You Be The Judge! :-( | Tangerine Bank | Discussion forum

She used an account not intended for business purposes for business purposes. They in fact did tell her the reason, it was recalled by a foreign bank. And the account agreement she agreed to via opening the account gives the bank the right to do this without authorization or alerting the client.

It's all irrelevant, not even a portion of blame accepted by customer, just go public in some way and you get a "goodwill gesture" 100% restitution because the bank just wants the bad publicity to stop. Ho-hum, next one.

I don't consider Erica Johnson a highly reputable journalist. A significant fact was overlooked or ignored.

Isn't the Hold Period supposed purpose to prevent such clawbacks and recalls? The article did not mention whether or not the reversal occurred within the designated hold period.

The timing was good, thought the Vancouver mother of two — right before the Christmas holidays and the expenses that come at that time of year.

She checked her bank account with Tangerine — an online subsidiary of Scotiabank — and confirmed that her customer had transferred $1,600.

She then shipped the coveted Gucci handbag, thinking all was well.

But in January, Pui checked her bank statement and saw that the money was gone. When she called Tangerine, Pui says she was only told the payment had been recalled by a bank in South Korea.

Here is some parts of the Tangerine T&C that might be relevant.

Applicable to all Tangerine accounts...

Deposits or withdrawals from your Account may be reversed if the deposit or withdrawal request cannot be delivered to your other financial institution or is returned for any reason.
* * *

When you make a deposit by cheque, electronic funds transfer, or other negotiable item in Canadian currency, for funds drawn from a financial institution’s branch located in Canada, we may hold the funds for up to five (5) business days after the day you make the deposit. For all other negotiable items, the hold may be up to thirty (30) business days. During this hold period, we may limit your right to withdraw funds deposited by these means, and we may refuse to accept any deposit to an Account.
* * *

You are required to review the Account activities and transactions (including fees charged) (“Account Activities”) at least once every 30 days and verify that all Account Activities were properly recorded and authorized and that there are no omissions. Account Activities can be reviewed by telephone, online on our website (tangerine.ca), through Mobile Banking, or by reviewing your Account statements if applicable.

Account Activities for the prior calendar month are deemed to have been reviewed on the earlier of (i) the day that you actually reviewed your Account Activities; or (ii) the 15th day of the calendar month following the month in which those Account Activities occurred (the “Review Date”).

Within 30 days of the Review Date, you must give us notice of any Discrepancies. This 30-day period is known as the “verification period”. If we don’t receive notice from you during the verification period, after the verification period:
(a) we are then entitled to treat the Account Activities that were to be reviewed during the verification period (“Verified Transactions”) to be accurate and authorized by you;
(b) you will have no claim against us relating to any Verified Transactions, even if you didn’t actually authorize the signature, instruction or authorization, or the transaction was induced or affected by fraud, forgery, was unauthorized, incorrect or was improperly made for any other reason whatsoever (unless such loss was caused solely by our intentional misconduct or gross negligence); and
(c) you release us from all claims whatsoever for Verified Transactions, whether such claims arise from negligence or other non-intentional fault, breach of contract, statutory claim or otherwise, save and except for direct losses to you caused solely by our intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
* * *

If it was a chequing account...

Tangerine may adjust a deposit to your Chequing Account (even if the adjustment creates a negative balance in your Chequing Account) if we discover a discrepancy between the amount noted on the deposit slip and the amount received, or if we suspect any fraudulent, unlawful or improper activity. Any such adjustments will be posted to your Chequing Account. Tangerine shall not be responsible for any inconvenience to you that may result from an adjustment, including, but not limited to, any payments that may not be processed due to insufficient funds in your Chequing Account.

Kidd said
I had to stop watching Marketplace because, i came to the conclusion... canada doesn't need a federal government, or any of their useless agencies.  

I find their investigative techniques and journalistic standards lacking and shoddy. I get the impression that they think up a conclusion or something they want to push and then go looking for evidence, however flimsy or superficial it may be, to support their pre-conceived notions.

"So there were no red flags when Pui received an inquiry from South Korea about a Gucci bag and was then asked if the payment could be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT). Unlike e-transfer, which uses email, EFT moves money directly from one person's bank account to another's and doesn't require a trip to the bank, like sending a wire transfer — or the associated costs."

I had no idea, that is possible to do EFT from one person to another.
I was under impression, that you can transfer only between your own accounts at different banks (Tangerine to Simplii, EQ to Tangerine, etc). Your name must be the same at all banks, no EFT to another name (person) allowed.

Loonie said
It seems to me the problem needs to be addressed at the level of international banking protocols, and the rules communicated clearly to domestic clients. If she had known the money could be recalled, she likely wouldn't have mailed the handbag yet. If there was no Hold on this money on her account information (unclear, but unlikely), she had no reason to think it could disappear. It's also unclear whether it disappeared within the required 30 days. 

This sounds a bit like the 'overpayment' or 'Nigerian' scam, whereby an NSF cheque is sent for deposit and the depositor unknowingly sends back a portion of the amount, thinking that the cheque was good in the first place. The depositor is naive and unaware of the hold or payment clearing procedures.

EFT's can be done between different people's accounts. Pay is routinely sent to employees by EFT. Quite certain the name on the sending account does not match the name on the employees' bank accounts.

Same when CRA does an EFT to my bank account for my income tax refund.

Such EFT's are commonly called direct deposits.

As Tangerine Bank is quoted in the article, the bank receiving the recall request can decide whether or not to accept it:

Tangerine declined to be interviewed. In a statement to Go Public, a spokesperson said she couldn't comment on another financial institution's request to recall the funds, but that when the bank receives these requests, it considers "a variety of factors before making our decision." It declined to specify what those factors are.

Norman1 said
Wire transfers, Interac e-transfers, and direct deposits cannot be "recalled". They are considered final, unless the recipient consents to the funds being returned.
...
  

Unfortunately, that is NOT correct, at least in the case of Interac e-Transfers, which is a beast unto itself and distinct from wire transfers and direct deposits (though many of the reversal rules are similar).

One example is if the sending account was discovered to be compromised due to no fault of the actual account holder, the fund transfer can be reversed by the bank.

Articles and news reports have been made documenting this very case.

This is why Interac strongly advises that you make sure you know who you are receiving Interac e-transfers and that the sending account is actually theirs. Interac e-transfers are NOT as secure as some are lead to believe. There are vulnerable points in the process.

There are other caveats with Interact e-transfers, like making sure you use secure questions and answers when sending and that your email and cell phone are secure. It has been reported that emails and phones that are compromised can have received e-transfers be redirected to ANY OTHER bank account, since e-transfers are not linked to any individual ... in one respect it is literally like handling cash...

Poor e-transfers answers to security questions may be easily guessed or discovered within the content of your emails, phone info, social media posts, etc.

smayer97 said

Unfortunately, that is NOT correct, at least in the case of Interac e-Transfers, which is a beast unto itself and distinct from wire transfers and direct deposits (though many of the reversal rules are similar).

One example is if the sending account was discovered to be compromised due to no fault of the actual account holder, the fund transfer can be reversed by the bank.

Articles and news reports have been made documenting this very case.
…

That's actually not the case.

An Interac e-transfer that has been claimed cannot be reversed. That's why there are Go Public stories like RBC customer out of pocket after fraud: What you need to know….

Had it been possible for Interac e-transfers to be reversed, there would be no reason for RBC not to return the full $1,734 back to the sender in the story.

It doesn't matter if the Interac e-transfer sender's account was hacked. Should the sender's bank decide to reimburse, then the sender's bank eats the loss. That's why the sending bank will refuse in many cases.