Sent Money to a Wrong Bank Account? Here’s All You Need to Know

No matter how careful you are, mistakes can happen nonetheless. For instance, it’s possible that when you have to transfer money from your own bank account to another, you enter a wrong account for the beneficiary and the amount is credited to a complete stranger. Without a doubt, this can be scary. However, is there a solution? Unfortunately, not really.

The thing is that banks are not authorized to reverse transactions when it’s a mistake on your end. They can only act as a facilitator and approve the transaction when the beneficiary himself wants to do it.

The Reserve Bank of India says that it’s the responsibility of the remitter to provide the correct account number and other details when initiating a payment. So, if you have made a mistake and transferred the funds to a wrong account, then it could be difficult to get them back. That said, you can still try the following:

• The first thing to do when you realize the wrong transfer is to inform you bank branch immediately.
• If you are lucky and the beneficiary account number is incorrect or doesn’t exist, then the amount debited will be credited back automatically.
• However, if the account does exist and the money has been transferred permanently, then things can get tricky. In this case, you can request the bank to get the contact details of the beneficiary so that you can request them to retransfer the amount. However, if the account number is from a different bank, then you may need to personally pay a visit to the bank and meet with the bank manager to get the details.

The Bitter Truth

If you want your money back, then your only hope is that the beneficiary is a good person and willing to do the “right thing”. However, if they refuse to comply, then your only option could be taking the legal route, which as you can expect is extremely time-consuming and may make a big dent in your savings too.

All in all, the takeaway point here is that you must always be careful when you transfer money to another account as you yourself are solely responsible for the payments you make.