# Do banks match account number with name?



## Tyler Durden (24 March 2012)

Help me settle this debate with my friend - I said that in Australia at least, when you transfer money electronically it's important to get the BSB and account number right because it will go through even if it doesn't match the name you have entered.

My friend thinks that the banks match the name of the account you have entered with the BSB and account number to ensure they are the same.

Anyone know the correct answer?


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## dutchie (25 March 2012)

Tyler Durden said:


> Help me settle this debate with my friend - I said that in Australia at least, when you transfer money electronically it's important to get the BSB and account number right because it will go through even if it doesn't match the name you have entered.
> 
> My friend thinks that the banks match the name of the account you have entered with the BSB and account number to ensure they are the same.
> 
> Anyone know the correct answer?




I think the name does not matter. Had someone deposit into my account with different name to account name recently (it was suppose to be for me they just had wrong name).


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## Lone Wolf (25 March 2012)

Tyler Durden said:


> Help me settle this debate with my friend - I said that in Australia at least, when you transfer money electronically it's important to get the BSB and account number right because it will go through even if it doesn't match the name you have entered.
> 
> My friend thinks that the banks match the name of the account you have entered with the BSB and account number to ensure they are the same.
> 
> Anyone know the correct answer?




I can't confirm for all banks. But Suncorp makes the following statement on the transfer funds page:

Account name is for reference purposes only. Funds will be transferred to the account number provided regardless of whether the account name matches the account number. You must ensure the account number is correct.


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## bellenuit (25 March 2012)

It certainly doesn't need to match exactly.  Transferring to an account in joint names, I often specify only one name with no problems. Also, transferring to an individual I may omit the middle name even though the account name includes it.

It would be interesting if they accept a completely different name without querying it in some way. For instance, I have a broker account with Ameritrade in the US. When I want to transfer funds out of Ameritrade and deposit in my Australian bank, they insist that the destination account name must match my Ameritrade account name. So if the Australian bank didn't care, I could potentially transfer funds to a third party and get away with it as long as I give the third party's BSB and Account, but use my name for the account name. I think money laundering provisions would trigger some alert if I were to try that.


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## McLovin (25 March 2012)

It's not matched at the name level. It would be too difficult. Most account numbers have a checksum at the end so if you get the account number wrong it will be rejected by the payee's bank and sent back.


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