Quick question: Do you have to give out your name along with your sort code and account number for someone to deposit money in your account?

[VladmirsPoutine]

If not then surely they'd see your name anyway on their statement? Just trying to resolve a query I faced at work today. (I don't work in a bank), so fear not

I think you do.

No name is needed. A name means nothing when making a bank transfer.

Yes

It's perfectly safe to put money in. Withdrawing money from an account requires further passwords and pass codes

actually checking the name of the recipient against account details is part of the banks anti fraud strategy. some banks are more advanced than others.

No - the name on the account is not checked at the moment. You only need the sort code and account number

This is supposed to be changing to help combat scammers but at the moment it isn't needed

So if you don't provide a name then what happens when the payer checks their statement?

The payer will generally be asked for a name but at the moment they can put anything in there. E.g. if you're paying 'mum' you can enter that as the payee name even though that won't be the name on her account. They'll also be given the option of putting a reference. Generally these will then appear on the statement, but exactly what's shown on the statement depends on the bank.

No.

People think you do, as you can see above, but actually the name is not important and is not checked. You could send it to Father Christmas but as long as the sort and account codes are correct, the money will arrive.

So it would be fine if client A paid client B - gave their account number and sort code, of course, but gave the name 'Homer Simpson'? And client A would never know the actual name of client B? Talking HSBC here. Of course I will seek further guidance from the banks in question but just couldn't really answer the question so wondering about it tonight.

Pretty sure checking the name on the account is now being checked.

this is what moneysavingexpert says on this

No you don't. As was pointed out in an article about that woman who didn't notice she'd paid £1k a year to someone else there are far too many variations for anyone to check. So if someone wants to pay me they could say it's:
Dappled Things
Mrs D Things
Mrs D X Things
Dappy Things
Dappy X Things
Ms D Things
D. Things
etc.

All of those are my name and yet none are exactly what's on my account. Nobody is manually checking names to see if they look similar. If you have used a sort code and account number that match up that's all that's used to make it work.

I have a forrin bank account and without the number matching the account holder's name a bank transfer is blocked.
no one knows why uk banks are so inept...

Banks and other payment service providers are required to obtain certain identifying information when sending and receiving payments as part of money laundering and financial crime regulations (and other regulations). If insufficient information is provided, the payment could be refused by the receiving bank.

When I worked in a French online bank we needed account name, iban and bic. Any of those missing no transfer possible. For large amounts the proof was way more stringent to stop laundering. Online banks are a popular target.

Pretty sure checking the name on the account is now being checked

No it really isn't. I have spent an hour paying bills from my Lloyds account this afternoon. Where it asks for account name of payee it also says (in red) that this is not checked.

I just put in something that identifies it to my accountants and me.

If an organisation/employer is making a CHAPS payment (virtually instant) they need the account name. A BACS payment doesn't

I regularly make IBAN transfers which are actually quite simple to do, but this morning I spent ages on the phone transferring 400.00 from one of my accounts into the a/c of someone here in England.Her sort code and a/c no. werent enough. Yes, they wanted her name too.And even more security checks from me.

But Dappled, that's a problem that IT could solve. If I make a payment to "John Smith", it's not beyond the wit of computer programmers to generate "the account name corresponding to the sort code and account number you have given does not contain 'John' or 'Smith' - do you want to proceed?"

This threads made me feel so much better, was trying to pay the dc gymnastics to xtown gymnastics club but it only fit in xtown gymnastic. And the reference which was betty&bobmcd was just betty&bob. Plenty twins here but hopefully the teachers sensible.

Some of the major banks are implementing checks - you put in the sort code, account number and name of the account holder and they will check with the other bank that the name matches and let you decide whether you want to send the money anyway.
It's to prevent invoice fraud.

My greatest hassle this morning was proving I was me! So, I went through the usual security checks,mothers maiden name,etc but fell down when I couldnt provide a mobile phone no. Because I choose to not have one. The bank teller couldnt wrap his head round that one. Had to call someone else to do more in-depth investigations (oo-err missus).

I couldn't make a bank transfer, because I didn't know payee's name - my dh had forgotten to put down the name of the person who it was going to. Bank wouldn't accept just account number and sort code.