Bank Error (Not) in My Favor, Collect Hassles

[Qs Laptop]

Community_Chest_BEIYF.png

^^ This definitely did not happen. ^^

Remember paper deposit slips at banks? Banks would have stacks of them available for customers to use when making deposits. You would fill in your name, account #, date, etc. and present your paycheck or other check to the teller to complete your deposit. But no more. No more deposit slips at my bank, which is TCF Bank, er, Huntington Bank.

It's all electronic now. You swipe your debit card tied to your checking account then enter your PIN#. Your account information pops up on the teller's computer screen and the teller completes the deposit. Easy peasy, right? Except...

Friday I made a deposit, $1,200+, using my debit card, got the receipt, glanced at the available balance which looked OK (though DW handles the checkbook reconciliation) and I never thought twice about it.

I had redeemed some US Savings bonds last week and was awaiting them to deposit to my bank so yesterday I logged in and looked at my account activity. The bond money had been deposited. But...wait a minute...no $1,220 deposit showing. I pulled the receipt out of my wallet and discovered the deposit had been put into my late mother's trust account over which I had POA. What? How?!

I need to go back to the bank. (Next to going to the post office the bank ranks as 2nd to last in things I want to do.) The teller (different one than Friday) explained that when you swipe your card your entire customer profile shows up on the teller's screen, with all your accounts displayed. I told her I thought that was dumb, that only the account associated with the debit card in use should show up. She said, "that was the way it used to be, but since we're merging with Huntington, they've changed it. The teller on Friday accidentally put my deposit in the wrong account.

This would never happen with a paper deposit slip whereby the teller must read the account number.

This would never happen if ONLY the account tied to the debit card being used was displayed on the teller's computer screen.

Suddenly a memory of my previous deposit flashed across my mind with teller saying, "Oh, I almost put that money in the wrong account", and me wondering how that could possibly happen. So, twice in a month this error prone method befell my deposits, and I got burned once.

Offered as a cautionary tale to anyone else whose bank no longer uses paper deposit slips.

[disneysteve]

Sorry that happened. I hope they correct it quickly.

I never go into a bank to make deposits though. I do it from home on my phone. Greatest thing ever.

[Montecfo]

All the accounts you are on pop up. Teller needs to ask which account. Their mistake sounds like.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montecfo All the accounts you are on pop up. Teller needs to ask which account. Their mistake sounds like.

+1

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Same thing happened to me probably 10 years ago.
I was making the daily deposit for my employer and also wanted to make an additional deposit of a LARGE check to my personal account. i told the girl it was to go into my personal account and she looked it up by my social security number, and boom it went into my employers account and I didn't notice till later. Since I was a signer on the company account my social security number was tied to both. Very frustrating having to contact bunches of people at corporate to let them know in advance and assure them that I was not stealing money when it was pulled back out again. That bank had also been purchased by a larger one recently, this was a few years after the 2007 meltdown. I had 3 of my banks/credit unions taken over by larger ones in the same day to stop them going under. A very scary time as I remember.

[pb4uski]

+1.... I recently joined the Board of our condo association and as a result was asked to sign some paperwork for the Association's Fidelity account. A few weeks later I logged into my Fidelity and this corporation account pops up on my dashboard in addition to our regular accounts.

Same thing happens with Wells Fargo... my mother's trust checking account and my aunt's safe deposit box both show up on my dashboard since my SSN is on record with respect to those accounts.

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

That really inspires my confidence in the security of the financial system.
That's just a theft waiting to happen if anyone with financial problems has access to these accounts.
There's recently been a case out here of a 79 year old nun that's been stealing from the catholic church school, close to a million dollars over ten years to fund her gambling habit. Sister Mary Margaret didn't even get caught until after she retired and they did an audit.

[njhowie]

Do you/they not have online banking?

[disneysteve]

I always get a little annoyed when I'm making a mobile deposit and it asks me to choose which account I want - because I only have one account there. It's strange that the teller, seeing that you have multiple accounts, wouldn't ask which one you want the deposit to go to.


I'm trying to recall the last time I used a teller for a deposit. I seem to recall maybe 5 years ago I had a check that the mobile app wouldn't scan for some reason. Then I tried an ATM with no luck there either. I finally had to break down and go into a teller.

[disneysteve]

In case anyone is wondering, if your mobile banking app says there is a limit for deposits, you can probably ignore it. I had a 45K check to deposit last week. My bank (BOA) said it had a 15K limit so I checked Ally. I mistakenly thought it said their limit was 50K so I deposited the check. Turns out I hadn't looked close enough. It was actually 5K. All that happened was I got an email that because of the size of the check, it would take a couple extra days for them to release the funds.

[jollystomper]

The bank teller position is an entry level job. There is nothing wrong with that,everyone has to start somewhere. But being an entry level job means they are likely less experienced and more prone to mistakes. Whenever I interact with a bank teller I always make sure my instructions are clear, and I never leave the bank without reviewing and verifying the receipt. Fortunately, when a mistake has been made, they have been quick to resolve it.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve Sorry that happened. I hope they correct it quickly. I never go into a bank to make deposits though. I do it from home on my phone. Greatest thing ever.

Same here.

[RetiredAt55.5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve In case anyone is wondering, if your mobile banking app says there is a limit for deposits, you can probably ignore it. I had a 45K check to deposit last week. My bank (BOA) said it had a 15K limit so I checked Ally. I mistakenly thought it said their limit was 50K so I deposited the check. Turns out I hadn't looked close enough. It was actually 5K. All that happened was I got an email that because of the size of the check, it would take a couple extra days for them to release the funds.

Not at my credit union - they have 2 mobile deposit rules:

1. No mobile deposit can be over $5k.

2. No more than $10k can be deposited in a rolling 30 day period.

The app keeps track, and the deposit amount has to be manually entered. I have to sit on a $5k check for 3 weeks because I can only deposit $4,975 right now.

Unfortunately, this credit union doesn't have any branches close by anymore, so I can't walk it over.

[disneysteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredAt55.5 Not at my credit union

Maybe I just got lucky, or Ally has more forgiving terms.


This was the first time I "violated" the rule though so I have no idea whether or not other banks actually enforce it.

[Qs Laptop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by njhowie Do you/they not have online banking?

Yes, they have online banking. This bank has branches inside grocery stores and since I was going to the store I figured I'd do the bank deposit as well.

[Al in Ohio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qs Laptop Attachment 39434 ^^ This definitely did not happen. ^^ Remember paper deposit slips at banks? Banks would have stacks of them available for customers to use when making deposits. You would fill in your name, account #, date, etc. and present your paycheck or other check to the teller to complete your deposit. But no more. No more deposit slips at my bank, which is TCF Bank, er, Huntington Bank. It's all electronic now. You swipe your debit card tied to your checking account then enter your PIN#. Your account information pops up on the teller's computer screen and the teller completes the deposit. Easy peasy, right? Except... Friday I made a deposit, $1,200+, using my debit card, got the receipt, glanced at the available balance which looked OK (though DW handles the checkbook reconciliation) and I never thought twice about it. I had redeemed some US Savings bonds last week and was awaiting them to deposit to my bank so yesterday I logged in and looked at my account activity. The bond money had been deposited. But...wait a minute...no $1,220 deposit showing. I pulled the receipt out of my wallet and discovered the deposit had been put into my late mother's trust account over which I had POA. What? How?! I need to go back to the bank. (Next to going to the post office the bank ranks as 2nd to last in things I want to do.) The teller (different one than Friday) explained that when you swipe your card your entire customer profile shows up on the teller's screen, with all your accounts displayed. I told her I thought that was dumb, that only the account associated with the debit card in use should show up. She said, "that was the way it used to be, but since we're merging with Huntington, they've changed it. The teller on Friday accidentally put my deposit in the wrong account. This would never happen with a paper deposit slip whereby the teller must read the account number. This would never happen if ONLY the account tied to the debit card being used was displayed on the teller's computer screen. Suddenly a memory of my previous deposit flashed across my mind with teller saying, "Oh, I almost put that money in the wrong account", and me wondering how that could possibly happen. So, twice in a month this error prone method befell my deposits, and I got burned once. Offered as a cautionary tale to anyone else whose bank no longer uses paper deposit slips.

I would let them know of your two experiences just before I asked to transfer all my money and accounts to a bank that is less error prone with better safety measures. Most banks still have a paper trail and hard deposit slips.

[SecondCor521]

^ This.

My Dad had a bad experience with a bank sometime in the 1970's. He was part owner of a partnership business. The bank somehow managed to run the business' payroll out of my Dad's personal checking account, which resulted in a ridiculous overdrawn situation that took him visiting the branch to straighten out. Moved his money to a different bank and never went back.

I had a similar annoyance with a local bank in 1993 where they did something which I thought was stupid - it was a bank that had branches in two states, I had had a product at their sister bank in state X and wanted the same product at the bank in state Y and they said I didn't qualify. Moved my money to a different bank and haven't been back since (except for a new account bonus once I guess, but that was only a few months).

All banks make mistakes and they all probably lose customers over them, but I think if a bank makes a significant mistake and they lose a reasonably large amount of customers / deposit money, that's how they learn. Sounds like this bank needs to understand that they've got a design problem. (At my current bank my and my daughter's accounts are tied to my login and debit/AT card, but I've never had a deposit go awry - the ATM always asks me, as do the tellers.)

[prudent_one]

I would agree that their system is greatly error-prone for people with multiple accounts. I'd ask a bank manager for a solution. It wouldn't surprise me if they do still have blank deposit slips around, even if they don't put them out for general use.

[Qs Laptop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al in Ohio I would let them know of your two experiences just before I asked to transfer all my money and accounts to a bank that is less error prone with better safety measures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 Sounds like this bank needs to understand that they've got a design problem.

I got one of those ubiquitous "Take this Survey, Tells How We've Done" emails from the bank the next day. Yes, I let them know what I thought!

[disneysteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qs Laptop I got one of those ubiquitous "Take this Survey, Tells How We've Done" emails from the bank the next day. Yes, I let them know what I thought!

Hopefully somebody in the right position will read it.


Clearly, they need better teller training. "Which account is this for?" needs to be a standard question when a customer is making a deposit. It is on the mobile apps and at the ATM. It's inane not to ask at the teller window.