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British Retail Tesco Bank: 20,000 Customers Lose Money (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the bank-hack dept.

An anonymous reader writes:Tesco Bank has halted online payments for current account customers after money was taken from 20,000 accounts. The bank's chief executive Benny Higgins told the BBC he was "very hopeful" customers would be refunded within 24 hours. About 40,000 accounts saw suspicious transactions over the weekend, of which half had money taken, he said. Customers will still be able to use their cards for cash withdrawals, chip and pin payments, and bill payments. The bank is blocking customers from making online payments using their debit card, although transfers between accounts and to other people are still allowed, a spokesperson said. Earlier, the bank confirmed some accounts "have been subject to online criminal activity, in some cases resulting in money being withdrawn fraudulently."

12 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. defining some terms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those of us in the US (and others not familiar with UK banking terms), a 'current account' is like a checking account in the US (not a savings account or other account).

  2. Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by alex67500 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's what you get when you trust a company that deals in low-price groceries and let them run a bank... They are not the same thing.

    1. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Yep, much safer to use a reputable bank whose name goes back well over a century, like Wells Fargo. Oh, wait....

      Pretty much all bank these days suck

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      Credit unions are better. The Wells Fargo branch office in my neighborhood lost a lot of business when a credit union opened up next door. I moved my accounts over when my bankruptcy attorney told me that Wells Fargo would freeze my accounts when they get the legal paperwork.

    3. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      Why are credit unions better? There're still made up of people, just like normal banks. Why does everyone praise credit unions so highly? They never explain their praise...

      ~An ignorant millennial

      One of the things I didn't miss when leaving the UK is the UK banks.

      In terms of sheer utter awfulness it goes UK Banks > US Banks > US Credit Unions.

      Credit unions aren't supporting a stock price on the stock market. So they don't pull nearly as many stunts as banks. They tend to be more localized as well which somehow makes them better.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    4. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      I bank at a credit union so I'm somewhat biased, but a credit union is basically a bank where by virtue of opening an account with them, you also become a partial owner of the business. It's similar to working for a company that gives you stock as part of working at that company. Because you're a partial owner of the credit union, you can vote on proposals just like you could vote if you were a stockholder for some company. Most people don't participate in this process, but they have the opportunity to do so if they're so inclined.

      Additionally, because you are an owner of the credit union, when they make money, they pay that to you, the owner. If a private bank does well and makes a lot of money, they're under no obligation to pass on those profits to their account holders. If there's sufficient competition, private banks typically do this in the form of offering better rates in order to get customers to deposit their money with that bank, but with a credit union the financial gains are paid out to the members, as though it were a company where all profits went to dividends.

      Probably the best reason people praise them is because they tend to be local organizations instead of big national chains. This means that the people working there are more likely to know you personally, especially if you attend any of the member events that most credit unions have from time to time. This makes customer support much, much better. Odds are if you have to call your credit union frequently, you'll be dealing with the same people most of the time. Contrast this with a huge bank that likely has a call center.

      Credit unions aren't perfect, and typically if you want the best possible rate, a huge national chain bank will be the one giving it to you in the vast majority of cases, but for me personally, the better customer service experience is worth more than a slightly better interest rate on my savings account.

    5. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

      A credit union is made up of the members that have accounts there. It is in the best interest of everyone to keep costs down and minimize risk and loses (such as fraud). The real boss is you, the member, not a stock price, not a CEO, not a trader in a cubicle or even a sophisticated computer algorithm.

      Credit Unions won't lie to you, to make an extra buck, there is no incentive to do so.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by TroII · · Score: 2

      They aren't beholden to Wall Street shareholders. Credit unions reinvest any profits back into the credit union itself, typically this manifests itself as better interests rates (lower rates on loans, higher earnings on CDs etc) for members. Compare to a bank where they have to meet Wall Street expectations by fucking over their customers.

      --
      "If there was a gay Afro-Puertorican Linux distribution, I'd give it a try" ~lucm
    7. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by bws111 · · Score: 2

      You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Credit unions have long term loans (eg 30-year mortagages), are regulated, and deposits are insured (by the NCUA). What makes them better is that they are non-profits owned and governed by the members of the CU. Therefore, the actions they take are for the benefit of the members, and not stockholders.

    8. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by jroysdon · · Score: 2

      FDIC and NCUA are both Federally-backed insurances and equally safe.

      https://www.gobankingrates.com...

    9. Re:Why trust a cheap supermarket to be a bank? by Mean+Variance · · Score: 2

      That's a good assessment of credit unions in general. A few clarifications from your post and others.

      Quick background: I'm on the board of one of the largest credit unions in the country. The vast majority of credit union boards are volunteer. No pay. There are a handful of credit unions that pay the board, but it's rare.

      You didn't say specifically about profits, but there is a misconception that credit unions don't care about profit. Like any other business we need to retain a portion of earnings. If we didn't, we'd be shut down by regulators. That's the "net worth" ratio that is publicly available at ncua.gov. Typical safe zones are 8% to 12%. Lower and you'll have trouble absorbing the impact of a severe or prolonged recession. That happened in the '08 crash. No one lost money. Higher and you'll be questioned for not returning more profit to members in the form of services (e.g., investing in technology) or lower loan rates or higher dividends.

      I could go on for pages about the differences between credit unions and banks and even the various types within the credit union system. And there's no excuse for not doing due diligence with any bank or credit union. There are bad credit unions, but you're not going to lose your savings if it's protected by the NCUA. Some credit unions are not protected by the NCUA. They are part of American Share Insurance, a private entity. Stick with your standard NCUA insured version unless you know what you're doing.

  3. The BANK loses money, not the customers by khchung · · Score: 2

    The money was withdrawn WITHOUT proper authorization by the customers, it was not the customers who loses the money, but the bank.

    This is in UK, not the US where banks just push all its losses to its customers (really, why do you guys in the US still put money into banks? They can just set your balance to zero and claim "identity theft"!), this quote in the article already made it very clear.

    "Any financial loss that results from this fraudulent activity will be borne by the bank," Mr Higgins said. "Customers are not at financial risk."

    --
    Oliver.