MSE News: Sent money to the wrong account? Now it should be easier to get it back

Consumerist

masonic wrote: »

If I was selling something, and someone paid me by bank transfer, and I therefore sent the item believing the money was mine, and then the buyer claimed to their bank that they made a typo in the account details and reclaimed the payment without giving me the time and opportunity to fight the fraudulent claim, I'd be livid.

What you are suggesting would destroy trust in the bank transfer system. Payments should only be reversed after giving all affected parties plenty of time to respond to a claim.

Good point.

ChiefGrasscutter

colsten wrote: »

The name on many of my FPs is something like "My account 6789", whilst the actual name on the receiving account is "Mrs A. Barnes" or something similar. No program on God's earth could possibly match the name on the FP with the account name in any reliable form.

We go round and round this one over and over again each time this subject comes up on here.
My usual example account name is
"Prof H J and Mrs C M Smith Household Account"
Those wanting name checking should see how many variations they can come up with, and decide which ones should be accepted and which not

Herbalus

We already have a very good system. Each account has a specific number that identifies it, and you give this number to people so they can direct payments to it. It's simple, and easy.

Then humans come along with fat fingers and type the wrong thing. It's almost as if humans are the weak point in any system. If you can come up with a system that removes the potential for humans to get it wrong, then I'm all for it.

YorkshireBoy

Consumerist wrote: »

I understand that there is some cost involved in recovering such amounts so I don't see why some sort of "recovery" charge couldn't be made...

The Payment Services Regulations allow, under Reg 74.-(2)(b), for such a charge to be made...providing, of course, that the 'framework contract' (aka your account T&Cs) allow for such a charge to be made.

brewerdave

Wonder if it'll make the Banks more receptive/helpful, when the opposite occurs? Twice over the years, I've received payments into my current account which weren't mine. Once for a few pounds,the other for ~ £100.
Both times I've reported it to my bank -on neither occasion ,have the payments been reclaimed.

phillw

Consumerist wrote: »

The article says:
To me that says the account is in an un-arranged overdraft and therefore charges are being made, are they not?

Which account do you think they are talking about?

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Those wanting name checking should see how many variations they can come up with, and decide which ones should be accepted and which not

No variations should be acceptable. If you want someone to pay money into your account, then you should give them the name your bank holds on file for you. If you tell someone the wrong name then the payment will be bounced and it's your problem. The bank allows a nick name on accounts for you to keep track of them, that isn't relevant to identifying you. When the bank send you a letter or report your tax on interest to HMRC they won't write to Mr Current Account#2, they know your name as you told them it. Tell the people sending you money the same name and it will work 100% every time. What are the odds that people can't give their own name correctly, but can give the right sort code and account number? All three pieces of information are written on your debit card.

[Deleted User]

Maybe the Paym way of dealing with this problem could be extended to FPS?

When you make a Paym payment, it tells you the name of the recipient before you confirm.

EarthBoy

If the need to enter the customer's name was built into the payment system, it needn't insist on the exact name on the account. It could just match up the first four or five letters of the surname, for example, and ignore all titles and initials.

E.g. for Mrs A R Smith, you'd just enter the name as "smit". This would add a layer of authentication to make sure that you were sending payments to the correct account.

However, any such change is very unlikely to happen because all the banks would have to upgrade their systems and it would be hideously expensive, for little benefit.

colsten

EarthBoy wrote: »

E.g. for Mrs A R Smith, you'd just enter the name as "smit".

How would your software determine the difference between e.g. Mrs A R Smith and Mrs A Smith, who could be the same person or two totally different people?

DCFC79

Just set up a £1 payment to the account to pay and ask if the payment has been received and once its received you send the rest of the money across. Done this a couple of times over the last couple of years.