Insights for consumers
If you are entering a bank account number manually when transferring money, it is easy to miss something or type the numbers incorrectly. It is important to make sure your money is going to the right place before transferring it out of your bank account. If the account number is incorrect and the transfer goes through, it is unlikely you will be able to recall that money. Make sure you check the account number carefully before you press ‘pay’.
What happened?
Graham wanted to transfer $2,000 from his bank account to his wife’s money transfer service (the service) account. Graham transferred the money, and, after some time, the money did not appear in his wife’s account and Graham became worried. When trying to figure out what had gone wrong, Graham realised he entered his wife’s account number incorrectly. When typing in the account number, Graham entered “05” instead of ‘’55’’ as the suffix number and, unfortunately, did not pick up on this mistake before he proceeded with the transfer.
Graham contacted his bank as soon as he realised his mistake. Because Graham had authorised the transfer, his bank was unable to help but contacted the service on Graham’s behalf. The bank also told him to complain directly to the service.
Graham notified the service and when they did not respond Graham complained to FSCL.
What were the parties’ views?
The service said that it was not their mistake, they had put the money into the account Graham had asked them to. The service explained that the “05” suffix account was held by another customer (the recipient). The service attempted to recall the money from the recipient, but the recall was unsuccessful because the recipient did not respond. They explained that they were not responsible for Graham’s loss because they were not aware that he had made a mistake in the recipient details when the transfer was made.
Graham understood that the service had attempted to recall the money, but he believed there may be additional steps that could have been taken to ensure a better outcome. Graham thought the service could have had a stronger follow up process with the recipient, to ensure that they were aware of the situation and the urgency. Graham asked if the service could try harder to recover the funds, as he was left with no other recourse.
What was FSCL’s view?
We were satisfied there was nothing further that we could reasonably expect the service to do to try to recall the funds from the recipient’s account. The service acted promptly once they had been notified that the transfer had been made in error. It was unfortunate that the recipient did not respond to the service, however, the service was not obliged to continue to follow up with the recipient or to attempt to escalate the recall directly to the recipient’s bank. The service did not make the mistake and were not responsible for Graham’s loss.
What was the outcome of FSCL’s investigation
We decided that Graham’s complaint should be discontinued.
