The Digital Age
Proving they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel, ABC’s PM ran a story on Friday about Internet Banking:
MARK COLVIN: It’s as easy as dialling a wrong number. You go to pay some money into another person’s account using internet banking, but you type in one wrong digit, and the money goes…where?
Despite the increasing number of people using internet banking, there’s no policy for how financial institutions should address the problem.
…
MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: The internet makes banking a lot more convenient for many people, but as with any new technology, it’s also presenting new hazards.
Scott Sully runs a small business in regional New South Wales. The first sign he had that something had gone awry with his internet banking was when a supplier rang up to say she hadn’t received his payment.
SCOTT SULLY: That involved obviously putting an account number into the electronic system, which I admittedly did incorrectly with one wrong digit.
…
So, the bank were incredibly unhelpful, I couldn’t understand why I had to be held responsible for something you know as simple as a wrong digit. If a teller in a branch had entered a wrong digit, would I still be responsible?
I’m going to come right out and say that Scott Sully is a goddam fuckwit.
Forgive me if I’m being completely retarded here, but if you admit that you fucked up and entered in the wrong account number, how can you then go ahead and claim that you shouldn’t be responsible? Do you just expect the fucking bank to give you $400 out of their own fucking pockets (which I admit are deep, but whatever) and be out because of it? FUCK NO.
In all the years I’ve been using internet banking I’ve performed quite a few direct transfers. I’m damn careful to ensure that I enter BSB and account numbers in properly. Every bank portal I use makes it very fucking clear that funds will be transferred clear and that it’s my responsibility to ensure I have entered the correct details. Fair enough too.
This is just proof that retarded country yokels like Sully should fuck right off and not be anywhere near my internets.
Oh so that did happen? I was having a snooze and listening to PM on Friday and thought that the more moronic parts of that story were figments of my imagination. Turns out it was painfully all true. Fuckstick.
Oh, and they really must’ve been scraping the bottom of the barrel on a slow news day, Colvin fucked up and started wrapping up the show and then he realised there was another story to go. Oops…
What did Sully expect would happen? The bank’s magical fairies would know where he intended the money to go?
This isn’t an Internet banking problem. And no amount of “Are you sure?” prompts will fix people’s stupidity, laziness, or taking the system for granted. Presumably you could make a similar mistake depositing money into an ATM.
“If a teller in a branch had entered a wrong digit, would I still be responsible?”
Obviously not, unless he gave the wrong digit to the teller. Which is entirely possible. And then he’d blame the teller. Rinse, repeat.
- ozz
Yeah, I think it’s a “morons will always exist” issue. I like the way my mum & dad work – if they’re slinging kashes my way, they send a cheque.
Even though it’s a pain in the arse to go to the bank, wait 3 days, then go collect cash, at least they don’t fuck it up.
Sometimes when I’ve punched in a wrong number, or missed one, ANZ Internet Banking comes up with an error.
How long does Internet banking usually take to transfer funds? $600 was put into my account on Wednesday and it still hasn’t cleared. I wanna buy a BluRay player. And a stack of pr0n mags.
I agree! I always triple check the numbers I have entered before continuing.
To be fair here *puts on asbestos suit to minimise flame damage* there should be a defined procedure to resolve situations where the wrong details ARE put in.
This is not to say that the fault does not lie with Sully. Of course it does. It is the payee’s responsibility to make sure that the details are correct. Invariably, however, mistakes will occur, so there should be a documented way of reversing a payment. The process shouldn’t be EASY for the payee, as its not the bank’s fault, but it certainly should be possible.
It may already be possible. I’m not sure. I’m not stupid enough to have fucked up a transfer…
I got my $600, and my BluRay player, all I need is decent pr0n to use this Fleshlight with.