Be on the money when doing EFTs
Times Media consumer writer Wendy Knowler writes a weekly column on issues affecting consumers. If you have something you would like her to investigate, send your queries to: consumer@knowler.co.za Follow her on Twitter: @wendyknowler
THE problem with processes that are quick and easy, is that it’s also easy to make a mistake, as many do, every day, when doing electronic funds transfers (EFTs).
Businesses mean to pay their suppliers but “gift” a stranger instead: consumers think they’ve made a payment to a friend – or family member – but one wrong number sees their funds disappear into someone else’s account; and some have finger trouble, when choosing a beneficiary on their list – and end up paying the wrong company.
If the beneficiary is the sort who, having spotted the mistake, immediately informs the bank and is willing to do the right thing and return their unexpected windfall, that money is usually back in the mortified payer’s bank account within five days.
But sadly, too many people’s moral compasses malfunction at the sight of the lovely new balance on their bank statement. They know the money wasn’t intended for them, but they can’t bring themselves to give it back, so they transfer it into another account – usually a family member’s – or spend it as fast as they can.
Even if they just leave the money in their own account, the payer is in for a tough battle, because the bank doesn’t have the right to whip the money out of the wrong recipient’s account without their permission.
So, the only option is legal action, which can take anything from six months to two years, and the costs can run into thousands of rands.
So naturally, it’s only the finger trouble cases which involve hundreds of thousands of rand which land up in court.
Most end up writing off the money, chalk it up to experience and go on to check payment details obsessively when doing EFTs.
When the recipient of a “mistake” EFT is known to the payer, it’s harder to understand how they could justify refusing to refund the money.
I once took up the case of a woman, who had paid about R12 000 to a company which was on her list of EFT beneficiaries, as it had previously done a service for her in her home. She’d meant to pay the company one above it on her beneficiary list.
For weeks the company made excuses about why the money wasn’t being paid back, but it soon became clear they had no intention of paying it back.
I contacted the owner, who told me he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and needed the money.
Similarly, in August Brandon Roelf did a R3 000 EFT to a Parow electronics company instead of to his wife’s bank account. Alladin Electronics was on Roelf’s EFT beneficiary list as he’d bought parts for his fridge from the company in the past. The couple has in the past nine months repeatedly asked the owner, known only as “Charles”, to refund the money, but despite undertaking to do so, that hasn’t happened.
When I approached him in March, he told me: “I am currently off sick and therefore check my mails infrequently.
“I will look into the issue and get back to you as soon as I am able to”.
He failed to respond to a follow-up email a month later.
Banking Services Ombudsman Clive Pillay confirmed that funds paid into the wrong account can’t be legally reversed by a bank without the consent of the account holder.
“The bank is not generally expected to act as a court of law in deciding on disputes between clients and third parties to whom funds have been transferred, regarding services or goods not provided or any other dispute between the payee and the client,” he said.
“The bank is in no position to know whether a payment was indeed made by mistake or whether a dispute arose between the payer and the payee.
“It may, at most, try to assist a client in reversing the funds, but can only do so with the recipient/accountholder’s permission. The consumer would have to pursue recovery “outside the banking environment”, Pillay said.
Very good reason to take your time and pay very close attention when doing EFTs.