Changing Bank Accounts - Beware Of Santander

Dabbad

It is remarkable that Santander has attracted so many new accounts recently bearing in mind the poor reputation its Customer Services have had until about eighteen months ago.

No doubt their service has improved recently but I strongly suspect that the increase in new accounts is largely due to the extremely attractive rates being offered.

However a note of caution. I have been a Santander account holder for over 26 years and when the failure of a faster payment to arrive at its destination within the 2 hour time period I claimed a £100.00 payment for a wasted round trip of 100 miles. A letter came back saying that "when you initially make a payment it is subject to normal checks made by our security team".


This would be fair enough but I had to write back explaining that a faster payment had been made the day before and it was not therefore an initial payment.

This time I received a reply saying "that all payments can flagged by our security system and as this is is an automated system additional payments can also be deemed as suspicious".

I have been unable to find this additional information on their website and it appears that an additional proviso has been added to justify the delay which they say is "not a fault in our systems". I have to disagree. It clearly takes some time for their records to be updated.


When I originally joined what was then Abbey in 1988 I was told that it is important for a degree of confidence to be maintained between client and customer. This is no longer the case as far as I am concerned and I have now moved my account elsewhere.

meer53

Faster Payments are guaranteed to arrive by the close of business the next working day, not within 2 hours. They quite often do arrive within 2 hours, but Santander don't guarantee this.

I can't see what they've done wrong ?

Same for all banks.

YorkshireBoy

Dabbad wrote: »

within the 2 hour time period

The payment services regulations allow (indeed specify) a maximum of "end of next business day".


My take on it is that the banks are doing me a favour by completing them (usually) within 2 hours...and often instantaneously.


I have current accounts with around a dozen banks and, whilst Santander are one of the worst for 'hold ups', they're not the only ones who do this.

Archi_Bald

Dabbad wrote: »

I have now moved my account elsewhere.

Just be aware that 'elsewhere' also has no guarantee for payments to arrive within 2 hours.

All banks have a legal obligation to ensure legitimate payment requests arrive by the end of the next business day. They also have a legal obligation to stop anything that might be illegal.

Most payments, including the Santander ones, arrive within minutes at the other end. Some even within seconds.

Leaving a bank because £100 didn't arrive with 2 hours seems an irrational reaction.

EDIT: apologies to the OP, their delayed payment might have been for more than £100. But even if it was £100,000 (Santander's FP limit), leaving the bank because the payment wasn't made within 2 hours is irrational. In fact, the higher the amount, the more you would expect your bank to check the payment request is valid, and the accounts involved aren't on any suspect or prohibited list.

Archi_Bald

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I have current accounts with around a dozen banks and, whilst Santander are one of the worst for 'hold ups', they're not the only ones who do this.

The Santander hold-ups I am aware of are for 1st payments to new payees only, not for subsequent ones. No first payment took longer than the end of the next business day for me, and subsequent payments are more or less instant. Is your experience the same?

SnowTiger

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The payment services regulations allow (indeed specify) a maximum of "end of next business day".


My take on it is that the banks are doing me a favour by completing them (usually) within 2 hours...and often instantaneously.


I have current accounts with around a dozen banks and, whilst Santander are one of the worst for 'hold ups', they're not the only ones who do this.

You should try N&P. They only appear to process Faster Payments during weekday working hours! :rotfl:

Payments via Santander are pretty well instantaneous for me.

Archi_Bald

SnowTiger wrote: »

You should try N&P. They only appear to process Faster Payments during weekday working hours! :rotfl:

Which is of course completely withing the legal requirements.

YorkshireBoy

Archi_Bald wrote: »

The Santander hold-ups I am aware of are for 1st payments to new payees only, not for subsequent ones. No first payment took longer than the end of the next business day for me, and subsequent payments are more or less instant. Is your experience the same?

Broadly. My first payment experience is the same as yours, but I have had the odd second/subsequent payment issue although none recently...probably because I now route everything through my Halifax hub account.

YorkshireBoy

SnowTiger wrote: »

You should try N&P. They only appear to process Faster Payments during weekday working hours! :rotfl:

The same is true of many building societies using collection accounts and the services of a clearing bank (ie YBS and NatWest).


As Archi says above though, the payment timescales do comply with the PSRs.

bengal-stripe

Dabbad wrote: »

This would be fair enough but I had to write back explaining that a faster payment had been made the day before and it was not therefore an initial payment.

It is quite common for fraudsters to make an initial small transfer (to see if the account is working). If the transaction was successful, the transfer of a large amount will follow.

If your transfers to a newly set-up payee followed that pattern (a trial with a quid or so, then shortly after the transfer of a substantial amount), you cannot be surprised the computer has raised an alarm.

As others have said, the standard time limit for a FP is the close of the next business day.

System

IMHO Santander are intentionally vague when the payment will arrive.

A relative also went through a period where payments would bounce back from various payees. When sent from non-Santander accounts to the same exact details, they arrived no problem.