NAB bounce back a perfectly valid internet transfer!

[poppy]

I'm cranky.

I made a third party transfer out of my NAB internet banking in late Feb, just over $500. The transfer was for the current date, and there were of course plenty of funds in my account. The transfer was deducted from my account immediately, I double checked the details, all seemed OK. I'll add this is to a payee that I have transferred to several times before with no issues, so was in my payee history. I have even managed to wriggle out of the NAB's stupid SMS banking so it's nothing to do with that, I assume.

About a week later I note the funds appearing back in my account with something like "Incorrect account number" as a note. Well of course, I double and triple checked the BSB and account numbers, and compared them to those on the transaction. They were correct as well as being the same as my previous transfers which I have confirmed with the payee have been received. I also contacted the payee and confirm all the details are correct. I checked all the account numbers again and again.

Of course, I have to wait for Monday now to try to sort out the issue I take pride in paying my bills on time and now I am over a week late due to the NAB (OK, it possibly could be due to the payee's bank too (a smaller bank I think), but given the payee is a small business and gave no indication that he had trouble receiving his other payments, I am assuming it's the NAB).

I am sure I will also get hit with some other huge fee from the NAB for the privilege of returning my money from the correct account number! And if I try again, having made certain again of the account number, will I get hit with the same fee again? Presumably. I can't think of any other practical way to pay this person, other than internet banking, given they are in another state and I don't have access to a bank branch during business hours.

This will really make me lose faith in internet banking. If I make a transfer, ensuring the details are correct, prior to going on holidays - and the payment gets "bounced back" for no reason - I could come back finding myself in trouble and getting hit with fees and interest due to unpaid bills. Or perhaps with my phone, internet etc cut off!

Edit: I'll just add, the whole time my perfectly valid transfer was sitting in limbo, neither me or the payee were earning any interest on it - but someone was..

 

[peastman]

If the other party's bank has a local branch you could go there and deposit into their account.

All sorts of weird things happen in banks that defy logic, there is not much we can do about it though.

 

[Pushka]

Maybe the account has been closed.

 

[Sheryn]

Its happened to me before and it was my error (Must remember to wear glasses when reading and typing in numbers).

Will be interesting to see what was the error.....

 

[poppy]

If the other party's bank has a local branch you could go there and deposit into their account.

I can't, it's a credit union in another state.

Maybe the account has been closed.

I don't think so, as I've talked to the payee and he says his details haven't changed. Given that I'm trying to pay HIM money, I would assume he would tell me if he closed his account, so that I could transfer the money to his new account.

Its happened to me before and it was my error (Must remember to wear glasses when reading and typing in numbers).

No, I've checked the details so many times. I called the NAB and they looked at the failed transfer and also looked at the previous successful transfers to this same payee (ie confirmed that the details were the same). I also checked with the payee and details are correct.

NAB said it is not their problem and claimed that the payee's BSB number must have changed without the payee's knowledge. Apparently, this is "common". BSB numbers are publicly available, so I have googled and the BSB number is valid and is for a credit union in the payee's area. There is nothing on the credit union's web site about BSB numbers changing, and no evidence that the BSB has previously belonged to another financial institution.

I am trying the transfer again and hope it will go through this time. I am also concerned about other third party transfers I have done this weekend and I hope they will go through succesfully or I will be up for all kinds of late fees/interest. The NAB told me the failed transfer couldn't be anything to do with me refusing to sign up for SMS banking - I hope so.

 

[hobo-jo]

I can't, it's a credit union in another state.

That's probably your problem right there. Credit Unions are VERY picky about the transactions they let through. I've come across instances where someone has transferred the funds with reference to one persons name, the receiving account was in joint names so the credit union rejected it. I worked in braches for 2 years and saw this problem so often that we generally recommended customers physically deposit the funds with CU's instead of using internet transfers.

 

[poppy]

That's probably your problem right there. Credit Unions are VERY picky about the transactions they let through.

Well I tried the payment again and today it has apparently gone through, payee has recieved it. I used the exact same payee details stored in my internet banking so nothing had changed.

Who knows what happened. I just hope I won't be charged a whopping big fee.

In the future, I will be checking ALL my transactions go through, this will mean sometimes having to transfer them early in order to make sure I won't get hit with a late fee/penalty etc, particularly if I'm about to go away on holiday... a pain.