# Gave wrong account number for bank transfer!



## messyleo (15 Apr 2010)

Hi guys
I recently encashed an investment policy with Quinn & stupidly there was a typo in the account number I gave them (the sort code was correct thank God) the bank / Quinn are closed now and I'm stressing about it and probably won't sleep a wink tonight as I know it must have ended up in somebody else's account within my branch. WIll they be able to transfer it back or have I lost the money forever? What if the person has already withdrawn it!


----------



## mackthencack (15 Apr 2010)

should be alright as legally nobody can benefit from anothers mistake.


----------



## messyleo (15 Apr 2010)

Thanks - hopefully you're right. I'll be on pins till I can ring them tomorrow though!


----------



## Brendan Burgess (15 Apr 2010)

If you gave the right sort code, they can't have two account numbers at the same branch, so the payment will just bounce and you can sort it out later.

Sleep well

Brendan


----------



## Mpsox (16 Apr 2010)

Brendan said:


> If you gave the right sort code, they can't have two account numbers at the same branch, so the payment will just bounce and you can sort it out later.
> 
> Sleep well
> 
> Brendan


 
Not necessarily correct. Banks use a modulus checking system in which they take the 14 digits of the sortcode and account number, perform a mathimatical calculation on that and if they get a particuler answer, then the sort code and account combination is deemed to be valid for the branch and transactions will post accordingly

In this case there are one of 3 possibilities, either the funds are in someone else's account, have been bounced back to Quinn because they could not be applied or are sitting in a suspense account in the branch because the transaction failed the modulus checking and could not be applied to a valid bank account. 

The OP should contact their bank first thing and ask them to investigate, she should also contact Quinn and ask them to trace the funds as well


----------



## Brendan Burgess (16 Apr 2010)

Hi MPSox

I was just trying to help gravity girl get her beauty sleep  She could achieve nothing by worrying over it. 

But my reply was not only incorrect, it was meaningless. What on earth does this mean? 



> they can't have two account numbers at the same branch


The good news for Gravity Girl, is that by far the most likely outcome is that her money will not go into anyone else's account. She would have to be extraordinarily unlucky to pick an account number that matched a genuine account number in that branch. 

If she was extraordinarily unlucky, the money will be in another account in that branch. The vast majority of customers simply accept that an error was made and allow it to be credited back to the correct account. 

Where people have lost money, is where they gave a wrong sort code and managed to pick an account  number at that branch. These are usually sorted out as well, but they are very rare.


----------



## Brussels (16 Apr 2010)

If you log on to  (select account validation) you can check whether the account number you gave Quinn was valid or not. If its invalid it will automatically be returned to Quinn. If its valid it will be posted to that account and the bank will need to get permission from the account holder to reverse it.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (16 Apr 2010)

Hi Brussels

There may be manual intervention from the bank when it bounces at the branch.

If it's being paid to 

Ms Gravity Girl
account no 12345678

but the correct account is 12345679 

They may just put it in rather than bounce it. Ulster bank did this for a small payment I made to a wrong account. 

Brendan


----------



## Mpsox (16 Apr 2010)

Brendan said:


> Hi MPSox
> 
> I was just trying to help gravity girl get her beauty sleep  She could achieve nothing by worrying over it.
> 
> ...


 
I agree that is the more likely outcome but it doesn't necessarily need to match an account number that is open. For it not to be bounced back,  it needs to fall into the range of account numbers (open or not) valid for a particulea branch, if it does, and an account is not open for that number, then it probably is sitting in a suspense account

Either way, she'll probably get her money back but it may take a few days


----------



## Brussels (16 Apr 2010)

Hi MPSox,
range of account numbers dont enter into it. Legislation says that each payment must have a unique identifier for posting purposes. If one of the identifiers is invalid the clearing rules state that the payment hsould be returned. There is an interbank standard in Ireland covering this.


----------



## messyleo (16 Apr 2010)

Thanks for all the help guys - just to report bacl. The rather excellent people at Quinn found the mistake (i.e. my mistake - for shame!) and corrected it so it was safely delivered to my account this morning. What a relief!

But Brendan your first message really confused me and didn't reassure me at all as it didn't make any sense - but I *do* appreciate your efforts to help me get my beauty sleep


----------



## Gulliver (17 Apr 2010)

There is a message in all of this which should not be forgotten.  A recent change in legislation (Nov 1 2009) means that if you make a mistake in the account number in a credit transfer, and the funds end up in a wrong account, the banks are deemed to have fulfilled their obligation and would appear to have no further obligation to help you recover the money.  Prior to that date, they would appear to have had some obligation to check that the account name on the CT matched that of the destination account.

The message is:- Be very careful to ensure correct account numbers/NSCs

PS relevant legislation is s89 of European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 383 of 2009)


----------



## tenchi-fan (17 Apr 2010)

I work in a place where money is paid to the client by EFT
If the client enters an invalid sort code/account number combination, the money is still taken from the company's bank account as normal and is returned to the company.. however it takes 3 working days, therefore in three working days the money will be back in the company's account. When the company sees the money has been returned they will contact the client. expect the whole process to take about a week.


----------



## boaber (17 Apr 2010)

Gulliver said:


> A recent change in legislation (Nov 1 2009) means that if you make a mistake in the account number in a credit transfer, and the funds end up in a wrong account, the banks are deemed to have fulfilled their obligation and would appear to have no further obligation to help you recover the money.



Not necessarily...89(2) says that "If a unique identifier provided by a payment service user is incorrect, the payment service provider concerned is not liable for non-execution or defective execution of the relevant payment transaction.* However, the payer’s payment service provider concerned shall make reasonable efforts to recover the funds involved in the transaction."*


----------



## bond-007 (17 Apr 2010)

But if the details provided are for a correct account they have no obligation to help.


----------

