Santander - onerous security checks

Rollinghome

GeoffTF said:

 It has usually been possible to stop payments being delayed by offering answers to all the questions that security is likely to ask up front.

Some might consider that just a little "onerous", as found by the OP.

GeoffTF said:

That is usual. You can avoid that by doing the transfer over the phone.

Send all the money in one go if you can. Otherwise, you need to plan for that.

It can take several days.

And that too, if the expectation was to operate the account on-line.

GeoffTF said:

I have had an account with Santander since they were Abbey National Building Society. That does not help much, because the system keeps changing.

Indeed it doesn't, which was why I was referencing your earlier statement, as I didn't see the relevance:

GeoffTF said:
I have a long track record of large cash transfers to and from Santander.

Some people have said that they have made payments, and they have gone straight though.  So have I.  It's the poor experience with the high proportion of payments that do not go through that is most frequently criticised. 

And yes, under pressure from the regulators, all banks have tighter security than they once did, but the criticism is that Santander operate their security system less competently than other banks.

Which is not to say there could be others that are even worse.  I found Chase were initially very ready to stop payments, but they  always answered my calls promptly or offered a call-back. The staff were always conspicuously pleasant, and the process rarely took more than minutes. Which may not make them the best, but puts them well ahead of Santander on that count.

Happy Christmas

Brie

@happybagger
It may be quicker and easier to get yourself added as having 3rd party authority on her account.  Likely needs to be done in branch with both of you attending but if nothing else it would mean that they would be able to talk to you directly.  And you would be able to assist mom with any transactions she finds difficult.  

GeoffTF

There are some of us who are stuck with Santander. In my case, it is the nominated account for too many other accounts. Moving would be a nightmare. I have offered my advice for minimising the the chance of problems when transferring money out, based on my experience. I am not confident that there is a better bank with a branch in my city. Santander is the devil I know.

trust.no.1

GeoffTF said:

Rollinghome said:
If you read my post, you'll see I got the 2FA code to my mobile, and entered my pw. The request was accepted, but the transfer was then blocked without telling me.  I then got an automated phone call to my land-line asking for my DOB and confirmation of the transfer request, was told the confirmation was accepted, but the transaction would need to be made again.  When I did that, all access to my account was immediately blocked, and I was dumped out.

That is usual. You can avoid that by doing the transfer over the phone.

Oh dear!

I'm fearing the worst here. I set up a new payment recently as my energy provider has changed. The Satander system now requires you to setup and make a new payment in one go, and so i initially sent a small amount to ensure I had the details right. This went through. Later I attempted to send the remainder (around £300) using the same details.

This time I received "2FA" prompt requiring my Ebanking passcode and a one time passcode sent to my phone. I entered these and got a message "We cannot process this transaction for technical resaons... please try again later". I tried again with same result.

I'll try again after the XMAS break and contact them if no joy. Having read this thread I'm a bit worried that my account may be blocked!  I have been with Satander since Abbey National days and I agree that the process for sending payments has become a right PITA. You need to click through at least 4 or 5 confirmations before you can send money even to existing payments.  Are you sure? YES!  Are you really sure? YESS!!! Are you certain this is not a scam? YESSS! Are you really really sure? ARRRRRRRRRRRGHH!

Rollinghome

GeoffTF said:

There are some of us who are stuck with Santander. In my case, it is the nominated account for too many other accounts. Moving would be a nightmare. I have offered my advice for minimising the the chance of problems when transferring money out, based on my experience. I am not confident that there is a better bank with a branch in my city. Santander is the devil I know.

Geoff, why do you need to have a branch in your city? 

Can't remember the last time I needed to go into a bank. Probably before internet banking existed. Santander closed their branch in our high-street some months ago and the two next nearest too. Might not be long until they close yours. For most people, all that's needed is a phone and/or an internet connection. I haven't carried cash for yonks.

I've found no problems changing nominated accounts and the longer you leave it the more accounts you will likely have using Santander as the nominated account.  At the very least, you should consider finding a suitable bank to fall back on, especially if you regard Santander as "the devil".

GeoffTF

Rollinghome said:

GeoffTF said:

There are some of us who are stuck with Santander. In my case, it is the nominated account for too many other accounts. Moving would be a nightmare. I have offered my advice for minimising the the chance of problems when transferring money out, based on my experience. I am not confident that there is a better bank with a branch in my city. Santander is the devil I know.

Geoff, why do you need to have a branch in your city? 

Can't remember the last time I needed to go into a bank. Probably before internet banking existed. Santander closed their branch in our high-street some months ago and the two next nearest too. Might not be long until they close yours. For most people, all that's needed is a phone and/or an internet connection. I haven't carried cash for yonks.

I've found no problems changing nominated accounts and the longer you leave it the more accounts you will likely have using Santander as the nominated account.  At the very least, you should consider finding a suitable bank to fall back on, especially if you regard Santander as "the devil".

I do not carry cash either. I have visited the branch when I have lost all my cards, to pay in a cheque, and to transfer more than £100K. I live on the periphery of a major city. The major banks all have branches there. The Cooperative Bank left, but a big shiny Metro Bank has arrived. I am hoping to reduce my number of nominated accounts, which is well into double figures. All banks can be devils if you want to transfer large sums of money in a hurry nowadays.

dealyboy

Futuristic said:

Terrible bank, you should switch. Similar issues multiple times, have complained and received compensation. 

I agree, I did, having been an account holder for 34 years.

The problems started shortly after Santander took over Abbey. Does anybody remember the seven items of id to login to online banking?

dealyboy

Bridlington1 said:

Personally I've been left rather surprised by Santander as I've managed to completely dodge their security checks, despite having opened their limited edition esaver at 2.75%, transferred a 5 figure sum into it via my current account, then transferred it into Al Rayan in batches soon after. The most stringent I've ever had is having to verify a payment in the app. Could be luck of the draw I suppose.

"via my current account" ... You can transfer in and out of your esaver directly from/to an external account, as I have done also without intrusion.

Bridlington1

dealyboy said:

Bridlington1 said:

Personally I've been left rather surprised by Santander as I've managed to completely dodge their security checks, despite having opened their limited edition esaver at 2.75%, transferred a 5 figure sum into it via my current account, then transferred it into Al Rayan in batches soon after. The most stringent I've ever had is having to verify a payment in the app. Could be luck of the draw I suppose.

"via my current account" ... You can transfer in and out of your esaver directly from/to an external account, as I have done also without intrusion.

I know you can, but I couldn't be bothered to set up a new payee to transfer the money in, then set up a new payee on the savings account to transfer the money back out again. Just seemed like less effort to bounce money through the current account which had the payees set up already.

Band7

dealyboy said:

Futuristic said:

Terrible bank, you should switch. Similar issues multiple times, have complained and received compensation. 

I agree, I did, having been an account holder for 34 years.

The problems started shortly after Santander took over Abbey. Does anybody remember the seven items of id to login to online banking?

You might have held a current account for 34 years but only for just over 12 years max at Santander.

I have also been an Abbey National customer before Santander took them over. Not sure about the 7 items of login, may be my memory is failing me but I don't recall I ever needed an undue number of login details. I do fondly remember the times, though, when you could have the market-leading 3% interest on any number of 123 accounts. 

Not sure either what the problems were that you say started after Santander took over Abbey. As I remarked earlier, I don't agree Santander are a terrible bank, and I won't be switching, despite being quite angry with them about the unintelligent way they are now conducting fraud checks.