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Payment errors

Given the large volumes of payments that flow each day it is natural that errors occur. See below for various scenarios and how you should manage them.

A payment sent in error by yourself or one of your customers​

If the beneficiary of the payment is known to the account holder, or the the payment amount/reference was incorrect, the account holder should first attempt to contact the beneficiary to arrange the return of funds.

If the beneficiary is not known or is not responding to contact, then a recovery request can be raised through Griffin Bank. Contact us at support@griffin.com with the following information:

  • Details around why the payment was sent in error
  • For misdirected payments, identifying the name, account number, sort code of the intended recipient
  • Confirmation that no refund has been received.
  • Check if the sending customer knows the recipient and details on any attempts to try and contact them to recover the funds.
  • If the customer has any vulnerabilities

We may get back in touch with requests for further information. If the case meets the relevant criteria we will contact the beneficiary bank to try and recover the funds. This can take up to 20 working days and there is no guarantee of success. For more information about this process, see our guide to credit payment recovery

A payment received by yourself or one of your customers that was sent in error​

When there is doubt over whether the funds belong to the account owner or not, the funds should not be used until it is fully understood where they have come from.

caution

If the end customer does spend the money, they could be liable to repay it.

  • If the sender of the payment is known to the account holder, then the account holder should attempt to contact the sender to arrange the return of funds.
  • If the sender is not known or is not responding to contact, then contact us at support@griffin.com with details of the payment.

It may be that Griffin Bank receives a request from the sending bank to ring fence and return the funds. If this is the case, we will be in touch with further details.

A payment that was for a good/service that was misleading/not satisfactory/not delivered​

This will be classed as buyer-seller dispute and will need to be resolved between the payer and the account holder. If this does not resolve the issue, then the payer should seek guidance from the Citizens Advice Service.

An error by yourselves that debits or credits one of your customer’s accounts​

You should take action as soon as possible to rectify the customer’s financial position. In your remediation, do consider the wider impact on the customer including any interest they may have missed, or fees they will have been charged. In certain scenarios a goodwill payment will be required.

An error by Griffin Bank that debits or credits you or one of your customer’s accounts​

We will endeavour to correct the financial position of you and your customers as soon as possible. Further communications will be provided with details of the incident and the steps we are taking to remediate the situation.