RETAILERS FACE MAJOR RISKS OF FRAUD AS STANDARD BANK STILL HAS NOT CHANGED ITS INTERNET BANKING PAYMENT POLICY

 Retailers – or in fact, anyone trading via electronic funds transfer – are open to high levels of risk of falling victim to fraudulent payments since banks, like Standard Bank, no longer reflect bank-to bank EFTs on the same day or real time.

According to Christopher Riley, CEO of notebook accessories and retailer, The Notebook Company (Notebook.co.za and Laptop.co.za), the fact that EFT payments at Standard Bank take longer then 24 hours to reflect, retailers are open to huge risks from fraudulent client payments. Operations are also often retarded as retailers have to ‘wait’ for transaction confirmations

Riley said it is a “massive problem” for retailers.  Banks appear to be ignoring the importance of reflecting same-day payments on the same day and “are turning a blind eye”.

No longer  is Standard Bank our Primary account

 It appears Standard Bank has  taken on this attitude.

“While Standard Bank was our main bank they showed no inclination to even listen to our concerns. The powers seemed unperturbed about the possible consequences for many of their clients. Consequently, The Notebook Company has changed its primary account to ABSA (after 22 years).

 “Frankly,” said Riley, “when queried about the 24 hour delay, Standard Bank staff simply dug their heels in, saying that Internet payments from one Standard Bank to another can take up to 24 hours to reflect. That’s just how things work.

Riley believes this is unacceptable. “We all know payments from one bank to another can take a few days - but we in retail all also understood same bank to same bank should be immediate. That is how we have been selling for over a decade. But ,” he said, “it seems Standard Bank has simply made an about turn and decided this is not how it is done.”

The implications of Standard Bank database updates not being immediate are ‘disastrous for the retailing sector’.

“This banking policy from Standard Bank is a huge problem for distributors and wholesalers – and for retailers that sell high value items.

Scamster continuesly  tries to dupe The Notebook Company

“Over time,” said Riley, “many scamster have tried to dupe us with a manufactured  stolen, or stopped cheques totaling over R1 million, which were "paid" to The Notebook Company’s  account as Internet payments.

“We know the tricks - but it does bring down our productivity and it wastes a lot of our time.    This is why we have banking accounts with all the major banks as it makes it possible for us to check that the money is irreversible before releasing.  But having to wait for 24 hours from Standardbank to Standardbank causes serious problems.