Can you help with an absurd situation I find myself in with my bank – Halifax? I want to transfer around £5,000 from my Isa to my current account to pay for a roof repair – but the bank insists that to do so I have to physically go into the branch.
I suffer from several chronic health conditions that would make this very difficult, but Halifax says to transfer the money over the phone would be “a matter of security”. I don’t see what the problem is since both accounts are in my name and at the same bank.
I was also informed that “it could be anyone with my card” – somewhat ironic when it was willing to discuss accounts over the phone and had set up voice recognition.
The whole thing is crazy – I am being forced to struggle in, despite the pain and suffering it would cause.
PF, Ramsgate
It’s getting harder and harder for those who choose not to do online banking to manage their affairs, but this case is somewhat bonkers.
We could completely understand Halifax’s stance if you were trying to move the money to an account outside its network, given the huge problems with fraud that all the banks are witness to. But what you have been told is nonsense.
Happily, a call to HQ got the matter resolved. The bank actually sent someone to your home to verify that you are who you say you are, and the transaction has been completed.
The bank says that keeping its customers’ money safe is its first priority, but admits that it “should have shown more flexibility in offering a way of completing [PF’s] request more suited to his needs”.
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