Bank not allowing transfer as 'details don't match'

melb

my partner wants to transfer about £20,000 for a car he wants to buy.  He has dealt with the company before (but a different branch).  His bank, Nationwide have advised against the transfer as the details don't match.  Even the paperwork/receipt confirming payment/delivery details mention the fact that this might happen but assures us that these are the correct bank details and payee - which is the name of the garage.
I have read up online and can see a few cases of this following a number of the big banks entering into this 'confirmation of payee' scheme last year, and most of them have been wrongly flagged up.
however we can't help but be worried.  My OH has spoken to the MD who has assured him it is because their bank (one of the smaller ones) has not signed up to this but if you go along the lines of this being a possible scam, he would say that wouldn't he!
We paid £500 deposit by credit card - would they be able to verify the bank details?
My partner rang nationwide who could offer no help, said it would probably be all right but couldn't give any details.
Is there anything else we can do before we transfer the money which has to be done today (they have been witing about 2 weeks for us to release the money)
Many thanks

eskbanker

Make a test transfer of a token quid or two and get written (email) confirmation of its successful arrival from the recipient, before sending the balance?

jay1804

You could send a smaller token amount to ensure that the payment is received into their account and then send the rest. - This is what i've always done, even before COP

melb

thanks I remember reading about sending a small amount first.  he's going to go into the bank because he has just found out he can only transfer £10,000 in one go anyway lol!

melb

thank you - everyting tallies up it's just when you get a warning from your bank it makes you nervous.  The payment from the credit card has got the correct garage name on it so we think it is bona fide

jimjames

If they've taken credit card payment can't they take the rest as debit card?

wiseonesomeofthetime

jay1804 said:

You could send a smaller token amount to ensure that the payment is received into their account and then send the rest. - This is what i've always done, even before COP

This is what I do too, however, I have seen horror stories (allegations) of accounts being frozen for making a large transfer following a small "test' one as apparently this is scam tactics too 🤷‍♂️

Suppose it depends on the bank, and the truthfulness of the posters of these" stories ".

Either that, or I've been extremely lucky 😂

born_again

melb said:

my partner wants to transfer about £20,000 for a car he wants to buy.  He has dealt with the company before (but a different branch).  His bank, Nationwide have advised against the transfer as the details don't match.  Even the paperwork/receipt confirming payment/delivery details mention the fact that this might happen but assures us that these are the correct bank details and payee - which is the name of the garage.
I have read up online and can see a few cases of this following a number of the big banks entering into this 'confirmation of payee' scheme last year, and most of them have been wrongly flagged up.
however we can't help but be worried.  My OH has spoken to the MD who has assured him it is because their bank (one of the smaller ones) has not signed up to this but if you go along the lines of this being a possible scam, he would say that wouldn't he!
We paid £500 deposit by credit card - would they be able to verify the bank details?
My partner rang nationwide who could offer no help, said it would probably be all right but couldn't give any details.
Is there anything else we can do before we transfer the money which has to be done today (they have been witing about 2 weeks for us to release the money)
Many thanks

No. As the account details are totally different.

Sounds like the garage use different naming on their accounts to what they expect people to enter.
So Bloggs garage is their name, but their accounts are under Smith.
They really should be giving out the correct details. I guess your partner could say to them, they are not happy to bypass COP with that error & want the correct account details. There is no reason they should not give them out.

Iamouttheotherside

Ask to email a copy of their bank paying in book.  Could be a tax dodge, getting paid into someone elses account so can't be traced?

colsten

born_again said:

They really should be giving out the correct details. I guess your partner could say to them, they are not happy to bypass COP with that error & want the correct account details. There is no reason they should not give them out.

There can be, actually. I have come across countless cases where people - specifically sole traders  and small companies - had no idea what their bank considers their correct account name. And no, the name printed on their cheque books isn't always the answer, and the banks were no help either.

This entire COP thing creates more problems than it solves.

eskbanker

Surely the issue here is that, according to the garage, their bank isn't part of the CoP scheme and therefore it's moot whether or not the details are 'right' - the point is that Nationwide can't actually check them (even though they choose to portray this as 'details don't match'):

melb said:

I have read up online and can see a few cases of this following a number of the big banks entering into this 'confirmation of payee' scheme last year, and most of them have been wrongly flagged up.
however we can't help but be worried.  My OH has spoken to the MD who has assured him it is because their bank (one of the smaller ones) has not signed up to this but if you go along the lines of this being a possible scam, he would say that wouldn't he!