UK’s Nationwide Building Society’s nightmare undermines its financial strength. They are probing the mysterious disappearance of £3,000 intended for a woman’s husband in Bulgaria. This all went down about two months ago, which makes it all the more worrisome for international banking practices and the lines of communication between banks.
The transfer request had originated with the customer, to transfer £3,000 to her husband’s bank account in Bulgaria. At some later point, Nationwide found that the transfer had been denied. The basis for the denial was that, since the account of the husband was closed, the funds were left in a sort of purgatory. Inexplicably, in response to this, Nationwide ordered four traces through its intermediary bank, the Bank of New York, in an effort to find the missing funds.
Despite these efforts, Nationwide got zero responses on the drags it released. The communications have left many impacted customers frustrated and confused. This new reality has raised concerns regarding the actual efficiency of cross-border banking operations. In fact, some industry observers have called Nationwide’s craven silence on this issue indefensible. What gets them most on edge is the huge dollar figure at stake.
We’re pleased that Nationwide has already acted to remedy these wrongs and make things right. They’ve refunded the customer the purchase price and given them £350 in compensation for the delay, but are still looking into exactly what happened with the transfer. The Bulgarian bank facilitating the transaction says it has never received any communication from Nationwide on the matter.
Nationwide, with headquarters in New Malden, Surrey, has taken a strong public relations line in pledging its commitment to customer service and transparency. The building society is doing all it can to get to the bottom of this baffling whodunit. They are hell bent on finding that lost money. What happens next, exactly, and how long of a process this investigation will be is still unknown.