Kent Reliance

Pauldascott

On MSE I found a recommendation to Kent Reliance Fixed 1 year ISA which we signed up to all good, got the email with how to pay in, did as instructed and Barclays promptly stopped the payment cried fraud and told us to call them (we missed their call). The issue is the payee is the Kent Reliance not our name and its a business account, Barclays said this was weird not heard of it before we need to call Kent to check it out, did so and Kent said they use NatWest as a clearing account and as such the payee is not us but them. I'm not a regular saver haven't invested much when I have its been main stream and none of these shenanigans' so its all a little worrying, can anyone put my mind to rest that this is normal for them and just the way it is or its some sort of elaborate scam.

gelato_cat

It's fine, and a few building societies do this. 

https://www.kentreliance.co.uk/support/paying-money-in

wmb194

Pauldascott said:

On MSE I found a recommendation to Kent Reliance Fixed 1 year ISA which we signed up to all good, got the email with how to pay in, did as instructed and Barclays promptly stopped the payment cried fraud and told us to call them (we missed their call). The issue is the payee is the Kent Reliance not our name and its a business account, Barclays said this was weird not heard of it before we need to call Kent to check it out, did so and Kent said they use NatWest as a clearing account and as such the payee is not us but them. I'm not a regular saver haven't invested much when I have its been main stream and none of these shenanigans' so its all a little worrying, can anyone put my mind to rest that this is normal for them and just the way it is or its some sort of elaborate scam.

No, it's not unusual for smaller institutions to use what are called collection accounts with the big banks. The person you spoke to doesn't know what they're talking about; today I opened an account with Principality Building Society and transferred the money to an account in its name with... Barclays! The unique reference then directed the money to the correct account with Principality.

I have accounts with Kent and followed the same process, sending to an account at NaWest (62-24-97).

1spiral

It is not unusual for the fraud dept to not know all the building societies although it does surprise me because it should be a big part of their job to understand why money may be going somewhere. I have had many a call to the fraud depts when transferring large sums to institutions that are second nature to me but they have never heard of. In reality, if companies don't advertise on TV, most people (this forum excepted) will not know a company. My mum will never have heard of Kent Reliance, Zopa, Cynergy and the likes but their names are banded on this forum as if they are everyday phrases.

LeafGreen

Their systems are a little archaic, but I have been generally very happy with them.  No issues with paying into multiple accounts over the past several years.  On the one occasion I had to phone them to sort something out, they were really excellent.  Just don’t expect withdrawals to come through immediately!

AmityNeon

Whilst I don't expect typical bank staff to know more financial institutions by name than the average person, I do expect someone who works in the fraud department—where multiple payments are held every day for further review—to at least be familiar with more than just the major banks and building societies, and especially the practice of paying a business account using an individual payment reference. The Kent Reliance brand has been around for nearly 40 years and they're also a mortgage provider, so it's not as if they're an obscure commercial bank.