Sometimes it's not even worth trying

[bankworking]

SC: Your teller told me that I couldn't transfer money to my father's account. He can't get out of the house to go to the bank, so I need to transfer money to his account.

Me: Well, let me see if I can find some options for you. Is your father's account with us or with another institution?

SC: With [a different bank]

Me: Well, one option would be to wire funds to his account. There is however a $10 outgoing fee for wires. (Didn't even get into the possibility that his bank might charge for incoming wires as well. So glad my work doesn't do that.)

SC: NO, I'm not going to spend money just to transfer money to my father. I just need you to set up an automatic deposit from my account to my father's. Why can't you do that? Isn't that what your online banking is for, so I can send money wherever I need to?

Me: If you like, you can use our online bill pay to send money to your father. However, since he is not a company with the set up for electronic payments, we would end up mailing a check made payable to him to the address you provide for him.

SC: I can't send him a check! I told you, he can't leave the house to get to the bank. I need to send money directly to his account.

Me: Are you on his account?

SC: What does that have to do with anything?

Me: If you are on his account, we can set up an ACH transfer between institutions as a one-time or reoccurring transactions. This is a free option, however you do have to be on both accounts.

SC: No I'm not on his account. I just want to transfer money to my father's account. Why can't you do this for me?

Me: I'm sorry ma'am, I am trying to give you options of things you can do to get money to his account...

SC: *interrupting* You are useless! *storms out*

[Stig]

Er . . . . . . perhaps I'm missing something here.

[MoonChild2007]

Oooookay, why couldn't she just take her money and deposit it at her father's bank?

[Calud]

I do have to kind of agree with the SC. Transferring money from one account to another shouldn't be overly complicated. But come on. It's not like Bankworking didn't offer options!

[pile of monkeys]

They were trying to transfer money from one bank to an account at another bank where the SC was not a named accountholder. I would imagine that's logistically improbable.

[cinema guy]

I can transfer money to my parents' account and vice versa. With internet banking all it takes is the click of a mouse. Granted, I am in the UK, but it should be a simple thing. Even if the bank hasn't enetered the 20th century, putting money into a bank account which you have the details for shouldn't be a problem.

[AccountingDrone]

They were trying to transfer money from one bank to an account at another bank where the SC was not a named accountholder. I wuld imagine that's logistically improbable.

no it isnt, anybody can deposit money into any account with a deposit slip, they just cant get money out, unless it is in the form of a check written to them. I have had my roomie deposit money into my account, and i have deposited into her account.

[pile of monkeys]

I don't think it's so much that she wanted to put money in her father's account, but the way she wanted to do it. She didn't want to have to go in person and use a deposit slip, she didn't want to wire the funds from one bank to another, she didn't want her bank to cut her father a check, and she didn't seem to think of having her name put on her father's account, so that the free, easy suggestion bankworking came up with would work. I've put funds into other people's accounts before, but it generally involved one of us having to make a deposit at the bank in person. I know my bank doesn't offer the option of transferring funds electronically to another person's account at another bank unless I'm a named accountholder on both accounts. I use a smaller, local bank, so that may be a reason.

[Slytovhand]

This is just weird, from where I'm sitting. SC has said they know of online banking (although, admittedly, doesn't necessarily mean she have access to it though...). I can send money to pretty much any account I want, as long as I have the BSB and the Account number (probably the right name, too, but I haven't got that as a definite). I pay my rent that way. Paid my singing lessons that way too...

(I do recall, though, that once I wanted to do an auto payment transfer for rent, but doing that to another bank would incur $2/transaction... ).

I think the customer would be stuck if she didn't want a periodic transfer though, but as a one off... still makes me wonder if she wanted her shoes licked clean as well... given she expected everyone else to do all the work for her (and not just go to the other bank and deposit it herself).

[Rubystars]

Your bank is wrong to make such a simple thing so complicated.

[Jetfire]

Not sure if it's an option for the OP (or if the OP's customer would even bother with it) but I regularly transfer funds from my bank to my credit union using a service called "Hyperwallet" (got it from the CU itself). Don't think I even need to own either account. (From the bank, it's just 1 more 'bill' I have set up that I can pay into) It does take a couple of days and you do need to go manually but it's worked fine for me for the past few years.

[bankworking]

I don't think it's so much that she wanted to put money in her father's account, but the way she wanted to do it. She didn't want to have to go in person and use a deposit slip, she didn't want to wire the funds from one bank to another, she didn't want her bank to cut her father a check, and she didn't seem to think of having her name put on her father's account, so that the free, easy suggestion bankworking came up with would work. I've put funds into other people's accounts before, but it generally involved one of us having to make a deposit at the bank in person. I know my bank doesn't offer the option of transferring funds electronically to another person's account at another bank unless I'm a named accountholder on both accounts. I use a smaller, local bank, so that may be a reason.

That was my frustration. I was trying to give her every option I could think of to allow her to do what she wanted.

I'm very sorry that we don't do the free electronic transfer between accounts at different institutions unless your name is on both accounts. In the U.S. I don't know of any financial institution that will do that. I know it is electronically feasible (obviously, or we couldn't do it for accounts that are both in the same name), but I believe they quote security concerns about creating that sort of link without the same ownership. Some banks don't even allow you to transfer money directly to an account at another bank that is in your name. They make you go through the wire system (with the fees involved) even for that.

[ThisIsXYZ]

Aack. Don't you love it when there's all kinds of red tape (stupid or non-stupid, doesn't matter, you didn't invent it), you try to help the customer through it, and they get abusive because it doesn't work exactly the way THEY think it should work? Customers suck.

[bankworking]

Your bank is wrong to make such a simple thing so complicated.

But it's not simple. Every electronic transfer has huge legal regulations tied to it. Branching out beyond the 'settled' on methods under the U.S. legislation... well, I'm glad it's not my job to look into such things. The regulations are bad enough when the member has a problem with an automatic withdrawal that they set up outside of the financial institution.

I don't know all of what would be required, but I bet we'd have to expand our dispute department for when things went wrong (Which they will: something, somewhere will always go wrong with every system that exists). Our lawyer would have to work out exactly what we would be liable for.

We are not a large institution. Maybe a major bank might be able to handle such things. *shrug*

[WhiteRose]

"WHY CAN'T YOU MANIPULATE REALITY?!"

come on people, don't tell me the aliens have gotten to you too?! where are your tinfoil hats!!