In May last year I set up a monthly payment to go from my HSBC account to what we thought was my son’s Santander account. He is at college and not earning, so I had agreed an allowance of £135 a month in return for which he would do some of the housework.
Unfortunately, instead of giving me his account number he gave me his on-line banking customer ID number.
He did not check his account until October and it was at this point he realised that he had not received any of the transfers. We have been trying ever since to get the money back.
My son went to his local branch of Santander and was told they could clearly see the payments sitting there in a “dead” account (in this case an account that was still active but rarely used by the account holder). They could not do anything to access the payments because it was up to HSBC to put a tracker or recall notice on it. HSBC at first refused to send out a recall notice. A complaint eventually elicited a recall letter, but all my subsequent attempts to get Santander to act have proved fruitless.
It turns out that my son’s online banking customer ID number was the same as the “dead” account number. Why does it give out customer ID numbers that are identical to actual account numbers? I am despairing of ever seeing the money again. It’s frustrating to think that it is sitting- in a “dead” account but we can’t get hold of it. EH, Luton
Further evidence that the systems designed to resolve mis-sent funds are simply not working. Online banking customers- need to raise their game (always check and double check) when setting up payments – but the banks need to be forced to do more, too.
You also have to wonder at the folly of creating customer numbers that mirror existing bank account numbers.
Fortunately, after we raised the matter- with Santander HQ it got on the case, and there is finally some good news. It says it has now – after something of a wait – been given authorisation from the owner of the “dead” account to release the funds, and the money has been credited to your son’s account. You have to wonder what would have happened had the owner been uncontactable … we suspect you would not get your money back.
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