Again this post is UK-specific, I’m going to talk about a bank account. It’ll have different features in the UK than it will internationally, so please, save your time.
Here’s a funny which has happened as a result of being made redundant.
When I worked, I set up a number of donations to my most favouritest charities. Ongoing, monthly payments. When I got my redundancy notice through, I thought I’d better tighten my belt, and decided to stop.
This was no problem for the majority of them. I either controlled the transactions at my end, so was able to cancel them directly. Or I contacted the organisation, explained the situation and they cancelled future donations there and then.
But two, both seemingly decent, upright causes, decided just to ignore my request. The request was made in April and I can see that both took payment in May.
I guess when I set up the donations, I gave my card number, expiry and CVV number. They must have stored that CVV number in their system and applied those details every month. That seems a bit naughty in itself – keeping enough details on file that they can take a payment willy-nilly. Any hackers reading?
Both, as I say, were bona fide good causes. At least one of them is a household name. But both were either unwilling or unable to act on my instructions to cancel.
And the bit about the UK-specific bank account? I was able to block both beneficiaries just by speaking to my bank. I didn’t know I could do that. So when they come for the money in June, tough. I’m not sure if this is a feature of all UK bank accounts, but my bank is owned by Santander, so I’d assume anybody with anything to do with them would also be able to block particular beneficiaries.
But it leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth, especially since I originally set up the payment out of my own good will. When they can’t be bothered acting upon donation-related correspondence, it reminds me of the proverb “no good deed goes unpunished”.
I suppose the moral is that, when you pay for anything online, what details get stored? You tend to think that numbers – especially the CVV – are used once, just for that transaction, and then discarded. But in some cases, everything must be stored, and you’re at the mercy of the organisation’s good standards that they’ll use your data as you request, and that it’s security is adequate. They might be the nicest people in the world, but if they get hacked…
Plus, of course, there will come a time when I wish to donate to charity – any charity – once again. Do they think I will?
Mister Bump 
I can appreciate your concern about this. I had something similar happen. No response to emails, and the continual deductions. It only ended when I closed that bank account as part of a routine account reshuffle. Then the concerned emails came in. Was everything OK? I no longer allow such deductions.
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Yep, I expect the same come June. But I was pleasantly surprised that I could just block em without having to cancel the card entirely.
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I always set up a direct debit for recurring payments, be that charity donations, utilities or council tax for example. At least that way I have the direct debit guarantee. I don’t know whether you also have such a guarantee with recurring payments from a card. As far as direct debit is concerned, I had an issue with an insurer last year who kept charging me the month after my cancellation of the debit. I challenged the debit with my bank (HSBC) who promptly gave me a refund – and never heard from the insurance company again…
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yeah either dd’s or standing orders would have been fine. I guess I entered my card details without thinking, but then… a bona fide charity… you’d expect them to be on the level.
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I must say that’s incredibly nervy on the part of those two charitable programs!
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I presume it’s simply that they don’t bother to check their correspondence. But they should. And it has the knock-on effect that all charities get tarred with the same brush.
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I think it’s shocking that they make it difficult to want to cancel, it’s a charity. My bank does the same, can block future payments but expect the emails. I would expect an email if I owed money but not for a charity that you have already given notice too, very cheeky!
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I’ll be as diligent with my emails as they are with theirs 🤣. But yeah, I never knew I could just blanket-block all payments to a certain payee, though I’ve never really had cause for it before.
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Unbelievable. Tell the bank that your card went through the wash, and you need a new one. The card will remain the same, but the CVV number will be different.
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Yes I thought about it overnight and cancelled the card this morning. I might have blocked those two payees but they still had my details on file, obviously, and it they were as efficient at looking after my card details as they are at responding to my requests… It’s all about trust, isn’t it?
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TFL took top ups off a card that had expired 2-years previously. I finally cancelled the Oyster Card and got a new one not associated with that credit card. Computers. Pffft!
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Do you remember Freddie Laker? I think it was him, anyway. He used to say that if a customer saw a broken headrest on one of his airplanes, they automatically assumed that the plane was going to fall out of the sky. Two unrelated things, but the trust is gone.
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When my husband had his terminal diagnosis, but still well, we tidied up our finances, not that there was anything messy, But I decided we should cancel all charity direct debits so expenditure was no more than necessary and under control. We did not have any problems, but I’m glad we did. I give to charities I like, when I like. Though you can guess that is not simple either as they all want you to donate regularly. I do worry at how freely ( out of necessity ) we give our details.
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Yes I’ve had a few funnies with charities now. It’s probably wrong to single them out, as it could apply to anything. I try to pay by Paypal, just because it avoids passing card details to people, but it’s not always possible. I’m more comfortable with Paypal because is they are hacked, they will die overnight, so there is an incentive.
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I have always wondered how many hidden perks and features banks and organisations provide which are seemingly either not advertised or just ignored by everybody involved.
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maybe it’s common knowledge, could be I’m just out of touch. /but I thought it was worth a mention.
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