UKC

There is no check on the account name with the faster payments system - it is all done on sort code and account number. If you get either wrong, your money may disappear into an unknown bank account and getting it back is surprisingly hard.

Maybe everyone else knows this already...

In reply to MG:

The rest of us know this already. As with all online banking you need to check and then double check you've got the details right. Also there's normally a big notice exhorting you to check your details as they can't get the money back once it's gone.

I often do a £10 payment to check it's the right account first before going off and sending a large amount.

However I will admit that I did implement a faster payments system at a building society a few years ago.

In reply to MG:

You can get it back but don't expect it back in a hurry. I once sent a four figure sum of cash via faster payment which never arrived in the recipient's account. I'd did this transfer via the banks call centre and I was certain I'd given the right details, though the bank initially put the mistake with me. They traced my phone call and realised the telephonist had made the mistake and then transferred the money to the right place. They then gave me £50 compensation which was very welcome. Apparently the account/sort my transfer had initially been sent too didn't exist and my cash just floated in cyberspace. Phew!!

In reply to Steve Perry:

Interesting. This was my fault in the sense I transposed two digits, something I didn't notice despite checking. It does seem a rather frail system if such an easy mistake is so hard to rectify. That said, the bank (First Direct) are being very helpful in trying to recover it.

In reply to MG:

There was no check on the account name on BACS either and this has always been the case.

I've long thought it would make sense to add a multi-digit checksum to the bank account number, verifiable by the sending bank, to avoid this.

Neil

In reply to MG:

as above. on sunday i paid for some touring boots for wifey, i sent £1.11 and asked the seller to confirm how much i had sent and what the balance was . the balance was now an odd amount also and so not easy to miss.