Money to unknown account

brianposter

Simply discovering the relevant T&Cs is difficult. In general, in Spain, the sending bank is expected to try to recover any money incorrectly sent and there does not seem to be any specified time limit. If the bank cannot recover the money then one can involve the police who can apparently obtain relevant information about the receiving bank account. Thereafter you go through the legal system which presumably has a time limit of about 7 years.

wmb194

brianposter said:

Simply discovering the relevant T&Cs is difficult. In general, in Spain, the sending bank is expected to try to recover any money incorrectly sent and there does not seem to be any specified time limit. If the bank cannot recover the money then one can involve the police who can apparently obtain relevant information about the receiving bank account. Thereafter you go through the legal system which presumably has a time limit of about 7 years.

Sounds like you need to ask for the T&Cs and start a complaint. Does Spain have the equivalent of FOS?

How much money are we talking about? If it isn't a lot why bother? Why did it take so long to discover this mistake?

brianposter

Situation now resolved with the assistance of an unusually helpful bank clerk and a visit to the bank branch holding the recipient account.

It transpires that an accountant had given us bank details for the wrong client account.

The situation illustrates the way that GPDR as interpreted by banks simply creates problems.

born_again

Don't know what's unclear about GDPR. It's a simple case of you can not give anyone else another persons details. 

brianposter

And fundamentally such an absolute position is pretty stupid. Are we not told that when bank account numbers leak onto the internet it should not be regarded as a significant problem ?

brianposter

Just out of curiosity, does GPDR not cause a lot of problems when investigating fraud, or is there some way for banks to avoid GPDR when discussing third parties ?

eskbanker

brianposter said:

Just out of curiosity, does GPDR not cause a lot of problems when investigating fraud, or is there some way for banks to avoid GPDR when discussing third parties ?

One of the benefits of GDPR (not "GPDR" btw) is that most organisations processing personal data are obliged to publish privacy policies explaining exactly how and when they do so, and this will include details of any data sharing.

If you read the privacy policy of the banks you're dealing with, chances are they'll assert the right to share data "with other banks and financial institutions for the prevention and detection of financial crime, including fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing" or similar, plus a range of other such uses, e.g. "with fraud prevention agencies, credit reference agencies, and debt collection agencies", and this is highly likely to have been assessed as compliant with the legislation, whereas disclosure of personal data to other customers for their convenience isn't.

artyboy

Surely I'm not the only one intrigued as to how a transfer error of this sort could have gone undetected for over 2 years! If I was owed money that didn't arrive, I would have made a fuss long before then...

brianposter

Spanish blocks of flats and estates are administered by "communities" made up of residents. Residents pay regularly or irregularly into these communities but it is commonplace for payments to be years in arrears and the only notification is likely to be in the annual accounts of the community (if those exist).

It is often possible to recover the charges when a property is sold.

The accountant for our garage community had simply provided bank details for the wrong community, which is very easy to do as the communities may not have well established names.

born_again

brianposter said:

Just out of curiosity, does GPDR not cause a lot of problems when investigating fraud, or is there some way for banks to avoid GPDR when discussing third parties ?

Not sure where fraud comes into this.

Banks deal with fraud interbank.
As such no customer details are given, other than card or account number. Which give no indication on the person. Which is the basis of GDPR.

Speak to a US company & you gets any info you want. UK/European. You get nothing. If lucky you will get a person who will let you ask question & give a Yes/No answer. But again no personal details are given.



The accountant for our garage community had simply provided bank details for the wrong community, which is very easy to do as the communities may not have well established names.

I would suggest a new accountant, if they are so bad...