Money to unknown account

brianposter

Some time ago I transferred money to an account which apparently is not that of the intended recipient. What obligations do the banks involved have in regard to discovering where the money has gone ?

elsien

How long ago is sometime ago? Because now there are the identity checks, and if there isn’t a match,  they ask you if you are sure you want to go ahead. 

My understanding is they will ask the  other person’s bank about the mistake and if if they want to return it, but if they say no and dispute it in error, I’m not sure there’s much else the bank is able to do. They can’t share the persons details with you outside of which  branch/branch it might be. 

How far through the complaints procedure have you got?

brianposter

Two plus years ago. Our bank have said nothing can be done, which is annoying because I suspect it is something as simple as having used an out-of-date account number.

It is not obvious that there are any grounds for complaint other than about the GPDR regulations themselves.

GrumpyDil

Not sure it is as straightforward as @Elsien suggests. Have a look at this page which explains HSBC's approach.
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/online-transfer-mistake

sheramber

because I suspect it is something as simple as having used an out-of-date account number.

Do you not know what account number  it was sent to?

brianposter

Account number is clear and is a branch in the correct city. Even a clue as to who the account belongs to might explain what has happened.

The transfer was less than 36 months ago so it would be interesting to know whether that 36 months figure used by HSBC is enshrined in regulation somewhere.

wmb194

brianposter said:

Account number is clear and is a branch in the correct city. Even a clue as to who the account belongs to might explain what has happened.

The transfer was less than 36 months ago so it would be interesting to know whether that 36 months figure used by HSBC is enshrined in regulation somewhere.

Don't send any money but try setting up a new payment to it/them and see what Confirmation of Payee responds on whether or not the name matches. If it's to a business, charity or other organisation tick the 'paying a business' box.

Why did it take so long for the recipient not to notice? How much are we talking about? That would colour the amount of effort I'd be willing to put in to resolving this.

born_again

brianposter said:

Two plus years ago. Our bank have said nothing can be done, which is annoying because I suspect it is something as simple as having used an out-of-date account number.

It is not obvious that there are any grounds for complaint other than about the GPDR regulations themselves.

Why do you think GDPR comes into play?

Confirmation of payee should have been in place 2 years ago, although not all receivers of payments had it in place. So how did you make the transfer? 

Banks can trace payments, & receiving bank will contact the recipient of the funds. But if they do not reply. Nothing can really be done then. Other than trying to get a court order for bank to release the recipient details.

HobgoblinBT

Have you tried contacting the recipient with a 1p payment and the description call 1234567890 where 1234567890 is your mobile number? Worth a try for 1p, especially where the beneficiary is a business who will need to reconcile its bank statement.

brianposter

It was actually a transfer between two Spanish banks who do not appear to be interested in "confirmation of payee", but I assume that much of the regulation has been harmonised throughout the EU and ex-EU.

GPDR is the excuse used to insist that the customer can be told nothing about who has received the transfer. 

 

 

savergrant

Do you have a statement showing the money leaving your account? Do you still have access to the online/mobile banking to show the payee details you setup? Have you triple-checked the sort code and account number with the intended payee? How did they supply you with their bank details?
To be honest if you have mistyped the account number I'd be surprised if you got a real account.