Money sent to wrong account? Here’s what the BSP says

Sending money to the wrong account can be costly, as digital payments are now faster and harder to reverse. While fund transfers through banks and e-wallets are processed in real time, regulators have released steps consumers can take to try to recover their money.

For the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), users must immediately report erroneous transfers or disputed transactions to their bank or e-wallet provider as prompt action can improve the chances of tracing the transactions and recovering the funds.

According to the BSP, concerns or disputes about fund transfers or alleged unauthorized transactions should be filed with the concerned bank or e-wallet, or the originating financial institution (OFI).

For erroneous transactions or fund transfers made by accountholders to a payee account other than the intended recipient, the central bank said this should be immediately reported to the OFI.

The report should contain:

• the payor's name,
• contact number,
• the account from which the payment was made,
• the payee account details,
• the transaction amount, and
• the transaction date and time.

If the OFI and the receiving financial institution (RFI) are different entities, the originating bank or e-wallet should inform the RFI.

“Both the OFI and RFI should make reasonable efforts to recover the sum sent in error in accordance with existing regulations and industry conventions,” the BSP said in its manual of regulations for banks.

For fund transfer disputes or alleged unauthorized transactions received by the OFI, institutions must immediately inform and provide relevant details to the receiving financial institution (RFI).

“The OFI is primarily responsible for providing assistance and redress to its clients,” the BSP said in its manual of regulations for banks.

Pending an investigation, the BSP said both the RFI and the OFI should suspend the imposition of interest, fees or charges if applicable, and hold the disputed funds if still intact.

They are also ordered to provide “reasonable accommodations” to the financial consumer such as non-withdrawable provisional credit of the disputed amount, or the temporary hold of the disputed amount within a given period.

Financial institutions are given three banking days after the end of the investigation to formally inform the client of the result, which should include a notification of debiting the provisionally-credited amount, provided there is sufficient proof that no unauthorized or erroneous transaction took place.

'Best effort'

GCash, meanwhile, said users should check transaction details before sending, as money transfers are done in real-time.

“GCash can only reverse transactions if the account is inactive or not in use,” it said on its website.

For those who sent money to the wrong person, the fintech advises users to contact them and ask them to send the money back.

Meanwhile, those who sent money to an old or inactive number are advised to contact support on the GCash application, with refunds done on a “best-effort” basis. Updates are expected within three business days.

Maya also released a similar advisory, urging users to ensure that the recipient’s account is valid and correct before confirming the transfer as “there is no way to reverse transactions that go to incorrect accounts.”

“Please contact the recipient directly to see if they can transfer the money back to you. For everyone’s safety and peace of mind, Maya does not interfere with the money in the accounts of users,” it said.

In case the funds were transferred to accounts that do not exist, Maya said users can expect their money to automatically be returned to their account within two banking days. — BM, GMA News