AUDDIS Direct debit system being abused by NPower?

Hazzanet

innovate wrote: »

I do concede that there are one or two banks (Natwest, First Direct) who could perhaps improve how they handle DDs, by showing them as soon as the mandate has been set up, and not just after the first payment has been made.

Plenty of DDs on my list at First Direct that haven't been collected?!:

dtaylor84

SuperHan wrote: »

Not really ridiculous when in most cases an incorrect DD can be refunded and cancelled with little stress and effort and a small amount of vigilance over your bank account.

It is ridiculous given the technology now available.

Why not confirm new DD instructions by text/phone before they are activated -- like I already do for a new payee?

Or even just send me a text to notify me when a new DD has been set up?

innovate

dtaylor84 wrote: »

Or even just send me a text to notify me when a new DD has been set up?

Now that is a suggestion I would support, as long as it is optional (like most of the notification services are). It would still cost a small fortune to implement and run, but it could be done independently by all banks, at their own pace. I have to say, however, there seem to be a lot more pressing improvements, such as listing the interest rates on all accounts.

innovate

Hazzanet wrote: »

Plenty of DDs on my list at First Direct that haven't been collected?!:

May be I am confusing it with their SOs, sorry.

fiona0359

zerog wrote: »

The most likely situation is probably some npower call centre staff mistyping an account number that was given to him over the phone, or the customer saying his account number incorrectly. How many times have you given a number over the phone for the person to read it back to you incorrectly?

Fraud is also possible, but probably not as common as everyone thinks

It IS common. I have had about 5 fraudulent debits off my company's account in the last six months. Why should it be up to me to check that debits aren't being taken from my account when they shouldn't be. The companies originating the direct debits should make more checks or the bank (NatWest) should warn me that a new direct debit has been set up but neither happens. AUDDIS is a dreadful set up - the way it works should be changed

jelv

innovate wrote: »

However, if you have a much better system to offer, why don't you take it to the banks and the Payments Council? Complete with the business case that convinces them that it would be a good investment. Also, how would your much better system eliminate human error?

There's something very simple that could be done that would be totally automatic. Whenever I've filled in a DD mandate it asks for the name of the account holder - the same could be done when setting one up by phone. Then when the trader sends the details to the bank they check the name matches - if it doesn't they reject it.

That would have prevented the incorrect payment being taken from my account in the last few days.

grumbler

Firstly, this can't be done automatically as the name can be written differently.
Secondly, this can prevent some errors, but can't prevent deliberate misuse of your account details. Neither the name not the bank details is a secret and they often come together like it was in JC case.

Uxb

As Grumbler say it really is not easy to match names
try
account in the names of Miss JP Smith & Prof JH Jones

So does Miss JP Smith and JH Jones match or not?
how about JP smith and J Jones?
...and so on