Bank transfer - can they take money from me?

[mummabear1967]

Hi

So a friend owes me money and I’ve said to her that she can just bank transfer me it if I give her my sort code and account number.

Probably a stupid question, but is this safe to do? Would she be able to withdraw money from my account with those details?

No, as a business I've had a few contractors worry about this. I have bank account number and sort code for hundreds of people and give ours out too, no one can access the accounts with just those details.

Think about it, if you pay say British gas through the bank you use those numbers but no one has emptied their banks yet ;)

I assume you're too young to remember cheques?

Pieces of paper issued by banks that included the sort code, account number and, when completed, a copy of your signature that were used to pay other people before bank transfer became a thing.

It's as safe as it can be. The only thing your friend could do with these details would be to set up a direct debit to pay one of her bills from your account.

In the unlikely event that she tried to do this, it would either be picked up by internal checks (address for the account holder not matching the address to which the bill relates) or you could get the money back using the direct debit guarantee as fraudulent, so you wouldn't actually lose any money in the unlikely event of your friend being dishonest.

@BarbaraofSeville

I assume you're too young to remember cheques?

Pieces of paper issued by banks that included the sort code, account number and, when completed, a copy of your signature that were used to pay other people before bank transfer became a thing.

It's as safe as it can be. The only thing your friend could do with these details would be to set up a direct debit to pay one of her bills from your account.

In the unlikely event that she tried to do this, it would either be picked up by internal checks (address for the account holder not matching the address to which the bill relates) or you could get the money back using the direct debit guarantee as fraudulent, so you wouldn't actually lose any money in the unlikely event of your friend being dishonest.

No - but I wish I was young!

Thank you, yes that’s true about cheques, it just made me wary that’s all