Money transfer error - advice needed please

Brucefan

Hi, Hoping somebody in banking can advise me on best way to sort out this problem. On 22 December I attempted to make a money transfer but instead of entering an account number I entered the long card number. Instead of this transaction being rejected the bank used the last 8 digits of the number entered and paid money into an account with that number. I am now in the process of trying to claim this money back and seem to be going round in circles with customer service members at the bank - the only progress since this was reported to them on 22 December is that they have emailed the recipient bank to request the money back. I have made numerous phone calls and visited recipient bank (as advised by my bank) but end up going round in circles. I'm getting increasingly frustrated with being told It can take 6 - 8 weeks. I appreciate that, but my concern is that nobody seems to be taking responsibility for following this case up and it seems that they expect me to wait for 6 weeks and hope for the best. There is no guarantee that I will get the money back apparantly. Any advice on how I can move forward on this in attempt to get my money back would be greatly appreciated. Thank you :eek::mad:

eskbanker

http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/consumers/what-happens-if-i-have-sent-payment-wrong-place explains the process, including the four weeks that the recipient's bank has to notify the recipient and await a response.

What happens next depends on how the recipient responds - if they accept that it was a mistake then the money is returned to you by the banks once that's been confirmed but if they dispute it then things can get messy.

However, there isn't anything you (or the banks) can do to expedite the process, it takes as long as it takes, so just be patient....

xylophone

I entered the long card number. Instead of this transaction being rejected the bank used the last 8 digits of the number entered and paid money into an account with that number.

Is this not as much a bank error as yours?

Ballard

xylophone wrote: »

Is this not as much a bank error as yours?

Fully the OPs fault but I don’t think that they claim otherwise.

Brucefan

However, there isn't anything you (or the banks) can do to expedite the process, it takes as long as it takes, so just be patient...

Thank you - patience is a virtue - a work in progress for me!

Is this not as much a bank error as yours?

I hope that it doesn't come to this, but yes I would argue that they should have realised that an 8 digit number was not an account number and the transaction should have failed for this reason

eskbanker

Are you able to test how a longer number is treated by experimenting again (without pressing the 'submit' button!) on whichever website/app you used?

It seems plausible to me that a data entry field sized for 8 digits might simply overwrite the oldest digits with the newest ones, so if you effectively submitted an 8-digit number as the final step then it's more your fault, but if a 16-digit number went through and was subsequently truncated out of sight then that would seem more like the bank's responsibility....

Brucefan

xylophone wrote: »

Is this not as much a bank error as yours?

eskbanker wrote: »

Are you able to test how a longer number is treated by experimenting again (without pressing the 'submit' button!) on whichever website/app you used?

It seems plausible to me that a data entry field sized for 8 digits might simply overwrite the oldest digits with the newest ones, so if you effectively submitted an 8-digit number as the final step then it's more your fault, but if a 16-digit number went through and was subsequently truncated out of sight then that would seem more like the bank's responsibility....

I've got a printed copy of the transaction and it shows the entire 16 digit card number in the account number field

EarthBoy

Brucefan wrote: »

I've got a printed copy of the transaction and it shows the entire 16 digit card number in the account number field

Which bank was this? All the banks I use will only accept 8 digits in the account number field.

Brucefan

EarthBoy wrote: »

Which bank was this? All the banks I use will only accept 8 digits in the account number field.

It was Tesco Bank (a credit card transaction)

Terry_Towelling

Just tried it via Tesco and the account number field only takes the first 8 digits you type, so not sure why the last 8 should still go in but be truncated and hidden from view. The saved payee also only showed as the first 8 digits.

Are you really saying you entered one of your own CREDIT card numbers? If so, has a credit appeared on that credit card account? - unlikely I know but worth checking.

You also need to talk to Tesco to tell them that their system has let you input 16 digits, only shown you the first 8 digits but sent the money to the last 8.

Incidentally, how do you know it has sent the money to the last 8 digits when the saved payee only shows up as the first 8 and your printed receipt shows all 16? Does the debit on your account show it as the last 8 digits?

Brucefan

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Just tried it via Tesco and the account number field only takes the first 8 digits you type, so not sure why the last 8 should still go in but be truncated and hidden from view. The saved payee also only showed as the first 8 digits.

Are you really saying you entered one of your own CREDIT card numbers? If so, has a credit appeared on that credit card account? - unlikely I know but worth checking.

You also need to talk to Tesco to tell them that their system has let you input 16 digits, only shown you the first 8 digits but sent the money to the last 8.

Incidentally, how do you know it has sent the money to the last 8 digits when the saved payee only shows up as the first 8 and your printed receipt shows all 16? Does the debit on your account show it as the last 8 digits?

Hi, thanks for your reply. It was a money transfer from my Tesco Credit Card account to a Nationwide Bank Account - perhaps the set up is different on Credit card transfers. It wasn't to my account, it was to another family members bank account (or should have been). Tesco have confirmed that they used the last 8 digits of the number I entered and sent the money to that account. The debit history on my account shows the full 16 digit number -