Santander stopping alerts - why would they do that?

UncleK

I imagine the scam could include a false email followed by a scam phone call? "We're investigating dodgy dealings at your branch so you need to move your money to this safe account" kind of thing? Sounds bonkers but apparently people still fall for this.

Section62

UncleK said:

When I asked why not tell us the real reason for the stopping of the alerts (i.e. security) she said that isn't the kind of thing they like to broadcast.

Maybe if they broadcast it then more people would be aware of this form of scamming?

Bottom line, there's nothing stopping scammers sending fraudulent texts/emails... if someone is likely to fall for the scam then chances are they won't stop to think that Santander are sending only very limited types of message.

More to the point, we were led to believe that **nobody** gets text alerts anymore... so as an opportunity for scammers the scope can't be that great.

Personally I'd think the people who have bothered to sign up for text/email alerts might be among the more cautious/aware folk, and hence perhaps slightly less likely to fall for a scam than the population at large.  Who knew we were the ones the scammers were more likely to go after?

UncleK

All valid points...................I'm just passing on what the nice lady said 

uk1

UncleK said:

I imagine the scam could include a false email followed by a scam phone call? "We're investigating dodgy dealings at your branch so you need to move your money to this safe account" kind of thing? Sounds bonkers but apparently people still fall for this.

Thanks, I understand you’re passing on what was said.  But  in fact it seems to me that the reverse is true.

The first thing someone who is an alert user who received a scam phone-call for an unexpected debit would do is to hang-up and login and check directly.  As they are expecting Santander generated alerts they would be much more wary and likely to be suspicious of a random call. Customers without the alerts are much more likely to comply with the scam than those that use the alert.

It still seems to me that this rather prevents scams than helps them. Santander should be encouraging more to use it because it conditions people to be alert and will actively help more people be suspicious of a phone call, but I think we agree on that! 

Jeff

euroaccountpls

Total lunacy on Santander’s part. 

There’s no way only 1% use these, even the lady I spoke to at Santander said they were super useful for her and many others on personal account. We have a business account and used the email alert as an essential part of the order process to notify us of incoming order payments, of which we have to action straight away, they were brilliant, how simple you get paid an email is sent, is that really an onerous weight on Santander’s tech infrastructure !!!. They still have several alerts in place that they chose to keep. Now we are expected to login to check our account, to function now as our orders are time critical we have to login every 30mins just to check if orders paid - Santander have no solution for that for business accounts. Totally ridiculous waste of human time, computers were invented for this functionality. We logged a complaint with santander for what good it will do, hope the other 140k will also email them at complaints at santander international co uk . Bring back basics.

UncleK

I lodged a complaint as well and had a conversation with someone from Santander as well. I was told that they are "developing customisable alerts for the App" - we shall see...............

mad_house_3

On raising this with them in March 2025, after the original emails about the withdrawal of low balance alerts had been sent out, I was told via their chat service:
"We have removed these as mobile and digital banking has progressed since this alert service was first introduced. Removing this service also allows us to focus on developing the use of the mobile push notifications for this purpose. And a more detailed and timely view of your account activity can be found through online or mobile banking.".

Then I was told:
"Upon checking, push notifications via the app will allow you to receive alerts, including those for when your balance falls below or above a specified limit, provided you have opted in for these notifications. If the app notifications are disabled, alerts will be sent via SMS instead.".

Then after not finding them in the app and telling them they're not there, I was told:
"Thanks for that xxxxx, if you cannot find your low balance or high balance push notifications in the app, first ensure that you have set up the alerts correctly. Check if your mobile device is connected to the internet and that you have opted in to receive push notifications. If the issue persists we have a specialized team who can sort this out for you since we only have limited access via live chat. You can reach our Digital Banking Team at 0330 123 0209. Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 8am - 8pm, Saturday: 8am - 6pm, Sunday: 9am-6pm".

On calling that Digital Banking Team I was told they're in development and will be available before the web site based alerts are turned off.

Yesterday I did another Chat to complain and after receiving very disingenuous responses I requested them to raise a formal complaint which they did. Not holding my breath for a reasonable response.

Maybe if many customers raise a formal complaint they may do something helpful?

Meanwhile a bit of googling has found this:
www.santanderbank.com/documents/330001/981336/448903_20_Q3_Channels_MobileBankngApp_Mobile_Alerts_Transcript_20.pdf/5f22d274-dba1-95af-8a54-a52f47927553?t=1606776170777
which is promising unless its an old posting.

subjecttocontract

Surely this is the kind of thing one can expect when most accounts operate either for free or a small fee. If you want an account with bells & whistles perhaps you need to expect to pay for it.

UncleK

We are paying £5 a month

subjecttocontract

Don't you already get other benefits for your £5 a month ?