Tandem Bank - Santander Cannot Verify The Bank Transfer

martindow

I was tempted by Tandem Bank and opened a one year fixed account.  When trying to transfer the cash from Santander it throws up a warning that it is unable to check the destination account.

Tandem insist on the full payment being sent in one go so I can't test it with a small initial payment and I'm not keen on sending several tens of thousands of Pounds without some certainty.

Has anyone else experienced this and what would you advise doing to be sure that this transfer would be safe?  I'm inclined to give them a miss - the account lapses in fourteen days if the payment is not made.

bowlhead99

There are plenty of accounts that banks can't automatically verify when sending payments so just give a standard warning.

How did you get the sort code and account number for the account you are paying into? Is it displayed to you on your app, or did they send you a letter? If someone emailed or texted you the details through an unsecure channel the details might be spoofed and fake, so I would not be keen to do a transfer on that alone, whereas if it is showing on the app or the website you shouldn't have any reason to doubt their accuracy. 

Why not just phone Tandem and ask them if the account number you are proposing to pay into is the correct account?

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Notepad_Phil

martindow said:

Has anyone else experienced this and what would you advise doing to be sure that this transfer would be safe?  I'm inclined to give them a miss - the account lapses in fourteen days if the payment is not made.

I'm not with Tandem but I did have a similar issue with another banking group where the full amount had to be paid in one go and even if I'm 100% sure of the sortcode/account number I'd never move money across without being able to test a £1 test payment first and see it actually arrive.

Luckily in that case I was able to open an easy access account with the banking group into which I could put the money in two stages and then move it across to the sister account.

Hopefully Tandem may allow a similar process to get you around your problem.

martindow

Thanks both.  I'll call Tandem to see if I can do as Phil suggests.  I'm fairly sure the details I have are fine but I really want to be 100% for such a sum of money.  I'll report back on the outcome.

colsten

May be you had a guardian angel there, as the Tandem rates can so easily be beaten by a wide margin.

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/1-year-fixed-rate-bonds/

bowlhead99

The process with Tandem's fixed accounts is that you agree how much you are going to put into their fixed deposit account and which of your current accounts will be linked to the deposit account. They give you the details of the account, and you send them the amount of money you said you would from the account you said you would. If you send the 'wrong' amount, it's rejected.

If you fear that they have lied to you when telling you the details of the account you should pay to ; or that you will make a mistake when putting those details into your bank payment screen... those fears are perhaps irrational, given that putting a sort code, account number and payment reference into a box on your banking website or payment app is not something that is difficult. The idea of sending £1 just to see if they lied about the account, or to see if you made a mistake when typing the details, seems quaint but unnecessary

midge406

colsten said:

May be you had a guardian angel there, as the Tandem rates can so easily be beaten by a wide margin.

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/1-year-fixed-rate-bonds/

Tandem was 1.3% until a few days ago and gives you 14 days to transfer the money so it’s probably that rate the OP will be getting.

colsten

If you go via HL Active Savings, or via Raisin, you have a whole lot of accounts with much better rates to pick from, and you can definitely send a £1 test payment to your deposit account with either of them, or deposit by debit card into HL.

martindow

Yes it's 1.3% which seems a tempting rate at the moment.  I am probably being irrational, but I'm risk averse when it comes to transferring tens of thousands.

jim1999

In all honesty, if I was risk averse I wouldn't be giving my money to Tandem.  They're chaotic at the best of times, and although FSCS would apply it's far from ideal.

Notepad_Phil

martindow said:

I am probably being irrational, but I'm risk averse when it comes to transferring tens of thousands.

Being irrational can of course be the rational thing to do