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Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#131

Post by Symbiote »

threesixandnine wrote: post #127
dogma1138 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesco is a bank for effectively the working poor, young and migrant workers that cannot open an account at a normal highstreet banks. These are people who may have to pay rent more than once a month, have direct debits for bills and more likely than not not have an overdraft over 100£ if at all. If your bills bounce you will end up with fines, and even a lower credit score than the one which prompted you to open an a…

I came to the UK in June this year. Both me and my wife moved because of the job. We are from another EU country. What's interesting is that I signed us up for Tesco bank account but we were both rejected. Probably because we didn't have any history in UK yet but it still kind of sucked - now I am glad they rejected us. Ultimately the next day we went to red and blue US bank on the high street and got it all sorted w…

Note that Metro Bank is a British bank, though there is an American bank with the same name and the better Internet domain.

As far as I know, they're not related.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#132

Post by slededit »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #116
distances wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps the suggestion was made from an European standpoint? Two accounts in Euros within the SEPA area [1] means no costs for currency conversions or bank transfers between your accounts. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

Well, the bank in question holds GBPs, converting to/from Euros to GBPs seems incredibly inconvenient and has no real benefits. Most people get their wage in a single currency and use a single currency in their every day lives. I have a family member who gets their pension in Canadian dollars but lives in the US. Since he lives in the US he has no need for Canadian dollars. He says that his money loses a quarter of i…

That's because the exchange rate has gone down - not from frictional transaction costs. The worst ripoff forex fees are in the 1% range. You can do much better if you look.

Further it's relatively easy to keep USD in a Canadian bank account if you want to.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#133

Post by mstade »

HoyaSaxa wrote: post #26
mstade wrote: post #22

And this right here is why you should have accounts with at least three separate banks, ideally in at least two different countries, and emergency funds in all of them. Also – get a couple of credit cards! Even if you never use the credit beyond what's necessary to keep it, it's good to have for when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Cash is also useful for solving the basic needs like getting food, but for paying bi…

Unfortunately, the people who are likely to be most negatively impacted by an incident like this (relatively smaller amounts taken across a large number of accounts) are not in the position to have multiple bank accounts. Someone who is living paycheck to paycheck needs to aggregate all of their funds in one bank account in order to write a check for rent, and to avoid excessive non-sufficient fund fees. Agreed that…

Unfortunately, you're right. :o(

Thing is, you don't even have to have a whole lot of money to set up multiple accounts. I started doing this when I was still a student, because I got freaked out by how easy it was to skim cards back in the dizzy. (Maybe it still is, but in the EU most cards seem to smart cards these days so you can't just do the swipe skim anymore – at least, I don't think so.)

I had four accounts:

- A: current account, where I would receive whatever little money I'd make on the side every once in a while, and benefits

- B: savings account, where I'd move most money I received in account A; this account had full freedom but pretty much no meaningful interest

- C: second savings account, where I'd actually put savings; some restrictions but better interest

I also had a mixed debit/credit card connected to A – it had terrible limits (something like £250) but it was enough to make purchases throughout the day. At the end of the day, I'd move funds from B to fill the credit back up, thereby never getting any penalties. It's important not to actually use this credit for more than whatever the allotted free time is. (I think I had 30 days free credit, but always paid it back immediately anyway.) A almost never had any money on it, and if I needed to make larger purchases than the credit allowed I'd just transfer it when I needed it. This setup worked well, and I had a couple of scares where my card had to be blocked, but I never lost money. My savings were abysmal (living hand to mouth) and it was the same funds moving around all the time – I just made sure that my exposure on the card was almost always the bank's money. They're pretty quick in settling things when shit hits the fan then.

This setup breaks down if someone manages to hack the bank or you though, since it's all in the same bank. This is why I use multiple banks today.

Obviously mileage varies by country, but my experience with banks in the EU is that once you've got an account, they're more than happy to set up more stuff for you. (Ye olde Wells Fargo trap, I s'pose.)

Most banks like to insist that you use them exclusively, but I've never heeded that advice and so far I've never had a problem with it. If anything, they seem to work (ever so slightly) harder to get all of your business.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#134

Post by mstade »

allengeorge wrote: post #49
mstade wrote: post #22

And this right here is why you should have accounts with at least three separate banks, ideally in at least two different countries, and emergency funds in all of them. Also – get a couple of credit cards! Even if you never use the credit beyond what's necessary to keep it, it's good to have for when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Cash is also useful for solving the basic needs like getting food, but for paying bi…

I wouldn't recommend that for the average individual (who, unlike most of the readers on this site, don't have a lot of disposable cash in savings anyways) - at least from a tax filing perspective. At the very least you're going to have to start filing an FBAR annually, and (depending on tax treaties) have deal with withholding credits. That all aside, there's the currency-conversion hassle, and the fees associated w…

I should have mentioned I'm in the EU, and the single market makes this a lot simpler – apologies.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#135

Post by mstade »

tome wrote: post #35
mstade wrote: post #22

And this right here is why you should have accounts with at least three separate banks, ideally in at least two different countries, and emergency funds in all of them. Also – get a couple of credit cards! Even if you never use the credit beyond what's necessary to keep it, it's good to have for when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Cash is also useful for solving the basic needs like getting food, but for paying bi…

> ideally in at least two different countries Is it generally easy to open accounts in countries you are not resident in?

If you're in the EU (and a citizen of an EU country) it's not particularly difficult I've found.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#136

Post by Pitarou »

empath75 wrote: post #70
Pitarou wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The financial hit needn't be disastrous. One would have thought Tesco had insurance! Tesco's strategic response will be more about reputation, branding and customer relationships than about the direct profits they earn from their financial services. I would be surprised if Her Majesty's Government started micromanaging security (unless there was political pressure to do so). That's not their style. Much better to req…

I don't think insurance will cover you if the theft was because of negligence..

In business terms, a screw up like that would rank as far worse than a data security breach. If Tesco Bank can't negotiate an insurance policy properly, it's a wonder the organisation has survived for 19 years.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#137

Post by mstade »

dwightgunning wrote: post #57
tome wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ideally in at least two different countries Is it generally easy to open accounts in countries you are not resident in?

I'm an Australian expat in The Netherlands with accounts in AU, here in NL, and an additional account I had setup in the US. Both the NL (even when has temp residency / work visa) and the US account were a major PITA to create.

Right, I'm in the EU and and EU citizen to boot, so that's probably why it's been easier for me. Funnily enough, the UK has been the most difficult country to open a bank account in, because of their insisting on using utility bills as proof of residence, and apparently a residence is more or less a must. My first UK account took a few days of hassling to get set up, because I didn't yet have a residence, but was living in a hotel. A proof of employment and a couple of face to face meetings with supervisors cleared that up though.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#138

Post by nextos »

threesixandnine wrote: post #127
dogma1138 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesco is a bank for effectively the working poor, young and migrant workers that cannot open an account at a normal highstreet banks. These are people who may have to pay rent more than once a month, have direct debits for bills and more likely than not not have an overdraft over 100£ if at all. If your bills bounce you will end up with fines, and even a lower credit score than the one which prompted you to open an a…

I came to the UK in June this year. Both me and my wife moved because of the job. We are from another EU country. What's interesting is that I signed us up for Tesco bank account but we were both rejected. Probably because we didn't have any history in UK yet but it still kind of sucked - now I am glad they rejected us. Ultimately the next day we went to red and blue US bank on the high street and got it all sorted w…

UK financial policies are very weird, and in some cases I'd argue they go against the right for freedom of movement as granted by EU. I guess that doesn't mean much with Brexit, but still...

I've been working in a variety of EU countries, with no issues at all. In Denmark, I was even able to secure a mortgage within my second week in the country.

I always work for very reputable employers, with long-term contracts. And I have some savings. Well, here in the UK I have had enormous trouble to lease a £100 / month car after 2 years in the country because I did not reach 3 years of credit history.

Most of the heuristics they use are a joke. And illegal. If you have a chat with the Financial Ombudsman, he can probably sort you out.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#139

Post by martinald »

johansch wrote: post #113
johansch wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but quite a lot. "Overseas Trade Statistics. In July 2016 the value of exports (EU and Non-EU) decreased to £23.9 billion, and imports (EU and Non-EU) decreased to £39.7 billion, compared with last month. Consequently the UK is a net importer this month, with imports exceeding exports by £15.9 billion." https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/OverseasTradeStatisti...

So, (brits), why did you downvote this without commenting? (It went from +3 to 0.)

I would guess because the UK economy is worth ~£2tn. £150bn of imports raising at 20% isn't a huge impact (around 1-2% - not a huge deal in the grand schemes of things).

PS: I didn't downvote you.

Re: Tesco Bank halts online payments after money was taken from 20K accounts

#140

Post by thesimon »

threesixandnine wrote: post #127
dogma1138 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesco is a bank for effectively the working poor, young and migrant workers that cannot open an account at a normal highstreet banks. These are people who may have to pay rent more than once a month, have direct debits for bills and more likely than not not have an overdraft over 100£ if at all. If your bills bounce you will end up with fines, and even a lower credit score than the one which prompted you to open an a…

I came to the UK in June this year. Both me and my wife moved because of the job. We are from another EU country. What's interesting is that I signed us up for Tesco bank account but we were both rejected. Probably because we didn't have any history in UK yet but it still kind of sucked - now I am glad they rejected us. Ultimately the next day we went to red and blue US bank on the high street and got it all sorted w…

Luckily EU regulation now requires most banks to open a (basic) bank account. Just need an ID and a proof of address.

Some banks even allow opening the bank account over the internet if you are a EU resident.

(I know your pain though, opened a UK bank account a year ago, from the EU as well. The most difficult thing for me was actually the proof of address. Metro Bank required 2 plus 2 proofs of ID, a different bank was fine with just one proof of identity and even googled my post code when I forgot a letter :) )

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