Money accidently transferred to wrong account

Step 1. Lodge formal complaints with both banks and keep the paper trail going asking for escalation to higher people
Step 2. Blame IT bug if you even1% believe its possible- it will probably force them to look at case on granular detail
Step 3. Get assertive on their social media page, careful with rash statements but open questions like "how can a reputable bank allow money to be taken by a stranger?" should be uncomfortable for them
Step 4. Go legal, it may be civil rather than criminal, don't know.

I'm surprised so many have the view "bad luck", this is absolutely insane that the bank doesn't have a straight forward solution to this well travelled path. You can guarantee if the banks CEO made an IBAN error it would be resolved - and so should yours. The banks want us doing everything online, their position on this is utterly unacceptable- even asking you to go in person to the other branch is outrageous.

The prime profile liable to make a mistake with an IBAN is an old person or vulnerable person not good with IT. I have no patience for this banks incompetence and disregard for someone who's made a genuine error

IT systems and apps can glitch, and from what the OP describes and how he demonstrated to the customer experience person the sequence of steps he undertook could not have picked a payee pages down his list, so they at the least need to look into this and determine if it is possible this was a glitch.

Bugs and faults do and can occur, and I know the OP is beating himself up with not double and triple checking, but if he selected the correct payee in the first instance and he knew the bank had setup the IBAN he would be more relaxed than if he had typed in the Iban himself where he would have been checking it was typed in correctly without a missing number.

Hi @PaulJay

Just wondering if there is any update on your lost funds?

Apologies all for delaying in coming back, I was waiting for meaningful update to share.

Following my discussion with branch experience champion, I got a letter from PTSB customer resolution centre in early January saying that the recall had been rejected and that there was nothing further they could do to help me. I subsequently rang the customer resolution centre and got speaking to a manager. I went through again what occurred, he informed me that the bank had followed procedure. I asked him was any reason provided why the recall was rejected, he said they did not have this information. I asked if he could ring the recipient bank and he said that this isnt procedure for a recall. ( He also mentioned that recall procedures were agreed between all the banks and again emphasised that they had followed this) However he said he would look into my case again.

2 weeks later I got a call back from him saying that the money would be returned and that I would receive a letter with more details. The money was subsequently returned and I received the letter 2 days afterwards. The letter basically said that the customer resolution manager and my branch manager had to go outside of normal procedures, but having done that they were happy to confirm the money would be returned. It referenced that they looked into the IT system and everything was in order for the transfer. (They also referenced that they took all customer complaints etc seriouslly and that these were regulary reviewed with senior management).
However I was not given any more details on how the money was recalled/returned etc.. A day later I got a call from another member of the customer resolution center to check if I had received the letter. I asked for some details such as why did the recipient A/C holder decide now to return after previously rejecting the recall, but she said she could not disclose this. I told her that yes I was happy that the money had been returned, but I was very unclear on the details of what had actually transpired. She asked if I wanted to speak to the manager again, to which I said yes. I am still waiting to get that callback.

So to everyone who helped and provided advice, a big thank you. It is certainly worthwhile persisting and following up ( even though it can feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall at times),
However as I referenced, I am not at all clear as to all the details of how the money got returned. I will wait a little while more to see if I get a call back & if I do hear anything further I will post again.

Glad to hear you got your money back and hopefully you will get to the bottom of how the money was returned

Thank you Sue Ellen

Thanks for sharing and glad it worked out.

Submitting a Subject Access Request for all your personal data, including financial instructions and related instructions you have made, may reveal something. Probably not though at a guess.

Is there a chance that ptsb refunded the money out of their funds and that is why they are not giving you responses? Sometimes it is cheaper to do this rather than find out what actually happened.

A bank is wise not to give out information which could lead to its systems being compromised.

The customer has been made whole which is the main thing.