Premium bond withdrawal refusal

jonnytp

Hi, just wanted to see if anyone else had a bacs withdrawal cancelled by NS&I. I had money earmarked for a building project in premium bonds as the start was somewhat delayed. Didn't want the money in my current account but also not tied up in an investment. Premium bonds seemed ideal. I made two withdrawals without issue but the third was blocked. It took two days to get hold of the person responsible. I correctly answered all their questions right back to my childhood home and still they refused to release my money. No explanation. Apparently the previous withdrawal should have been blocked also but he missed it due to volume of other withdrawals! Why, again, no explanation. I was offered a cheque. I need this money to pay bills and used preium bonds because of the alleged easy access. Not so. I was being stonewalled and didnt appreciate it so demanded all the money be returned. This was questioned and put into jeopardy. I was fuming by this time and after a long time on hold was informed i was allowed my money! I now have to wait for 5 days. So 9 days after i asked for it and then i need to do an hour round trip to my bank and wait for it to clear. Has anyone else had issues. I have made a formal complaint with NS&I but this can take 40 days.

tacpot12

It sounds like you (or the bank account you were paying to) have been identified as being involved in moneylaundering. In such cases, the organisation is not allow to tip you off, so you were stonewalled. The NS&I staff member you were talking to had no remit to step outside of their policy and procedures, but has instead to complete an investigation. It sounds like you gave enough answers to satisfy them that the money was not being laundered, but I'm surprised they released the money to you in the form of a cheque, but at least that way they are not guilty of paying into a compromised bank account. 

I'd be interested to hear what they say in response to your complaint.

emmajones1976

In the 40 days it takes to make a formal complaint you could have accepted the cheque they were offering, received it, banked it and cashed it a few times over. If you are cashing everything out its a bit pointless. And as already said they cant tip you off.

Albermarle

This issue crops up from time to time with all banks/savings/financial companies . It is not a specific NS&I issue .

Rollinghome

I doubt that many people object to the security checks and welcome them if it stops fraud.  The problem is that most banks do them so incompetently using detection algorithms not fit for purpose.  

I've been with Santander since it was Abbey National but regularly get locked out of my account when transferring substantial funds. I then get a batch of inaccurate messages including their robo phone calls, and it typically takes 1-1.5 hours on the phone to sort it out. Each time I'm told they've now made a note and it won't happen again. But it does, over and over.

For older people especially, it can be very frightening to think they've lost control of their savings.  If the banks are to retain public confidence they need to do it better.

refluxer

Rollinghome said:

I've been with Santander since it was Abbey National but regularly get locked out of my account when transferring substantial funds. I then get a batch of inaccurate messages including their robo phone calls, and it typically takes 1-1.5 hours on the phone to sort it out. Each time I'm told they've now made a note and it won't happen again. But it does, over and over.

I'm not sure I would put up with that. Are you not tempted to switch to a different bank or do you think the problem would persist, regardless of who you bank with ? I transfer substantial sums occasionally with Barclays (and others) and have never been locked out of my account or had any issues, thankfully.

Albermarle

refluxer said:

Rollinghome said:

I've been with Santander since it was Abbey National but regularly get locked out of my account when transferring substantial funds. I then get a batch of inaccurate messages including their robo phone calls, and it typically takes 1-1.5 hours on the phone to sort it out. Each time I'm told they've now made a note and it won't happen again. But it does, over and over.

I'm not sure I would put up with that. Are you not tempted to switch to a different bank or do you think the problem would persist, regardless of who you bank with ? I transfer substantial sums occasionally with Barclays (and others) and have never been locked out of my account or had any issues, thankfully.

Similarly I have never been locked out of my Nationwide account , despite transferring the max £10K and more than once in a day .
They did call me once after I made a new payment to a tradesman, just to check I wasn't being scammed.

Rollinghome

refluxer said:

I'm not sure I would put up with that. Are you not tempted to switch to a different bank or do you think the problem would persist, regardless of who you bank with ? I transfer substantial sums occasionally with Barclays (and others) and have never been locked out of my account or had any issues, thankfully.

I've got other bank accounts and can't recall ever having a problem with any one of them.  (Not even with clunky old Natwest that I've been with since they were just the "Westminster Bank".)

The major problems with Santander started some months ago after they decided to rejig their security.  Before that, identical payments went through without a hitch. The exception was once long ago when *they phoned me* immediately to do a check but it was done in minutes.

I wouldn't care if they were reasonably efficient but it's now taking 30+ mins on hold to get through, do the initial security stuff and be told yes, it has been blocked; 30 mins on hold to be transferred to their security dept; and another 30 mins or much longer to get it actually fixed.

Most staff are apologetic, but one character seemed to delight in prolonging it for as long as possible. Large sums just disappearing is a total nightmare. They've had 18 months to manage their covid issues and the excuse is wearing thin.

It was once convenient to have everything going through that account but now I'm gradually moving everything elsewhere which is bit of a faff.