Bank repeatedly cancelling money transfer to a different bank

EdSwippet

kaMelo said:

No point changing banks as they are all following the same rules. These are the consequences of making banks liable for everything. Due to a minority who take no responsibility everyones banking is now more onerous and time consuming.

Somewhat. However, what should have taken me five minutes on a Monday was something that took me over an hour on the phone with them on a Wednesday, after five minutes on Monday and another five minutes for a retry on Tuesday. This is quite a way beyond merely more onerous. It is in fact -- as borne out by their compensation payment -- unacceptable.

My objection is not that First Direct have a fraud prevention process. Rather, it is that the one they do have is a) hugely oversensitive, since I was doing something here that I do regularly anyway, and b) doesn't function as (apparently) intended, repeatedly. What I'm seeking, then, is a bank that does a better job of this than First Direct.

cymruchris

EdSwippet said:

kaMelo said:

No point changing banks as they are all following the same rules. These are the consequences of making banks liable for everything. Due to a minority who take no responsibility everyones banking is now more onerous and time consuming.

My objection is not that First Direct have a fraud prevention process. Rather, it is that the one they do have is a) hugely oversensitive, since I was doing something here that I do regularly anyway, and b) doesn't function as (apparently) intended, repeatedly. What I'm seeking, then, is a bank that does a better job of this than First Direct.

You might want to hang on a few weeks as the new systems settle down - I can imagine that with the way things are now working, most banks will be operating the same safe-guards. It'll take a while to work out whether this is the new normal for everyone on all accounts, or whether it's more teething troubles as the recent changes have been implemented, and the banks have been a little over-sensitive. 

EdSwippet

cymruchris said:
You might want to hang on a few weeks as the new systems settle down - I can imagine that with the way things are now working, most banks will be operating the same safe-guards. It'll take a while to work out whether this is the new normal for everyone on all accounts, or whether it's more teething troubles as the recent changes have been implemented, and the banks have been a little over-sensitive. 

Hmm. My wife makes similar transactions though, and her bank (Nationwide) has not caused any of these problems (at least, not yet!). Irritating though it is, I could live with a fraud check call or other confirmation if it happens, but the bank unilaterally, silently, and repeatedly simply refusing to action correctly set up payments is not really acceptable.

At its core, a bank account exists to do just two things: accept payments in; and make payments out. If fully half of its function is unreliable, then it seems unfit for purpose. As my primary bank, First Direct have been reliably excellent for nearly 30 years, but sadly it seems that this may now be ending. A pity really -- they've been great. I guess all things pass.

BrockStoker

Peggy0628 said:

Can't the Ford dealer take a card payment? Not sure if there's a limit on how much you can pay on a card...

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think if that was an option we would have paid that way at the time.

Either way, after another long conversation with the bank on the phone, it looks like they have let the transfer go through now. At first they insisted I go into a branch to sort it out. I told them in no uncertain terms that that was not going to happen, and that I wanted it sorted out over the phone there and then. So that's one minor win, but still not happy and I will threaten them with my solicitor if we are not offered significant compensation. I'll update here on progress..

Shakin_Steve

We never had these problems with cash 🙂
Just saying. 😂

GeoffTF

BrockStoker said:

Peggy0628 said:

Can't the Ford dealer take a card payment? Not sure if there's a limit on how much you can pay on a card...

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think if that was an option we would have paid that way at the time.

Either way, after another long conversation with the bank on the phone, it looks like they have let the transfer go through now. At first they insisted I go into a branch to sort it out. I told them in no uncertain terms that that was not going to happen, and that I wanted it sorted out over the phone there and then. So that's one minor win, but still not happy and I will threaten them with my solicitor if we are not offered significant compensation. I'll update here on progress.

The banks are all pretty much the same. That attitude that you have just expressed is going to give you trouble. My experience is that you have to work out how the system works (it keeps changing by the way) and jump through all the hoops that they put before you. It is slow and irksome, but you get the job done.

masonic

Shakin_Steve said:

We never had these problems with cash 🙂
Just saying. 😂

I did. Paid in cash at the counter. Didn't credit my account. An investigation needed to be launched, ultimately resolved. Also, some years later, tried to pay in a large sum of cash withdrawn that day from another bank, got taken into a room and questioned about source of funds, this was just a few hundred. I dread to think of how it would have gone with a few £k.

Albermarle

EdSwippet said:

cymruchris said:
You might want to hang on a few weeks as the new systems settle down - I can imagine that with the way things are now working, most banks will be operating the same safe-guards. It'll take a while to work out whether this is the new normal for everyone on all accounts, or whether it's more teething troubles as the recent changes have been implemented, and the banks have been a little over-sensitive. 

Hmm. My wife makes similar transactions though, and her bank (Nationwide) has not caused any of these problems (at least, not yet!). Irritating though it is, I could live with a fraud check call or other confirmation if it happens, but the bank unilaterally, silently, and repeatedly simply refusing to action correctly set up payments is not really acceptable.

At its core, a bank account exists to do just two things: accept payments in; and make payments out. If fully half of its function is unreliable, then it seems unfit for purpose. As my primary bank, First Direct have been reliably excellent for nearly 30 years, but sadly it seems that this may now be ending. A pity really -- they've been great. I guess all things pass.

I recently transferred some money from Nationwide current account to an investment account ( £5K) . I did get at least 5 warnings as I went through the process. When it asked for what reason was I sending the money , I said investment . I can not remember the exact wording but it was along the lines of 'don't do it and if you do then on your head be it'
The money did go through though . 

eskbanker

masonic said:
Also, some years later, tried to pay in a large sum of cash withdrawn that day from another bank, got taken into a room and questioned about source of funds, this was just a few hundred. I dread to think of how it would have gone with a few £k.

This would have been step one....

EdSwippet

Albermarle said:
I recently transferred some money from Nationwide current account to an investment account ( £5K) . I did get at least 5 warnings as I went through the process. When it asked for what reason was I sending the money , I said investment . I can not remember the exact wording but it was along the lines of 'don't do it and if you do then on your head be it'

The money did go through though . 

That I could live with. My First Direct experience is that you set up the payment, jump through the OTP two-factor authentication hoops (twice) and so on, and your balance goes down. Fine so far. Except that if you look tomorrow, the balance has quite possibly gone back up again, because First Direct silently and unilaterally reversed/cancelled the payment, but with no notice or explanation.

I guess I'll look into Nationwide. Thanks for the note.