How retrieve my money from escrow account?

JoeWebber

In 2020 I deposited funds in a European P2P company (Peer to Peer platform linking lenders and borrowers) which accrued interest which was reinvested. In 2022 they merged with another similar company and I was asked to deposit 1 Euro into the latter's bank to establish a link with my Nationwide account.

Last month for the first time I withdrew some money from the company to go into my Nationwide account but it hasn’t arrived. The reason is that Nationwide use HSBC as their intermediary bank for foreign payments and the money appears to have gone into an HSBC escrow account because their IBAN was used for the initial 1 Euro payment instead of my Nationwide account’s.

In a branch meeting with a Nationwide consultant I was told that the current P2P company should request the transfer. So the company sent me an email to forward to HSBC explaining the situation and asking them to transfer the money to my account. As it is not possible to send emails to HSBC’s Customer Service Centre (I am not a customer of HSBC anyway) I sent them a printout of the email by recorded delivery.

I have heard nothing from them since. What steps can I take to retrieve the funds?  Should Nationwide follow this up? How do I prove my bona fides to HSBC if that is the problem? Should I make a complaint; if so, who to? I cannot complain to HSBC as I am not a customer of theirs.

Any help would be much appreciated.

grumpy_codger

 I think it's the sender who must trace the money and give you the information that you can go with to YOR bank, not to HSBC.

Try contacting Nationwide with the information you already have.