Any danger in acepting bank transfers?

darren1980

We've just made a sale to a client in an African country. We've refused PayPal and credit card payments from them on the basis that there is too much fraud coming from that part of the world.

Is there any danger in giving them our bank details for a wire transfer? The transfer will be coming from a bank account in the UK, not the African country in question, but the final destination for the goods will be this African country. We've spoken to them on the phone, and they appear genuine, and we've spoken to our bank who say that a transfer cannot be reversed, so it looks secure.

Are there any other dangers attached with giving out our bank account number?

seamus

darren1980 wrote: »

We've just made a sale to a client in an African country. We've refused PayPal and credit card payments from them on the basis that there is too much fraud coming from that part of the world.

Is there any danger in giving them our bank details for a wire transfer? The transfer will be coming from a bank account in the UK, not the African country in question, but the final destination for the goods will be this African country. We've spoken to them on the phone, and they appear genuine, and we've spoken to our bank who say that a transfer cannot be reversed, so it looks secure.

Are there any other dangers attached with giving out our bank account number?

The transfer can't be reversed, but afaik you will still have to wait for the funds to clear. So although the money might arrive in your account, you should wait 5 days (or whatever) before shipping the goods. Maybe clarify that with your bank.

You also want to ensure that they're using SWIFT to make the transfer as this more-or-less guarantees that the source bank is a credible/valid bank and not some iffy institution.

There should be no danger in giving them your bank account details as this alone is not enough to access your account.

GerardKeating

darren1980 wrote: »

and we've spoken to our bank who say that a transfer cannot be reversed, so it looks secure.

Not entirely true, if your customer hacking into someone else bank account, and transfered "stolen funds" into your account, it could be taken back...

or tricked some third party into transferring funds to you, say as a down payment/fee advance/401 scam, it could be taken back

darren1980 wrote: »

Are there any other dangers attached with giving out our bank account number?

Loads, they could print some fake cheques and try to cash them.

As the end of the day, it is a risk, you need to decide if you can afford the potential loss if it goes wrong.

Make sure they do not overpay you....

jimoc

would it be possible to use a third party escrow company in this situation?
That way you get paid, but don't have to hand over bank account details