Order of our names changed on joint bank account

[Maresmaid]

Many years ago my husband and I opened 2 joint bank accounts. One was set up in joint names with his name first and the other in joint names with my name first so that we could easily identify which account was which. The account with his name first received our salaries and transferred a regular amount to the account with my name first which then paid out all the various household dd’s. I recently needed to set up a new standing order to the account with my name first and discovered that the names have been switched round by the bank without our knowledge so both accounts now show my husbands name first.

I am fully aware that this makes no difference to my legal claim to the money in the account and it’s just really an admin issue, but it’s made me feel like making a fuss and insisting they change it back. I deal with the family finances, I use the mobile and banking app, when something needs paying husband asks me to log on and do it, so technically I am the primary user and i feel like making a stand about the sexism of automatically showing husbands name before wife’s.

Am I being unreasonable if I complain to the bank?

Computer defaults are set by humans

A bit of an aside, but I'd leave it be.
Admin on anything is so useless these days and a couple of years ago our joint account was 48 hours away from being closed down by the bank because they had missed off husband's surname from a single statement and he had to go in branch twice to prove his identity - they had him down as John Martin, not John Martin Smith. Nightmare.

As I said before I’m having a moan to get it out of my system now. I will politely ask the bank why they did this and if they can change it back, and it won’t ruin my life if they say ‘No’ but if they tell me they always put the Mr first I will politely challenge the convention.

Just ran off to check mine and yep mines changed too! The account was mine for years first. Cheeky fucks 😂

I think they should have at least written and informed us of the intention to do this. When someone makes a payment into a bank account the account name has to match the sort code and account number otherwise there is a message saying the account details don’t match. This is how I found out ours has been changed. It’s a significant change in the account details.

If everything is sent to both of you and one can do something on the account unilaterally then it wouldn't bother me. When it did bother me was when they send mortgage letters only to DH that were for both of us, I pulled them up on it and they amended it. It could have actually held us up buying our first house as he was away at one point. Fortunately contactable and I was allowed to open his post!

Which bank are you with? Can you not mark the accounts in your app in some way to denote which is which? I would probably open a chat with the bank asking why they've changed it.

When someone makes a payment into a bank account the account name has to match the sort code and account number otherwise there is a message saying the account details don’t match. This is how I found out ours has been changed. It’s a significant change in the account details.

That's odd, mine is only ever payable to me, both the names don't usually need to be included. It shouldn't affect payments.

Just checked our joint account and mortgage and they both have my name first. Opened 5+ yrs ago and updated earlier this year to update my name following marriage. My first name is alphabetically after his too so doesn't follow a sex or alphabetical convention.

It must depend on the bank

Banks usually list alphabetically by default.

They also conduct periodic reviews to ensure correct formatting and details are captured. The account opening input relies on a human afterall, who might have been a shit employee.

Even years after opening, you see accounts with capital letters missing in names, which are listed as Mr. or Mrs., or with middle name first or other typos. These errors are often swept up and corrected at some review point afterwards.

The liklihood is that there were formatting errors in the original account opening and reverse alphabetical order should never have been allowed, so it's been corrected. It's really not that deep.

Is it HSBC? They have form for this.

Mine didn't. Probably because I never told them we were married.

hsbc. Can’t add nick names. Chat can’t cope with the question. I’m sitting about all day recovering from surgery and have nothing better to do than pick at this.

I suspect it will be a data issue. I would imagine it's about reconciling the name of the account with the other account you hold which is also joint (unhelpful for you, I appreciate) to ensure all your accounts are linked / grouped appropriately. Banks have endless issues with duplicate customer records and are forever trying to cleanse their databases.

Ask them (I'd be interested to know so please report back), but I doubt will have anything to do with the fact that you are female and he is male.

Can you not phone them?

Next job on my list.

They do. And racism. For example car insurance has an ‘ethnicity penalty’ problem.

There is no primary user on joint accounts, so as you know it doesn't matter which order the names are displayed online, on statements etc.

HSBC may have had a system update that alphabetised the names on joint accounts, that seems a likely explanation.

It's definitely not worth complaining about, it hasn't changed anything for you other than you'll need to check the account number instead of name now. Ask it to switch the names back, but don't waste a poor complaint handler's time!

The poor complaint handler is getting paid to deal with complaints so I don’t think it’s ‘wasting’ their time. I don’t see why a customer politely and respectfully asking a question about their account details is in anyway out of order. I see it as ‘customer feedback’ - helpful information to allow them to operate their business.

Considering the fuss the banks make over my name because I have two personal names and one family name but I am usually addressed by people in person by my "middle" name. I am totally amazed that the account will validate for online payments for example. Huge security hole! Name names OP, does the bank rhyme with Voids?

I'm quite invested in this now - please update with their response!

I don't think it's at all unreasonable to ask why the bank has unilaterally made a change. Yes, it's a minor change, but it nevertheless inconveniences you. They aren't doing you a favour: they are providing a contractual service because it's profitable for them to do. If they're going to start providing a poorer service, the least they can do is justify why.

Exactly. You can provide feedback without raising a complaint, which is what it seems like you intend to do.

When the order was changed for us I was the first alphabetically and the oldest.

I had similar, when already (amicably) separated from my ex. I /we removed my name from the account, and all it held at this point was an inheritance from her father's estate. I neither wanted nor had any claim on this money.
However, I kept getting letters and emails about the account, and my name was always placed first. I basically had to go into a branch, read the riot act, and watch them remove me from the account. I still got the occasional letter, but they've stopped now.

Was your situation the exact same as OPs with a joint account at the same bank?