A Sydney woman has recalled the mortifying moment she feared she had lost the deposit on her new home after it was sent to the wrong bank account.
Beatrix Faulkner, 28, and her partner, 30, bought a two-bedroom apartment in Bellevue Hill, an affluent suburb in Sydney’s east, last year.
Ms Faulkner, who works in marketing, was on her way to put up a ‘sold’ sign at the property when she received a call from the real estate agent advising them of the bungle.
‘She sent us an email with the deposit bank account details and then called like an hour later and was like, ‘I’ve given you the wrong bank details’,’ she recalled in a recent interview with property investment company Coposit.
‘But we’d already transferred our deposit.
‘We were on the way to put the ‘sold’ sign on, and she was like, ‘I don’t know where your deposit is’.’
When a customer transfers money to the wrong account, it is usually up to the recipient to flag the mistake and return the money.
While the couple only paid a five per cent deposit, they likely stood to lose tens of thousands of dollars, given Bellevue Hill’s exorbitant property market.
Beatrix Faulkner (left) recalled the moment she nearly lost her deposit after transferring it to the wrong bank account
The young Sydney couple closed on a two-bedroom home in Bellevue Hill last year, where the median unit price is more than $1.5million
In September, the median house price for Bellevue Hill passed an eye-watering $10million, while units held firm at just over $1.5million.
Fortunately, following an anxious back-and-forth, the real estate agent soon realised that she had given the couple the account details of her former employer.
‘It took her a while to work out… she’d given us her old work’s bank account,’ Ms Faulkner said.
‘So, luckily, in the end, it wasn’t some random person who got it’.
Following a dispute with the bank, Ms Faulkner said the pair were able to recover the deposit in full, but not without some distress.
‘It did take away from the excitement of signing the contract,’ she said, adding it has been ‘smooth sailing’ ever since.
Experts hope that Ms Faulkner’s story is an important reminder to home buyers of how easy it can be to make mistakes when using internet banking.
Finance expert Julian Finch said Aussie banks are generally required to help their customers recover lost money.
But he warned that things become less clear when a customer makes the transfer themselves.
Bellevue Hill, where the couple bought their first home, has among Australia’s most expensive properties, with a median house value of more than $10million
Experts say Ms Faulkner’s case is far from unique, with Aussies collectively losing millions of dollars each year to mistaken or fraudulent transfers. Pictured is a sold property in nearby Maroubra
‘When the person making the transfer has had something to do with it, the bank is not obliged to return the money,’ Mr Finch told news.com.au.
‘In this situation, with the incorrect account being given out, the bank wouldn’t necessarily have to refund the customer if they weren’t successfully able to recover the funds.’
Experts say Ms Faulkner’s case is far from unique, with Aussies collectively losing millions of dollars each year to mistaken or fraudulent transfers.
A viewer shared an experience being on the receiving end of an accidental payment after watching the Coposit interview with Ms Faulkner.
‘Someone paid us $300,000 over their invoice once, and we sent it straight back,’ she wrote.
‘We didn’t have to by law but this man would have lost his job if we didn’t. He was very stressed after I called him to let him know.’
Another viewer who worked in property law said it was crucial to ‘call and verbally confirm’ account details before transferring large amounts.
The likelihood of a customer recovering mistaken payments depends on how soon it is reported to a bank or credit union, according to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
‘It is important to check (and double check) the account number when entering it in your internet banking system for the first time,’ its website reads.
‘If you are making a big payment, we recommend you transfer a small amount first and check that the payment has been received.
‘If you have sent money to the person before and they are in your preferred list, make sure you choose the right person when making the payment.’