MSE News: Current account switching 'working well', but improvement still needed

YorkshireBoy

meer53 wrote: »

If MBNA are provided with proof that the error was not yours, then yes.

So if FD and/or Halifax write to MBNA saying the CASS failed, MBNA must remove any resultant derogatory information from your credit files?


Do you have a link to any official documentation on this 'requirement' to correct credit files?...because as far as MBNA are concerned, you did pay late. The circumstances surrounding the late payment, I would have thought, would be of little concern to them.


In making this assertion, are you speaking with inside knowledge/in any form of official capacity for your employer?

meer53

I have inside knowledge of removing information from credit files when errors have been made.

There is no documentation as far as errors to do with switching goes but making a complaint to the bank where the DD should have been paid from should result in them rectifying the issue.

colsten

From http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/switch_service/faqs/

Q5
Will switching my current account affect my credit rating?

A5
No, providing you repay any outstanding overdraft(s) on your previous account(s) as required by your old bank or building society. If there are any problems with payments (as part of the switching process) your new bank or building society will correct them and ensure your credit rating is not affected.

Seems clear enough to me.

Obviously it will be a pain and you have to check, but I suppose they will compensate you royally.

YorkshireBoy

meer53 wrote: »

I have inside knowledge of removing information from credit files when errors have been made.

There is no documentation as far as errors to do with switching goes but making a complaint to the bank where the DD should have been paid from should result in them rectifying the issue.

I'm sorry to labour the point meer, really I am, but your first point above relates to errors by your bank (I would imagine?)...and you have much more scope there to do that.


What I've done in my scenario above is to introduce a 3rd party (it could be Yorkshire Water, BT Mobile, or any other DD originator), who have had no involvement with the issues surrounding the late payment/failed DD.


What I'm looking for is some reassurance that MBNA, or whoever, would act on the request (it can't be an instruction can it?) of a couple of banks and wipe factual data from CRA records.


However, what I'm suspecting is that this, as grumbler has said above, will be down to the customer...and very much dependant on goodwill from the DD originator. And therefore won't happen, because the 'principles of reciprocity' wouldn't allow it.

colsten

Payment Council reaction to FCA report:

Current Account Switch Service responds to the Financial Conduct Authority’s Making Current Account Switching Easier report
12 March 2015

A spokesperson for the Current Account Switch Service said:

“It’s encouraging that the Financial Conduct Authority’s Making Current Account Switching Easier report published today has confirmed that the Current Account Switch Service is working for all those customers choosing to switch. This is a strong endorsement for a service that was only introduced eighteen months ago but which has already processed over 1.6 million switches. Nothing beats word of mouth recommendation and we hope that as the good news spreads many more consumers, charities and businesses will be encouraged to switch – unless of course they are happy with their current provider.

Despite such success the industry recognises that there is no room for complacency and is committed to taking further action to help customers wherever there is clear evidence that it is required. To these ends the industry has already agreed to make a number of improvements to the switching service, which will come in to effect at the end of this month. This includes extending the redirection service to 36 months and extending the reach of the service to include businesses with a turnover up to £6.5 million. We believe this will enable 99% of SMEs to benefit from the switch guarantee.

Bacs, which owns and manages CASS, is working with the industry to bolster the national advertising campaigns that have already helped raise awareness and confidence of the service and will be working with the Payment Systems Regulator - which becomes operational on 1st April - to review the other recommendations.”

Key facts as of end February 2015:

• The total number of switches since launch (16 September 2013) stands at 1.64 million
• Customer awareness of the new service stands at 70%
• Customer confidence in the new service stands at 63%
• More than 99% of switches that successfully start are completing in the seven working day timescale
• Payments Council-commissioned research carried out in April and May 2014 showed that 79% of people were happy or satisfied with their existing bank or building society
  
  http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/3203/
  

I think it is quite telling that 79% of people were happy or satisfied with their existing bank or building society - this should be enough reason not to invest an awful lot more in new functionality.

YorkshireBoy

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

What I'm looking for is some reassurance that MBNA, or whoever, would act on the request (it can't be an instruction can it?) of a couple of banks and wipe factual data from CRA records.

In order to try and get a specific answer to this query I've sent a message via the simplerworld's contact us page. I'll post back when/if I get a reply.


But it's interesting that the FAQ quoted above specifically mentions credit ratings, because the actual 'guarantee' itself doesn't. It merely says "...we will refund any interest (paid or lost) and charges made on either your old or new accounts as a result of this failure".

Thrugelmir

Mobeer wrote: »

- keep the same account number and sort code

That result in the customer remaining with their existing bankers. :wall:

Mobeer

colsten wrote: »

...
To ask for a same-day switch is probably asking too much. Which other company switches you same day? ...

It's been done for me for Electricity, Gas, Home Phone, Internet. They could all switch with seamless service - I think banks should do the same.

Mobeer

Thrugelmir wrote: »

That result in the customer remaining with their existing bankers. :wall:

No, I'm saying that I want to take my account number and sort code with me when I switch.

When I switch home phone supplier I keep the same number. Same for mobile phones. New utilities and I keep the same meter number. New internet host and I keep the same email address. So why not new banking service provider and I keep the same contact details?

YorkshireBoy

Mobeer wrote: »

No, I'm saying that I want to take my account number and sort code with me when I switch.

When I switch home phone supplier I keep the same number. Same for mobile phones. New utilities and I keep the same meter number. New internet host and I keep the same email address. So why not new banking service provider and I keep the same contact details?

Because, with the current systems, your sort code is tied to the bank (and sometimes even to a particular branch of that bank).


It's a little like relocating from Edinburgh to Taunton and asking BT to provide/modify the systems to enable you to retain an 0131 area code for your home phone.