{"id":2079,"date":"2017-01-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2026-08-07T01:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:41:26","slug":"banks-investigate-incorrect-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/banks-investigate-incorrect-transfers\/","title":{"rendered":"Banks investigate incorrect transfers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 25 January, the Dutch Payments Association discussed with the Dutch Consumers\u2019 Association the findings of research into undue payments.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Pie<\/figure>\n\n\n

In 2015, the Dutch Payments Association and the Dutch Consumers\u2019 Association agreed to investigate how often consumers used the Undue Payment Procedure (POB) in 2016 and why. The POB is intended to help consumers recover money that they accidentally transferred to the wrong beneficiary, resulting in an undue payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research found that private bank customers used the POB 14,357 times from February to December 2016, an average of 1,305 times per month. This is a decrease compared with 2014 and 2015, when the POB was used an average of 4,500 and 1,500 times per month respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorrect use of address books<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The causes of accidental transfers were also investigated. Incorrect use of outdated information in account holders\u2019 address books is by far the main cause, accounting for 73%. In 15% of cases, bank customers withdrew a POB request, for example because the unintended recipient had already returned the money. In 8% of cases, the POB was used because fraud was involved. The use of unofficial IBAN conversion tools, which generate someone else\u2019s IBAN, caused an undue payment in 2% of cases, while another 2% fell into the \u2018other\u2019 category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No reissue of IBANs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Address-book errors are therefore the main cause of undue payments. They may occur because an expired and reissued IBAN remains in an address book, the wrong beneficiary is selected, or a name or account number is stored incorrectly. The Dutch Consumers\u2019 Association called for the following measures to address address-book errors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n