Co-Op Bank and how bad it is

[Orinoco]

@louismiles04

If it’s anything like that again I’ll probably close the account. I get that they want people to avoid fraud, but I’m sending £5 to an existing payee - what appears fraudulent about that?!

@caribo

In each case I had to speak to fraud for around 15 minutes going through the script (which is entirely there to absolve themselves of any responsibility if the transaction turns out to be fraudulent) … It’s amusing the first time and I understand that it could stop someone losing money, but quite frankly I’m sick of it now so will be closing my account…

This is what I think @ndrw said in another thread, these checks are getting so onerous that eventually you won’t be able to transfer anything to anyone without signing some sort of waiver every time. Not every transfer is a scam.

I could understand:

• high amount to a new payee that does not have the same name as you and isn’t a recognised business
• repeated high value payments in a short space of time

If they need to put a checkbox or warning on the payment page then fine, but blocking it entirely is excessive I feel.

I have wondered what sort of information they have when doing these checks. Can they see the age of the recipient account? If it was opened 3 days ago it would be more suspicious than one opened 5 years ago. And if paying a business, can they verify the reference? I had a payment to Amex blocked once, I wonder if they can take the reference (which will always be the card number when paying a bank/credit card provider) and query that with Amex to see if the account owner name matches.

[Orinoco]

How I feel when I’ve been asked if I know who the recipient is when I’m trying to transfer my own money:

[louismiles04 (louis)]

Well, at least I got my money, can’t say the same for the 13 minutes of my life I spent on the phone however…

As soon as the next switch offer comes I’m out.

(also found it funny that the person on the phone asked me what the recent £125 credit on my account was )

[Ryan1992 (Ryan)]

“How did you get the account details f the account you’re transferring to”
- My card which is sitting right in front of me…

[caribo]

Q: “can you tell me what is the likely outcome if this transaction turns out to be fraudulent?”

A: “There is a likelihood that the money will not be recoverable and I will lose it”

[Arnie7]

Q Can you tell me the outcome of this transaction if it turns out to be fraudulent?

A We will have somehow slipped into a parallel universe because it is my account here but presumably that of my doppelganger there.

[PaulUK]

@louismiles04

As soon as the next switch offer comes I’m out.

That’s the only reason I still have one open.

Opened last November for the switch bonus, and then twenty minutes on a security call when I tried to transfer that £125 to my own Monzo account.

Ludicrous. Told them so too, not that it would have any effect tbh.

[caribo]

I have a sneaking suspicion that they block all payments to monzo … But I daren’t test it out…

[projectfortytwo (Chris)]

@caribo

block all payments to monzo

We still have a joint account with Smile. Now only kept for paying in cheques and sending the money to Monzo, but they have never blocked a payment. Don’t know if it makes a difference that we’ve been with them for over 20 years so they have more history to look at.

[caribo]

@projectfortytwo

We still have a joint account with Smile. Now only kept for paying in cheques and sending the money to Monzo, but they have never blocked a payment. Don’t know if it makes a difference that we’ve been with them for over 20 years so they have more history to look at.

As you say, maybe its due to age of the account and setting up new payees and those being Monzo accounts… but it’s a pretty galling experience… Ive never had payments blocked with any other bank…

[phildawson (Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)]

i also had the existing payee flag as fraud. With me being the payee.

I had to go through the telephone call which asked questions like “did i coerce myself into making the payment” and “do i know what would happen if the transfer to myself turned out to be fraudulent”

[Arnie7]

I am feeling terribly left out through not having any of these calls now!

[Ryan1992 (Ryan)]

Did they also tell you that if someone was standing next to you telling you what to say to hang up immediately and call the police?

[caribo]

Yep, that too!! Seemed out of place for £1 transaction, going to an account in my name, which had already payed into the co-op. . But hey, they assured me their fraud systems were working correctly…

[louismiles04 (louis)]

@Ryan1992

someone was standing next to you telling you what to say

As if, in that situation, calling the police is something you’d easily be able to do .

[Savvy]

I think I probably can guess the answer, but…in coop bank app, can you see pending transactions?

[Ryan1992 (Ryan)]

Nope, you just see the value that’s pending but no list anywhere unfortunately.

[Estupendo (TH)]

Latest drama with the co-op bank. I did a balance transfer to my co-op bank credit card. Fraud system activated. Have had to go into a branch twice to sort this. Was first asked to prove statements of my Halifax credit card where it came from, which I didn’t have. Second time was not asked for anything. Absolute utter joke.

[Orinoco]

With things like that it makes you wonder why they bother to offer the transfers at all.

[Arnie7]

@Estupendo

Have had to go into a branch twice to sort this

I was thinking of them for a balance transfer. Couldn’t manage to go into a branch if they asked though as they closed the local one and the closest is probably a couple of hundred miles away.