Co-op bank's obstructive and unhelpful "anti-fraud" policies

Dr_Foster360

I'm currently looking for a new bank after several frustrating experiences with the Co-op.

They claim that online transfers to another bank are "generally immediate", but in my experience whenever I attempt to transfer money to a new payee, they will put the payment on hold for at least several hours, and often for several days.  Sometimes I will receive a text telling me they suspect fraud and asking whether I authorise the payment (this is after I have already confirmed with password and passcode and multiple MFA codes on the same phone that they text me on...), sometimes they will just not make the payment and leave me stewing. Even after responding in the affirmative to a text check the payment can still be delayed by hours or days. Attempting to call them results in lengthy delays on hold.

I've had tradesmen who have completed work for me go for over a week without payment because of this, and more recently I drove for over an hour to purchase a car for my son, and several hours later had to leave the car with the dealership because the Co-op delayed payment until the following day. Their responses to my complaints about this have been entirely unapologetic and seemingly unconcerned for the frustration and inconvenience they have caused with their incompetence.

Can anyone recommend a bank which will allow me to spend my own money as I see fit without all this nonsense?

p00hsticks

Dr_Foster360 said:

Can anyone recommend a bank which will allow me to spend my own money as I see fit without all this nonsense?

What sort of sums are we talking about here ? 

Given the amount that banks (and their customers) are currently losing out to fraud, and how more sophisticated these scams get daily, I very much doubt that you'll find any UK bank that will guarantee that they'll always let you send as much of your money you like to anyone that you want without the possibility of them taking some steps to ensure that you really know what you are doing and who you are giving money to. 

penners324

Try Starling. They do have AML filters but you get asked a series of questions in the app.

boingy

It's something that affects all banks in one way or another and I do think that they have got the balance wrong and need to find a way to streamline their checks. In my experience Co-op have easily been the worst. It took me over an hour on the phone to unblock one transfer and one of the other blocked transfers was for about £200, which is a ridiculous thing to block. So I kicked them into touch and changed my main bank.

I'm hoping the checks will settle down and that the banks will find a happy compromise between checking stuff and not hassling their legitimate customers too much. Otherwise they might as well scrap the faster payments system!

Sea_Shell

The Co-op bank you say.   They can't win can they.   If only they'd done that for this poster...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6507572/money-not-refunded-by-bank-after-i-was-mugged

GeoffTF

AIB is the least likely to compensate you for fraud:

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/fraud-victim-reimbursement-rankings-revealed-how-did-your-bank-fare-aX7D27W6amns

You could try them.

wmb194

Dr_Foster360 said:

I'm currently looking for a new bank after several frustrating experiences with the Co-op.

They claim that online transfers to another bank are "generally immediate", but in my experience whenever I attempt to transfer money to a new payee, they will put the payment on hold for at least several hours, and often for several days.  Sometimes I will receive a text telling me they suspect fraud and asking whether I authorise the payment (this is after I have already confirmed with password and passcode and multiple MFA codes on the same phone that they text me on...), sometimes they will just not make the payment and leave me stewing. Even after responding in the affirmative to a text check the payment can still be delayed by hours or days. Attempting to call them results in lengthy delays on hold.

I've had tradesmen who have completed work for me go for over a week without payment because of this, and more recently I drove for over an hour to purchase a car for my son, and several hours later had to leave the car with the dealership because the Co-op delayed payment until the following day. Their responses to my complaints about this have been entirely unapologetic and seemingly unconcerned for the frustration and inconvenience they have caused with their incompetence.

Can anyone recommend a bank which will allow me to spend my own money as I see fit without all this nonsense?

We can only give you anecdotes but for me Lloyds has always been low hassle.

Dr_Foster360

p00hsticks said:

Dr_Foster360 said:

Can anyone recommend a bank which will allow me to spend my own money as I see fit without all this nonsense?

What sort of sums are we talking about here ? 

Given the amount that banks (and their customers) are currently losing out to fraud, and how more sophisticated these scams get daily, I very much doubt that you'll find any UK bank that will guarantee that they'll always let you send as much of your money you like to anyone that you want without the possibility of them taking some steps to ensure that you really know what you are doing and who you are giving money to. 

We are generally talking about sums between £100 and £2,500, although I've also had small payment to my regular pizza delivery restaurant blocked for "fraud concerns"!  It seems totally out of control.  There are always steps to confirm that I know what I am doing ("are you sure?" etc type questions via the app, after multiple MFA procedures), and in most cases also a text (to the same number that I've just used for MFA, so the value of this step is dubious) to confirm with a definite "YES" that I do want to proceed. I dont object to this. The problem is that, even after all these verifications, they still - consistently - impose substantial delays. At this point, it just becomes obstruction.

Dr_Foster360

Sea_Shell said:

The Co-op bank you say.   They can't win can they.   If only they'd done that for this poster...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6507572/money-not-refunded-by-bank-after-i-was-mugged

Yes, I saw that. They seem to be getting it utterly wrong on both counts - refusing to let people spend their money as they choose, and also refusing to listen to customers when they report actual fraud.

sammyjammy

I have banked with Co-op for years and don't have any problems paying new people/tradespeople etc.  Maybe this issue will follow you to your new bank.

Nasqueron

p00hsticks said:

Dr_Foster360 said:

Can anyone recommend a bank which will allow me to spend my own money as I see fit without all this nonsense?

What sort of sums are we talking about here ? 

Given the amount that banks (and their customers) are currently losing out to fraud, and how more sophisticated these scams get daily, I very much doubt that you'll find any UK bank that will guarantee that they'll always let you send as much of your money you like to anyone that you want without the possibility of them taking some steps to ensure that you really know what you are doing and who you are giving money to. 

I switched to Co-Op for the bonus, setup a new payee from my Kroo account, details verified, paid 1p just in case - went through. Tried to pay 1p back from Co-Op to a new payee i.e. Kroo, details verified, they held it, fine, went through the fraud checks, had a giggle with the staff member about the risk of losing 1p, all confirmed. Did it with £200, sent immediately, tried to send it back, money was held, fraud team closed for the evening, same rigmarole with the fraud team the next day, got it through eventually. Did the other £800 a couple of days later just in case, once again it was held and had to go through the fraud stuff again. It's daft, I appreciate the risks of fraud but it's a verified account in my name that I have done 2 transfers in and out fine before, no bank I have switched to that had the first fraud check held the money 3 separate times except Co-Op