6 weeks waiting for bank transfer, is there a complaints body?

readysetgo

Long story short my partner transferred a few hundred quid to me in June. We have a house together but seperate bank accounts. Usually money transfers next day.

Its been 6 weeks and money has not arrived. We've asked for a trace on money and then a recall but partners bank are saying the money has gone across so its my banks problem.

My bank are blaming Citi-bank putting a hold on the transfer and its out of their hands?!. The whole thing seems crazy, i've had to use credit card to get by, and if roles were reversed and I missed a payment on loan/mortgage my credit score would be hit.

Is there anyone to escalate this to as a complaint? has anyone had this happen them?!

FobleAsNuck

small claims court

readysetgo

thanks, i'd rather not have to pay €25 and wait until due process in small claims court.

is there anyone out there this has happened to before and found a way to resolve? joe duffy??!!

Boardnashea

Details for the Financial regulator should be on every statement page you get from your bank.

L1011

FSPO. You need the bank to have officially said the complaint is closed by them.

If the complaint is something that a bit of head-knocking can fix, the FSPO is usually quite quick, and banks will occasionally make a 'gesture of goodwill' too to ensure the FSPO complaint gets closed!

Jim2007

What banks are we talking about here, because I'm not aware that Citi bank are a big player in the Irish market? Are we talking about a domestic transfer, an international one or what?

If your partner's bank have done a trace and informed you that the money has left their control there is nothing they can do - they can't reach into another bank and take the money back. You are going to have to work with your bank. Have they confirmed that they can actually see the transaction? And can they see the reason for the block?

You are going to need to figure out who to make the complaint against. And if it has been blocked for money laundering reasons six weeks is not long and an absence of information is also par for the course because they are not allowed to discuss it.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395113#Comment_119395113

What would happen in the case of a reasonably large (say 6-figure) transfer to buy something. I mean if it got stopped in transit and you needed it to complete a purchase?

Is there are way of getting pre-approval or something?

readysetgo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395113#Comment_119395113

thanks, its basically around 700€ from one irish bank to another. trace was done but money is gone beyond able to recall. my bank is saying citibank are blocking loads for fraud/laundering and its out of their control.

i'll try the fspo, cheers

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395127#Comment_119395127

As far as I know yes. There are two types of transaction that are always flagged up a single large payment or a series of small ones. Talk to the bank, provide the necessary documentation if required and it should be OK. It is not an unusual type of situation.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396447#Comment_119396447

Is citibank one of the two banks or an intermediary? If they are saying it has been flagged for money laundring then they do know where it is and why it is blocked, so a complaint is not going to go anywhere.

I need to be careful what I say here because I don't know the exact circumstances, but usually what happens is that a transaction get's flagged up because it meets certain criteria and someone in the bank needs to take a look at it. That usually happens within 24 - 48 hours and most get released. But those that don't have to be investigated, possibly reported to the CBI and/or security services and again most get cleared very quickly.

It is a difficult situation because in such circumstances the bank are not allowed to communicate with you as to the nature of the issue, so you will just have to wait and see how it plays out.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396478#Comment_119396478

Something to be aware of I suppose. I kinda would have taken it for granted. I'd have regularly transferred 5-figure sums from abroad to an Irish account over the years and never had any issue. I was aware of the reporting requirements but kinda thought that that would just be a flagging with Revenue rather than freezing the account. (I've not issue with it being flagged - it's all legit)

Would be a pain to transfer back a larger sum to buy property or something and have it frozen and be unable to complete the sale.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396829#Comment_119396829

The systems monitoring transactions are fairly intelligent, they don't just look at amounts and number of transactions they look at the typical behaviour of the customer and where the payment is going or coming from. At some point the chances are someone looked at your transactions and decided that was fine for you and the system has access to those decisions. Also if you transfer money from a verified account in your name to another verified account in your name it is a very low risk transaction.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119398851#Comment_119398851

Well I'd at least be aware now to run it by them in advance just in case something did happen the one time I'd have a hard deadline for it. I'd have kinda forgotten about it as I had no issues up to this.

macvin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390491#Comment_119390491

What?

Why?

My guess is you do not understand what the small claims court is for.

As above, the payment has simply been flagged and possibly because the total amount transferred between the 2 accounts has raised a flag.

readysetgo

thanks for your help. its a strange one because the amount isnt huge or anything, and its sent most months from an account in her name to a joint account that also has her name which we pay the mortgage out of.

i wish i was better able to take the hit of citibank holding onto 700€ for nearly 2 months but i actually need the money at this stage! how much time do i give for it to be resolved before asking for a final statement and going through FSPO?

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399646#Comment_119399646

Well if there is an going investigation, then the money will not be returned until the matter is resolved because the money could be the proceeds of a money laundering activity. And any complaint to the FSPO will not be addressed until the potential criminal activity has been addressed.

Are you absolutely sure that the bank have said that the block relates to a money laundering issue? Do you have something in writing?

FobleAsNuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399441#Comment_119399441

my guess is you don't

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119403316#Comment_119403316

MOD: No snipping either explain your understanding or let it go...

NewbridgeIR

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396829#Comment_119396829

Property purchases are normally done via solicitors accounts (from purchaser side to seller side) so that shouldn't arise.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406111#Comment_119406111

The money still has to get into the solicitor’s client and it is monitored like any other account.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406111#Comment_119406111

Wasn't referring on transfer from foreign to seller of property, but from own foreign non-Euro bank account to own Irish Euro account in order to forward on. Would probably rather do that than try to send directly to solicitors account from abroad