Payee name changed on Standing Order from Santander 123 to Virgin Money 15 January 2020 at 2:07AM edited 15 January 2020 at 2:13AM in Budgeting & Bank Accounts 11 replies 734 views

Speculator

Just noticed the Payee Name on my Santander Standing order has been changed to a Mr D Hewitt! No idea who he is.

Sort Code and Account numbers are still the same. Been setting up standing orders online line for over 20 yrs and this is the first time I've come across this!

Ben8282

Very odd and requires explanation on the part of the bank.
Probably harmless though if the sort code and account number are still correct and unchanged as the name of the payee is not of any importance, but raises questions as to how and why it was done.
At least you are not claiming that your account has been hacked!

Roger1

If it is really a Standing Order, you have absolute control as payments are instigated by your instructions. You should check what's happened with your bank. Personally, I'd be inclined to cancel it and start a new one.

OTOH, if it's a Direct Debit instruction, details can be varied with your agreement. I'd check with the bank.

Standing Orders are rare these days, having largely been replaced by Direct Debits.

Speculator

Spoke to someone at 2.30am and he couldn't offer an explanation. He asked me to ring back during the day to speak to the banking team.

Just spoke to them again for 20 mins and he also couldn't find an explanation.

I am very meticulous and check everything 3 or 4 times before and after setting up the standing order.

I think it's a glitch caused by having too many standing orders. I currently have 44 monthly standing orders going out!

As a precaution, I've now changed my password and amended the Standing Order to the correct name.

colsten

This should, quite simply, not happen if you haven't done it. Do you have proof that it was a different name before? Santander will, or at least should, have an audit trail of any changes.

Could someone else have had access to your account? Could Santander's preparations for the forthcoming matching of account holder name with sort code + account number have anything to do with it?

If you have proof of a change, don't let it lie there. Insist on an explanation.

BTW, what kind of Santander account is this? on my full-fat 123, no Payee is shown, either online or in the mobile app.

Robin9

colsten wrote: »

…….

BTW, what kind of Santander account is this? on my full-fat 123, no Payee is shown, either online or in the mobile app.

Mine does - on selecting Standing Orders I get a schedule with the name against it and a drop down box of View/Amend/Cancel with gives full account and sort code.

colsten

Robin9 wrote: »

Mine does - on selecting Standing Orders I get a schedule with the name against it and a drop down box of View/Amend/Cancel with gives full account and sort code.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Like you, I can see the payee on the SO list. But I was, without saying so (!), referring to the detail display, as per the image in the OP. In that detail display, I can't see a "Payee name" on my SOs.

Speculator

colsten wrote: »

This should, quite simply, not happen if you haven't done it. Do you have proof that it was a different name before? Santander will, or at least should, have an audit trail of any changes.

Could someone else have had access to your account? Could Santander's preparations for the forthcoming matching of account holder name with sort code + account number have anything to do with it?

If you have proof of a change, don't let it lie there. Insist on an explanation.

BTW, what kind of Santander account is this? on my full-fat 123, no Payee is shown, either online or in the mobile app.

100% no one else has access to my account. Even if someone did, why change a payee name when they could empty my account? It's either a glitch or made by staff. No other explanation.

It's a Full fat "Select" 123.

Payee name is shown on both online and mobile app.

Went through emails and text messages but don't have proof of change of payee name.

I've taken a screenshot and will keep a lookout for anymore unauthorised changes.

colsten

Speculator wrote: »

It's a Full fat "Select" 123.

Payee name is shown on both online and mobile app

That's odd. Mine too, ex A&L-one, dating back to 2011. It seems they have two different system versions.

Speculator

Login procedure is different too.

My parents have a former A&L current account. (now an Everyday Current Ac)

To log in, it's simply Account ID and "Enter Customer PIN."

For my Santander Select, it's Account ID, then "Enter the following 3 characters of your Password."
followed by "Enter the following 3 numbers of your Security Number."

colsten

My login for online banking is customer ID, full Passcode and full Registration Number.
For the mobile app, all I need is the full Registration Number, or FaceID.

May be different logins are part of their security measures, to make it more difficult for fraudsters to work out how to log in.