Making a large payment - ideas?

I have a large payment to make to a company (for having my roof done). Now usually I’d write a cheque for something this large because I can make sure that it gets to the right person by writing the name of the business in the payee field and sending it to their address.

I wouldn’t normally send a bank transfer because I’m paranoid about sending it to the wrong account details (I’d obviously check multiple times - but £6k is a lot of money!!). When I send large amounts to friends & family I always send £1 as a test payment and then send the rest once they’ve received it. Obviously this isn’t really an option when sending to a large business.

So what do I do? Do I just take the plunge and send the money as a bank transfer? Do I transfer the money to a legacy account and write a cheque from that account?

Thoughts & Advice welcome!

That’s what I do. Large business or not. Someone there will know whether or not it has arrived. And I’ll bet you’ll not be the first.

On the other hand, for your own peace of mind, if you have a cheque book, it makes sense to use it if you’re worried about bank transfers.

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It’d be nice if you could type the account details in, and Monzo checks if it’s a business and displays the name of the business for added reassurance. Barclays does it like this, you search for the company and pic the account details that match what you were given:

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I wonder if that is coming over the next year anyway with the new rules around bank transfers and name checking

Seem to recall that Monzo had advanced that enough to start testing with another bank, though do not have the comment to hand

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Unless it’s a maybe business chain though there are hardly any useful businesses saved in their database.

It’s actually a lot harder to send a payment to the wrong person than a lot of people believe - for the reason that an account number and sort code combination is only valid if it satisfies certain criteria. Essentially if you swap two numbers in the account details by mistake, you won’t end up with a valid combination.

You can read more here about modulus checking.

Therefore making an online payment should be safe.

Why?

I think this is something slightly different. Under the new rules, you (the user) need to put in the account details AND the name. Your bank will then tell you if they match, if there’s a near match (I think in this case they show the actual name on the account) or if they don’t. I think the trial was with Santander (and maybe Starling).

The look up list like the one above is, I think, something very different that some banks use just got convenience.

This is what I do.

  1. I ring up the company (or person) in question, using a number I sourced myself to confirm the bank details are correct. A lot of house deposit fraud with solicitors are conducted with false information on a spoofed solicitors email.
  2. I then type out the sort code 2 numbers at a time. Checking both where I have the correct information and on the screen.
  3. I type out the account number 2 numbers at a time. Checking both where I have the correct information and on the screen.
  4. I reread the sort code and account number, 2 numbers at a time again on both screens.
  5. I make a last reread glance.
  6. I realise I cannot be so incompetent that I have now made a mistake after checking it 4 times so I send it.

I have never sent it to a wrong place yet.

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I have a similar sort of ritual :grinning:

I think there’s more chance of the cheque being lost in the post than there is sending to the wrong account after checking the details this thoroughly!

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It is, but maybe better in a way

There is little chance of Monzo or other banks developing a comprehensive and up to date directory for drop down use, but entering the name given by the company and seeing it does not match would be good

On their own, sure. But if given a third-party feed from somewhere else then it wouldn’t be difficult.

Arguably it’d be more risky though, it’s way easier to click the wrong option from a drop-down (there are a lot of similarly named companies) than it is to mess up the sort code and account number in a way that passes the modulus check.

Send the £1 first - I do it all the time for 1st payments a lot bigger than £6,00 and then ring for confirmation as big company’s have accounts departments who can I tell you if it’s been received.

Because as ‘Joe Bloggs’ I always find it almost impossible to be put through to somebody who can a) tell you that they’ve received the money and b) they can be bothered to do it.

Perhaps though I’m just not authoritative enough! :joy:

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I’m going to go with this method but add an extra step - get our lass to check it before I send it!

I would suggest going with the £1 method! That way once they have confirmed receipt you have peace of mind. Believe me, they will be bothered to check since you’re about to transfer them 6k.

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