Allica Bank.

SADd135

I wanted to put money into a fixed rate account and saw Allica bank on MSE. Followed the link- applied for an account and everything seemed fine. When I asked my bank to transfer the funds I could tell they were not happy. After several long sessions waiting and speaking to my bank, they told me someone from their security department would be in touch. After hours of waiting, I rang again and asked for security. I spoke to someone (eventually) in the fraud department who told me I should be doing research before using the new bank, talking about scams and potentially losing my money. My money was "pending" apparently and had not been sent to Allica. My bank panicked me so much that I told them to take the money from pending back into my account. I had a welcome email from Allica and spoke to them on the phone-all of which I told my bank. Don't know whether to use Allica or not. Any advice, anyone?

Popsy25

My Bank (First direct) are very unhappy, too. The woman I spoke to on the phone today says the type of transfer will result in no chance of getting the money back if it is fraudulent.

Sensory

The institution is fine, but the fraud department are just checking you are transferring your money of your own accord to the correct account, and not some fraudsters account.

I had the same problem with Halifax when I attempted to transfer money to Atom. They blocked the transfer, suspended my digital banking (including my access to Lloyds) and notified me to contact their fraud department. Their fraud department warned me not to lie about the circumstances of the transfer, made sure it wasn’t some investment account that somebody told me to open, asked where the bank details were obtained from (e.g. somebody emailing me), and that it would be essentially impossible to recover the money if the transaction turned out to be fraudulent.

ianrob

I had problems opening an account ... and then signing into it to arrange the initial transfer of funds. I found the verification methods to be unreliable. I have decided to invest elsewhere. I will now contact their customer services to close the account.

ctdctd

By way of contrast, I opened an account and funded with no issues last week. 

Opened online and checked I could log in - 5 mins
Test transfer from Santander - showed up in a couple of hours
Then 2 transfers from Santander the next day to fully fund the account - again, showed up in a couple of hours.

Farside71

From their website.  Maybe the banks have concerns that confirmation of payee isn't being used, or maybe they have other concerns that they don't want to allege in public.  

Why is my bank not recognising Allica Bank when I try to pay into my account?

When paying into your Allica Bank savings account, you may see a warning from your existing bank. This is nothing to be worried about. It’s because of something called ‘Confirmation of Payee’, which is there to help you avoid sending money to the wrong place.

It’s a new security measure to ensure the name of the person you’re paying matches the name on the recipient account.

You may find a warning shows when making your payment to Allica, even if the details are all correct. This is because we work with a partner to help us process faster payments that doesn’t currently doesn’t operate using ‘Confirmation of Payee’. This is perfectly normal and you can continue making your payment.

You can find out more about this here.

Popsy25

I think this is the issue, Farside71, as when I was setting up the first transfer (which is showing in my account) First Direct warned me that Allica don't use the verification service so they cannot check the identity of who I am sending money to. But why not? I've paid a new business for the first time today no issues at all.
The woman at the fraud department sounded very genuine when she said they'd checked with the FSCS and there were no warnings re Allica, it was just it looked like a dodgy transfer to them and she'd never heard of them. I too checked with FSCS and there were no warnings. It just left me wondering if I'm transferring money to someone pretending to be Allica.

eskbanker

Popsy25 said:

I think this is the issue, Farside71, as when I was setting up the first transfer (which is showing in my account) First Direct warned me that Allica don't use the verification service so they cannot check the identity of who I am sending money to. But why not? I've paid a new business for the first time today no issues at all.

Presumably the new business you've paid for the first time today uses an account with a bank that supports Confirmation of Payee, whereas Allica doesn't use a partner bank in that way (or at least doesn't do so directly and transparently) - what's the sort code and account name specified by Allica for payments?

Daliah

Popsy25 said:

I think this is the issue, Farside71, as when I was setting up the first transfer (which is showing in my account) First Direct warned me that Allica don't use the verification service so they cannot check the identity of who I am sending money to. But why not? I've paid a new business for the first time today no issues at all.
The woman at the fraud department sounded very genuine when she said they'd checked with the FSCS and there were no warnings re Allica, it was just it looked like a dodgy transfer to them and she'd never heard of them. I too checked with FSCS and there were no warnings. It just left me wondering if I'm transferring money to someone pretending to be Allica.

It's not the FSCS you need to check with whether a company is authorised, and for what. It's The FCA. 

Popsy25

I struggle finding whether any bank is covered on FCA website! And the fraud dept at First Direct had to go away and double check somewhere else, but eventually found them. The FSCS website will tell you quickly if your money is covered. Which it is at Allica.
My transfer is showing up fine in my Allica account today though and it seems FD have decided they are ok.

Daliah

Popsy25 said:

I struggle finding whether any bank is covered on FCA website! 

You just google/bookmark FCA Register https://register.fca.org.uk/s/

Popsy25 said:

And the fraud dept at First Direct had to go away and double check somewhere else, but eventually found them. 

It should have taken them 20 seconds or less to find Allica on the FCA Register. The fraud department is supposed to be staffed by appropriately skilled and trained individuals, and knowing about the FCA Register is something very basic in their skills box. Their searches should be totally transparent to the customer, too.

Popsy25 said:

The FSCS website will tell you quickly if your money is covered. 

FSCS also recommend you should check the FCA Register

Popsy25 said:

My transfer is showing up fine in my Allica account today though and it seems FD have decided they are ok.

There was never any doubt that it would arrive in your Allica account if you used the account data provided by Allica.