Is there a bank that shows detailed transaction information?

bdekeijzer

Hello all,

I have a Lloyds Classic account, but lately I have been noticing that on Lloyds' bank statements and Lloyds online banking applications, there is typically quite limited information shown for each transaction, and the info that people leave in the description-field is usually also short and uninformative.

In particular I would like to see as much as possible information on the statement about the account and account holder that I transfer money to, and also whenever someone transfers money to me, I'd like to see the contra account and the account holder's name that belongs to it. Lloyds does not give me this information and even refuses to give it when I contact them.

I am wondering if anyone knows whether there is a bank in the UK that displays such information properly? If this exists in the UK I would switch my account to such a bank.

Thank you!

Best,
Bart

colsten

bdekeijzer said:

In particular I would like to see as much as possible information on the statement about the account and account holder that I transfer money to,

The information you see n your statement for outgoing payments is the payee name that you allocated when setting up the payee. I think you can also see any payment reference if you add one for a payment. Tapping on a transaction will show you the date and time of a payment, plus some number which looks like a Lloyds unique payment number that is of no particular value to me.

What other information do you require to see?

bdekeijzer said:

 whenever someone transfers money to me, I'd like to see the contra account and the account holder's name that belongs to it. 

I can see the account holder name of the payer on all incoming transactions, plus, when I tap on it, the reference if one was used. Assuming that by "contra account" you mean the payer's account number: why do you need that?

masonic

bdekeijzer said:

In particular I would like to see as much as possible information on the statement about the account and account holder that I transfer money to

So send a penny by Faster Payment in order to see who the account belongs to? I can't see that ever being abused in any way.

Even the long awaited confirmation of payee will only reveal the account name if you get it almost right when entering the transaction, otherwise it will just tell you what you entered doesn't match up.

bdekeijzer

colsten said:

What other information do you require to see?

I would like to see in all cases where it is possible
-the name of the account holder to which my transfers go
-the account number and sort code to which I transfer
This is very often missing in the Lloyds statements, and not possible or difficult to look up.

colsten said:
I can see the account holder name of the payer on all incoming transactions, plus, when I tap on it, the reference if one was used. Assuming that by "contra account" you mean the payer's account number: why do you need that?

I cannot see that information in all cases, the name is often abbreviated or cut off, or the name is uninformative. In particular I have a completely unknown incoming transaction with the name "PAYMENTS", and I have no idea what it is. This triggered me to write this post here, but it has been bothering me for longer.
 
You are right that by contra account I mean the payer's account number. I want to know that because I want to choose to transfer money back in case I do not want to accept any money from an up to know anonymous donor. Secondly, I wonder what would be the reason for a bank to be so intransparent in any case? Why would Lloyds want to withhold this information from the customer?

I've lived in Netherlands, Italy, Germany and France, and in all cases my bank accounts showed this information all the time. I'm not sure if this issue is country-specific or Lloyds-specific though, but I am looking for a bank that simply shows this information.

masonic

bdekeijzer said:

You are right that by contra account I mean the payer's account number. I want to know that because I want to choose to transfer money back in case I do not want to accept any money from an up to know anonymous donor. Secondly, I wonder what would be the reason for a bank to be so intransparent in any case? Why would Lloyds want to withhold this information from the customer?

I've lived in Netherlands, Italy, Germany and France, and in all cases my bank accounts showed this information all the time. I'm not sure if this issue is country-specific or Lloyds-specific though, but I am looking for a bank that simply shows this information.

It would seem to be country specific. No current account I've held discloses the account number an incoming transfer was sent from (and I've held accounts with pretty much every bank). If you write a cheque to someone, you necessarily disclose your account number in the process, but the same is not true of an electronic transfer. The bank won't be at liberty to disclose the account details to you, but they should be able to return the payment at your request.

bdekeijzer

masonic said:

It would seem to be country specific. No current account I've held discloses the account number an incoming transfer was sent from (and I've held accounts with pretty much every bank). If you write a cheque to someone, you necessarily disclose your account number in the process, but the same is not true of an electronic transfer. The bank won't be at liberty to disclose the account details to you, but they should be able to return the payment at your request.

That's surprising to me, but thanks a lot for the info! I'll probably stop searching then, and stick with Lloyds.

mab3000

Monzo gives you the account number and sort code from where a payment that has been sent to you along with the account name. Shows you in the transactions sections of the app, I’m not sure about the actual statement. 

Descrabled

Yorkshire Bank shows incoming sort code, account no, and reference on my statements

masonic

If we're including "neobanks", then Fineco is another option.

hoc

There was a good thread last year on this. In summary traditional UK banks are very much behind the times on this. My friend gave the analogy that it's like receiving an email from someone but your mail provider not providing the sender's email address and only showing their name. The app based ones tend to be far better. Lloyds has difficulty producing correct statements.

colsten

hoc said:

There was a good thread last year on this. In summary traditional UK banks are very much behind the times on this. My friend gave the analogy that it's like receiving an email from someone but your mail provider not providing the sender's email address and only showing their name. The app based ones tend to be far better. Lloyds has difficulty producing correct statements.

Talking about being behind the times: I'd much rather not see the account number of the person who sent the money than having to wait for 2 or 3 business days for my payment to arrive at the other end. This is still the norm with many continental banks, especially when sending money between different banks.