An end to online slip-ups that lose your cash for ever

By

Ruth Lythe

|

A Money Mail probe has forced banks to end the misery of customers who accidentally pay money into the wrong account over the internet.

Britain’s banks have promised to make it easier to recover cash that goes missing when someone types in an incorrect account number or sort code when paying online.

Every year millions of pounds end up in the accounts of the wrong people or disappear into the ether.

Sent money to the wrong account? From May, banks must resolve cases within a set time, probably weeks

In 2012, a Money Mail investigation highlighted how customers are left at the mercy of banks that refuse to help retrieve missing funds.

Many face being passed from pillar to post between their own bank and the one that received the money.

Our stories triggered a major investigation by banking body the Payments Council. Last week, its members agreed on new rules.

Adrian Kamellard, Payments Council chief executive, says: ‘Sending a payment with the wrong sort code or account number is like sending a letter with the wrong postcode and address — it won’t reach its intended destination and can be difficult to get back.

‘Though nearly every one of the millions of payments processed each day reaches its intended destination without any problem, if you use the wrong numbers when sending a payment, the changes will make clear how your bank will help and, crucially, how quickly.’

Some 19million electronic payments are made each day. If only a small proportion go wrong, that is tens of thousands a year.

At present, customers who transfer funds incorrectly have little or no protection because the rules are so vague.

The banks can’t automatically reverse the transfer because it would allow anyone who had bought something to haul back the payment after receiving their goods.

Instead banks are only required to offer ‘reasonable assistance’ to return missing cash.

If the money has ended up in someone else’s account, they do not have to respond or give back the cash, though it is illegal to spend it.

It can be virtually impossible for customers to find out who has their money and confirm cash has gone missing as a court order is required to reveal the recipient’s identity.

Nightmare: Carol and Ray Nesbitt fought to recover their son’s money

When Stephen Nesbitt accidentally typed in one wrong digit when he transferred £2,800 to his mother online from his Santander account, the money ended up in a different account. The family spent three weeks trying to retrieve it.

Mr Nesbitt, 35, was sending money for a tax bill to his mother Carol, who handles his business affairs.

For three weeks, he and his parents Carol and Ray were passed between the two banks, made six branch visits and spent five hours on the phone.

On one occasion they were told the case was closed and the funds would not be returned. Finally, Nationwide was able to claw back the cash.

Mrs Nesbitt, from Whitley Bay, Tyne Wear, says: ‘We would have avoided weeks of anxiety if the banks had a proper set procedure.’

A Santander spokeswoman says the bank will be implementing the new guidelines. ‘We advise customers to make absolutely sure they have entered the right account number and sort code.’

Nationwide says it has apologised to the Nesbitts and signed up to the new code of conduct. ‘Our staff are being trained on the new process,’ says a spokeswoman.

From May, banks must resolve cases within a set time, probably weeks.

Your bank must also chase the money and say if a case can’t be solved so you can decide what to do next.

They should also make it easier to recover money paid into closed or dormant accounts, when it should be obvious that an error was made.

Banks have promised to add more warnings to online banking pages, or in some cases to require the customer to enter the account number twice.

Comments (2)

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Jamie,

London,

32 minutes ago

New rules mean banks must chase money that go missing by mistake

… surely ” … money that GOES missing …”

Toxin,

Fomalhaut, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

I’d have thought that it was a basic moral duty of the banks to find people’s missing money and that they shouldn’t need to be forced to do the right thing (which I’m still not convinced they will), but why are their electronic transfer systems so difficult to use in the first place? Whenever I search for a specific recipient, be it another bank or a utility company or whoever, they never have it. Instead they always have something similar but wrong. It’s an accident waiting to happen – which is why I always feel forced to send a pound first to check that it gets there before sending the rest.

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An end to online slip-ups that lose your cash for ever