Faster payment pending in recipient's account

ridgers84

Hi guys,

On the 1st October I transferred around £900 to a friends business bank account for goods. I used the Lloyds mobile app which showed the payment was sent via faster payments.

The payment showed as pending in his account within two hours of sending it. It is still showing as pending now and has been for the last 7 days.

I called my bank and they confirmed the payment had left my account and it was sent via the faster payments system. My friend called his bank who said that it can take up to 7 days to clear. He was also told not to release the goods until it has cleared as the payment can still be claimed back. I would never ask him to send the items before payment has cleared anyway. My bank however, has said that the money cannot be returned to my account (I asked as I thought I may be able to return the payment and just pay him cash).

So here we are 7 days later and the payment is still pending in his account. I'm not sure what to do, my bank have said they can open up a query with the payments & errors dept but that can take up to 21 days. The issue I have now is that he goes away for 2 weeks tomorrow, and as of right now the payment hasn't cleared so I won't be receiving my goods until his return (not his fault though).

Does anyone know how long a faster payment can remain pending for, bearing in mind it's already been 7 days?

Any advice appreciated

NewToTheUkAgain

It sounds like to me, that your friends bank has blocked the funds for whatever reason, most likely there conducting further checks on his account for some reason.

JuicyJesus

NewToTheUkAgain wrote: »

It sounds like to me, that your friends bank has blocked the funds for whatever reason, most likely there conducting further checks on his account for some reason.

Bingo. Although I must say I've never heard of a Faster Payment being shown as "pending", usually I'd just expect the payment not to appear at all while the bank did its checks.

Still kind of odd for a relatively small payment for a business bank account (there's generally an expectation on the latter that money will be sent and received for greater amounts and at a higher rate, although obviously it depends on normal activity patterns.)

ridgers84

Thanks for the replies.

Will my bank be able to tell me whether the payment has cleared on his end?

JuicyJesus

ridgers84 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Will my bank be able to tell me whether the payment has cleared on his end?

No. The most they can do is contact the other bank, who may or may not choose to confirm or respond at all.