I recently opened a UK cash ISA but I’m feeling uncomfortable with the method of funding it. There doesn’t seem to be a way of getting to an account number, sort code etc. so I can push funds from my bank account; instead the deposit funds button opens a third party website (Truelayer) which asks for all my account details on a permanent basis, and obscures any information about who I’m transferring to; you just have to take it on face value as there’s no way of checking. It might be all perfectly legit, but it goes against all the anti-fraud advice the banks give and plays into all my anxieties. Is there no way of transferring money conventionally?
See the following article to explain what truelayer does:
It’s just a connection facilitator between banking API and payment receiver. Using Open Banking does not go against all the anti-fraud advice banks give. If it did, why would every UK bank create API’s to allow you to connect in this way?
there is a method. you just add a new banking account. don’t use “instant bank transfer” and it will give you details of T212’s accounts with a reference number to allocate the incoming money. just ping their help chat and they are usually good at helping you out with this.
Thanks for the link. What I meant by against bank advice wans’t the TrueLayer facilitation per se, it’s that you’re essentially responding to a pull request for money which isn’t transparent and is quite difficult to authenticate - you’re taking on trust that what’s going on is what the dialogue boxes say what’s going on, not helped by my bank’s open banking windows flagging it up as a possible fraud at every step!
Thanks. I see - if I use the deposit funds > bank transfer (rather than instant bank transfer) it asks for my sort code and account number as confirmation, then gives me a dialogue box with the reference number and all the T212 banking details. That’s useful, thanks. Not sure why it can’t be done on faster payments like most bank transfers, but …
because faster payments need a secure middleman to form that connection. the “common language” to connect ANY (participating) bank is Truelayer. for them to check your details and ensure you’re not fraudulent (or a hacker in layman’s terms), it asks for some details like a bank will when you call them etc.
Thanks. Still not quite following - when I make a payment from my bank account, it’s done conventionally (i.e. I enter the recipient account number, sort code etc.) as I’m used to and the money is transferred immediately, or within two hours. There is a payment system managing that, but not Truelayer. It’s not so much the middleman, it’s the way the system works in this case that confused me. However it’s academic, I understand what’s going on and what the alternaitves are now, so thankyou.
I’ve made a payment using the provided details and my bank let me use the faster payments system quite happily. We’ll see how quickly it turns up in my account.
My standing order takes up to a day to appear but normally same day. I might resort back to reminders and truelayer, but the lag doesn’t bother me for a set/forget instruction.
I made a payment via Truelayer and via normal banking faster payments. The Truelayer payment appeared in my T212 account immediately; the faster payments was transferred from my bank immediately but took 24 hours to appear in my T212 account, having been transferred on Sunday, so I guess it went quickly to T212’s bank then wasn’t transferred to my account until the business day