current account details at the time of opening, for them to send the proceeds to on maturity.

So if I switch, that'll need changing, and nobody's going to change it except me. Assuming I remember. Well I know I've got a record somewhere, just got to remember where I put it. But that's just me - few people would have a record at all. And it's not online - some accounts aren't, still.

But 13 months of redirection won't cover it, because the payment is more than 13 months in the future and obviously the data won't be used at all in the meantime.

And then there's HMRC. Legendary for poor data quality. A third of their letters go to the wrong addess, or something like that. It's inevitable that they'll send tax refunds to bank details that are more than 13 months out of date, and there won't be anything that anybody can do about it, because they get round to things in their own time and not before.

13 months is pathetic anyway. BACS have always reckoned that DDs should expire if not used for 13 months. But it's not that unusual for magazine publishers or insurance companies to throw in a couple of free months as an introductory offer, so the first renewal is after 14-15 months.

pinkdalek

Stop whinging people and coming up with such pathetic, and rare excuses.

Seriously at the end of the day YOU are responsible for YOUR finances. There is only so much one bank can do, what would you like to happen exactly? Surely the payments council and the systems being set up are in place to make banks talk on the same wavelength and the service is the same across the board.

Would it really be such hassle to amend a payment that isn't due for another 2 yrs? It's not like you would not have plenty of time to do it....sick of all the negativity on this forum.

pqrdef

And then there's the other half of the payment system.

Some issues arising with debit cards and bank switching:

1) pending payments, with or without pre-authorisation. Some payees take their time collecting. Some payments are deliberately future-dated. Wonga will love it if you give your debit card details, take a loan and then close your account.

Not a problem if you keep the old account and some money in it. With the new system, it's only a matter of time before we get the thread where somebody's "closed" account has been re-opened for a stray debit, and is racking up a ton of overdraft charges, and there's no way he can pay any money in, because any money he tries to send gets redirected.

2) CPAs, as often used for subscription and insurance renewals or instalment plans. The hard part is to know what CPAs you've actually got. And then you have to figure out how to contact the payees. And contrary to Gideon you're still going to have to do all this yourself.

3) A lot of websites will save debit card details for future reference. These will all want updating, and you'll have to do it yourself.

4) Some merchants like to pay refunds back to the card they took the money from. Not a problem if you keep the old account, but messy if you close it.

5) Bookies especially like to refund all returned stakes back to the card they came from, for anti-money-laundering reasons. Another reason to keep the old account.

Arthur_Sleep

I can't help but think that anyone umm-ing and ahh-ing about perhaps switching bank accounts once the new guarantee is in place is probably best advised to keep well away from this thread.