Paying in to savings account

emmas2525

I have recently opened a savings account. When I have gone to transfer money from my current account in one bank to my new saving account in another bank, the account number and beneficiary I have to enter is the new banks account number rather than my account number with them. The reference I am told to enter is my account number with them. I have never come across this before. Is this normal? Why can't I put my account number and my name in as I do with other bank transfers rather than the banks own account number and name?  I'm concerned this is a scam. Thank you 

ColdIron

Yes it's quite normal, especially with challenger banks. They operate a pooled account number and allocate it to your account upon receipt

Albermarle

Yes this is quite normal . With many savings institutions you can not pay directly to your savings account, but send the money to their bank account with a reference number. This means there will be a delay of a day or so for the money to hit your savings account .
In fact with some smaller organisations , you often are requested to send money to their bank account , which is actually with one of the bigger banks .
As you have not named the organisation involved , it can not be 100% sure it is not a scam, but the practice of having to pay to a general/central  account rather than directly to your own savings account is quite common.

MX5huggy

What organisation are you paying to?

Probably a building society. They don’t all have fully featured  banking systems so they use another bank’s system. Same as paying a bill.

Not a scam as long as you have been given the bank details from a verified source (not email).   

Zanderman

As others have said it is quite normal for many savings accounts.

Which is reassuring - but doesn't, of course, mean that it isn't a scam.  A scammer could easily mimic this approach.

If you could name the institution it would help double-check that it is genuine.

wiseonesomeofthetime

For example, First Save, Skipton Building Society, Principality BS, Tipton BS, all use Barclays accounts.

Monmouthshire BS use HSBC

Deposits to each were a standard sort code and account number, with my account number with each of them placed in the reference field. 

colsten

If you want to be certain you have entered the correct payment details, send a small amount first. Once that has arrived safely, you can then use the saved payee details again and again.

Note also that the “Confirmation of Payee” (CoP) which your bank will force you through when setting up a new payee will fail almost certainly fail, as you won’t know the account name for the sort code & account number you must use, and CoP will not take into account the contents of the Reference field. You can safely ignore the warnings you will get if you use the exact payee details that your savings provider has asked you to use.

emmas2525

MX5huggy said:

What organisation are you paying into? 

Not a scam as long as you have been given the bank details from a verified source (not email).   

It's aldermore bank. I have checked the email address and they have sent me their details through the post. 

emmas2525

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. It's aldermore bank. They have sent me my customer Id through the post and another letter with references for my nominated account. I'll take the advise and transfer a small amount first. 

eskbanker

Their payment instructions are in the public domain at https://www.aldermore.co.uk/help-centre/contact-us/contact-us-personal-savings/

How do I pay money into my account?

You can make deposits by Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS or Standing Order from your nominated account. You can also make deposits by transfer from an existing Aldermore Personal Savings account in your name or held jointly with someone else (where withdrawals are permitted), or, for ISAs, by transfer from another ISA provider. Payments to us from any other account will not be accepted and will be returned.

Please don’t send any money until we’ve confirmed that your account is open, as we won’t be able to allocate it to your account and it will be returned.

To make a deposit, simply use the details shown below to move money from your nominated account:

• Our account number: 63684431
• Our sort code: 20-19-90 (this may show as Barclays, we partner with them as our clearing bank)
• Beneficiary name: Aldermore Bank PLC
• Payment reference: Your Account Opening Reference Number/Account Number and first three letters of your surname*

*When you completed your account opening online, you’ll have been given an account opening reference number. When you receive confirmation of your new account details, you’ll receive an account number. Both of these numbers are unique to you and you can use either number as the payment reference.

Please make sure that you correctly quote the beneficiary name and payment reference when you make a payment. If the beneficiary name isn’t completed correctly, your bank may not be able to confirm that the details match. If the payment reference isn’t correct, we won’t be able to allocate the payment to your account and it may be returned to you without interest.

melbury

emmas2525 said:

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. It's aldermore bank. They have sent me my customer Id through the post and another letter with references for my nominated account. I'll take the advise and transfer a small amount first. 

I have a couple of accounts with Aldermore Bank and have never had any problems, all good.  Whenever I open a new online account I always transfer £5 initially and once that has arrived safely in my account, I feel reassured.