Online banking customers who slip up and make wrong payments to get more help clawing their money back
Online banking customers who accidentally send money to the wrong account will get more help to reclaim it under new rules.
Major banks and building societies have signed up to the voluntary code, which will give customers greater protection if their money does go astray.
Wrong payments have become an increasing problem as more people move towards online banking and mobile payments.
All it takes is one incorrect digit when filling in an account number or a sort code, and funds can end up in the wrong bank account.
Some 19million electronic payments are made each day. If only a small proportion go wrong, that is tens of thousands a year. Until now, customers who transfer funds incorrectly have had little or no protection because the rules are so vague.
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Payments Council
Ever been left frustrated when an online banking transfer goes wrong? Now banks can raid accounts to get back cash you sent by accident
- HSBC, First Direct and Nationwide can now haul back money that has allegedly been paid into an account by mistake
- Other banks expected to follow
- Tens of millions of pounds accidentally vanish into strangers’ bank accounts during attempts to transfer money electronically every year
Banks will be able to raid a customer’s account to claw back cash paid in by accident in a groundbreaking move that is set to end the misery of missing payments.
HSBC, sister bank First Direct and Nationwide have become the first big names to rewrite their terms and conditions so they can haul back money that allegedly has been paid into an account by mistake.
This happens when someone using online banking either mistyped or is given the wrong account number into which to pay funds. As a result, the money ends up in the account of another customer.Up until now there was little anyone could do if the beneficiary refused to speak to their bank or answer correspondence.
But the new rules from HSBC, First Direct and Nationwide - which are expected to be followed by other banks - will mean that no longer will people be able to benefit from so-called fat-fingered transfers just by keeping silent.Customers who have received a payment that someone else says was sent in error will be sent a letter, texts and receive phone calls. If they fail to respond within a set period of time - in some cases up to ten working days - the disputed funds will be hauled straight back out of their account or ring-fenced so it can’t be spent while the case can be investigated.
The changes by HSBC and First Direct, which take effect from November, mark the latest attempt by the banks to end the mess of missing payments.
Read more: This is money accidental payments
If funds cannot be recovered, the customer will be told about other options available to them, such as court action, and they can also take their case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if they are not happy with their bank's actions.
Financial Ombudsman Wrong Payments
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