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News.com.au
5 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Had to wait': TikToker's horror ING ordeal
A Melbourne woman was left without money for two days after ING suspended her account for what they deemed to be 'suspicious activity'. In an ordeal that has left her switching banks, Katie McMaster posted to TikTok after being left without access to her card and unable to withdraw money due to a flag on her account. She said she was initially sent an email on Tuesday, telling her that her accounts had been suspended and she needed to verify her identity. Ms McMaster called ING to verify the email was legit, where she was told she would need to wait up to two days for the fraud team to get back to her. 'They said I need to wait for the fraud team to contact me. I can't speak to them, they wouldn't transfer me to them, I had to wait for them to email me,' she said in the video. After two days – and calling ING multiple times – Ms McMaster finally had her accounts unsuspended. She said the fraud team told her there was just 'one person' managing the fraud inbox. Speaking to Ms McMaster said the 'suspicious activity' turned out to be a transfer with her friend for payment of a Usher ticket. 'I don't know if my TikTok helped, but suddenly, they moved pretty quickly,' she said. Ms McMaster said the verification process as a whole did not feel secure. 'They're sending you emails but then when you ring them and you're on hold, they say ING will never ask you to provide verification via email,' she said. She also said she did not have the option to go into a branch, as there are none in Melbourne. 'It was frustrating just waiting, I probably wouldn't have minded so much if they kept me in the loop,' she said. Ms McMaster said she is now moving banks after being with ING for more than a decade due to the ordeal, with many users on TikTok commenting about similar experiences. A spokeswoman for ING said the bank does place temporary 'holds' on an account if the bank detects 'suspicious transactions'. 'This often involves temporarily placing a hold on a customer's account until we can confirm the transactions with the customer,' she said. 'We recognise that temporarily pausing activity on an account can impact customers, so we always check they have access to essential funds, ensuring they are not placed in financial hardship.'
Zawya
6 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Sterling set for weekly loss as Middle East conflict overshadows domestic data
Sterling gained slightly against the dollar on Friday but was set for a loss on the week as uncertainty over the Israel-Iran conflict fuelled demand for traditional safe havens such as the greenback. Weak UK retail data earlier in the session and the Bank of England's decision on Thursday to keep rates unchanged had little effect on the pound. Sterling was 0.2% higher at $1.3495 but eased 0.6% against the dollar on the week, after two consecutive weeks of gains. The dollar was set for its biggest weekly rise in more than a month on Friday. The BoE said it was monitoring risks from a weaker labour market and higher energy prices on the back of the conflict as it held interest rates at 4.25% as expected on Thursday, sending the pound down briefly against the U.S. dollar. "The pound was only lightly touched by a consensus Bank of England hold yesterday," ING FX Strategist Francesco Pesole wrote in a note to clients. "Yesterday's 6-3 vote split for a cut can be interpreted marginally on the dovish side and is allowing markets to reinforce their conviction call on an August cut." Markets now priced in a near-60% chance for a quarter-point cut at the BoE's next policy meeting. The euro was marginally up to 85.43 pence on Friday, set for its second week of gains in a row. Sterling briefly pared some earlier gains against the U.S. dollar after weak British retail sales data, which saw volumes recording their sharpest drop since December 2023 last month, as demand fell after shoppers splurged on food, summer clothes and home improvements the month before. "Retail sales in May brought significant payback" after a "hard to explain" strength in the previous four months, Allan Monks, chief U.K. economist at J.P. Morgan, said. The figures came alongside government borrowing figures which showed a slightly larger than expected budget deficit of 17.7 billion pounds ($23.88 billion) for May. Britain's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the first quarter of 2025 but shrank in April, as a property tax break ended and U.S. tariffs started to sting. The BoE forecasts overall growth of 1% for 2025. ($1 = 0.7413 pounds) (Reporting by Linda Pasquini; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Andrew Heavens)
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Sterling set for weekly loss as Middle East conflict overshadows domestic data
June 20(Reuters) - Sterling gained slightly against the dollar on Friday but was set for a loss on the week as uncertainty over the Israel-Iran conflict fuelled demand for traditional safe havens such as the greenback. Weak UK retail data earlier in the session and the Bank of England's decision on Thursday to keep rates unchanged had little effect on the pound. Sterling was 0.2% higher at $1.3495 but eased 0.6% against the dollar on the week, after two consecutive weeks of gains. The dollar was set for its biggest weekly rise in more than a month on Friday. The BoE said it was monitoring risks from a weaker labour market and higher energy prices on the back of the conflict as it held interest rates at 4.25% as expected on Thursday, sending the pound down briefly against the U.S. dollar. "The pound was only lightly touched by a consensus Bank of England hold yesterday," ING FX Strategist Francesco Pesole wrote in a note to clients. "Yesterday's 6-3 vote split for a cut can be interpreted marginally on the dovish side and is allowing markets to reinforce their conviction call on an August cut." Markets now priced in a near-60% chance for a quarter-point cut at the BoE's next policy meeting. The euro was marginally up to 85.43 pence on Friday, set for its second week of gains in a row. Sterling briefly pared some earlier gains against the U.S. dollar after weak British retail sales data, which saw volumes recording their sharpest drop since December 2023 last month, as demand fell after shoppers splurged on food, summer clothes and home improvements the month before. "Retail sales in May brought significant payback" after a "hard to explain" strength in the previous four months, Allan Monks, chief U.K. economist at J.P. Morgan, said. The figures came alongside government borrowing figures which showed a slightly larger than expected budget deficit of 17.7 billion pounds ($23.88 billion) for May. Britain's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the first quarter of 2025 but shrank in April, as a property tax break ended and U.S. tariffs started to sting. The BoE forecasts overall growth of 1% for 2025. ($1 = 0.7413 pounds)
Daily Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
‘Had to wait': TikToker's horror ING ordeal
Don't miss out on the headlines from Banking. Followed categories will be added to My News. A Melbourne woman was left without money for two days after ING suspended her account for what they deemed to be 'suspicious activity'. In an ordeal that has left her switching banks, Katie McMaster posted to TikTok after being left without access to her card and unable to withdraw money due to a flag on her account. She said she was initially sent an email on Tuesday, telling her that her accounts had been suspended and she needed to verify her identity. Ms McMaster called ING to verify the email was legit, where she was told she would need to wait up to two days for the fraud team to get back to her. 'They said I need to wait for the fraud team to contact me. I can't speak to them, they wouldn't transfer me to them, I had to wait for them to email me,' she said in the video. After two days – and calling ING multiple times – Ms McMaster finally had her accounts unsuspended. She said the fraud team told her there was just 'one person' managing the fraud inbox. Speaking to Ms McMaster said the 'suspicious activity' turned out to be a transfer with her friend for payment of a Usher ticket. 'I don't know if my TikTok helped, but suddenly, they moved pretty quickly,' she said. Ms McMaster said the verification process as a whole did not feel secure. 'They're sending you emails but then when you ring them and you're on hold, they say ING will never ask you to provide verification via email,' she said. She also said she did not have the option to go into a branch, as there are none in Melbourne. 'It was frustrating just waiting, I probably wouldn't have minded so much if they kept me in the loop,' she said. Ms McMaster said she will be diversifying her banking in the future. Picture: TikTok The suspension on her account was removed two days later. Picture: TikTok Ms McMaster said she is now moving banks after being with ING for more than a decade due to the ordeal, with many users on TikTok commenting about similar experiences. A spokeswoman for ING said the bank does place temporary 'holds' on an account if the bank detects 'suspicious transactions'. 'This often involves temporarily placing a hold on a customer's account until we can confirm the transactions with the customer,' she said. 'We recognise that temporarily pausing activity on an account can impact customers, so we always check they have access to essential funds, ensuring they are not placed in financial hardship.' Originally published as 'Had to wait': TikToker's horror ING ordeal
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie blocked from her own account exposes bank's 'insane' request to unblock it
An ING customer is urging banks to rethink their fraud processes after she said she was blocked from her bank account and unable to access her money for days due to two innocuous transactions. Katie McMaster has been a long-time customer of the digital bank, which is one of the biggest in the country. The Melbourne resident received an email from the bank's fraud department on Tuesday saying her account had been suspended due to 'suspicious activity'. She immediately contacted ING and was told she needed to wait for the fraud team to contact her via email and she couldn't speak to them on the phone. The 35-year-old told Yahoo Finance she had to verify her identity over email and had to reply with her full name, date of birth and mobile number. RELATED Commonwealth Bank customer rages over threat to cut access to his money Centrelink age pension changes coming into effect from July 1 Centrelink rule change gives more Aussies access to $5,000 cash boost 'I just thought that was insane in itself to be sending that data across email to verify. For a bank of their size, I just thought that shouldn't be the process, especially when you're trying to get in touch with the fraud department,' she said. She was later sent a verification text from the bank and told to upload her identification. After that, she said she heard nothing from the bank and was still unable to get someone on the phone. She was told the fraud team could take two business days to respond. Meanwhile, the personal assistant was unable to access her funds, use her card or get money out. She said she had to rely on her credit card for funds, which ING did not block.'It was stressful in the fact that I could obviously see the balance, but the available balance was zero,' she said. 'But what was sort of frustrating was that they didn't block my credit card with them. They were happy for me to keep using my credit card, but then I would have to pay interest on that, but they wouldn't let me access my funds, and I couldn't withdraw any cash.' It wasn't until 5pm on Thursday that she received an email from ING asking her to verify two transactions flagged as suspicious. They were her monthly salary, which goes into her account at the same time each month, and a $300 transfer from a friend for Usher tickets. After she confirmed the purpose of the funds, she finally received a call from the ING fraud department, and they were able to unblock her accounts "on the spot". McMaster said the worker she spoke to was confused why the transactions had been flagged as suspicious and apologised for taking so long to resolve the issue. She claimed she was the only one manning the fraud email inbox. 'The lack of communication was frustrating me the most. I understand banks have their processes, but I'd rather sit on hold for an hour knowing I'd get through than wait a couple of days,' she said. An ING spokesperson told Yahoo Finance safeguarding customers' funds and identities was "central" to how it operated. "When our systems detect suspicious transactions, we proactively act on behalf of customers to protect their funds. This often involves temporarily placing a hold on a customer's account until we can confirm the transactions with the customer," the spokesperson said. "To reactivate account activity, we verify the customer's identity through our secure fraud portal. During this process, the customer's biometrics are matched against the identity documents we securely hold on record. "We recognise that temporarily pausing activity on an account can impact customers, so we always check they have access to essential funds, ensuring they are not placed in financial hardship." McMaster shared her experience online and was met with hundreds of responses from other Australians, with several others saying they also had their ING accounts blocked. "This happened to me in 2019, I was overseas and there was no help. For the rest of my trip I had to use a friend's money to be able to pay for anything. They cancelled the card and that was it," one wrote. "Same happened with me! You feel so vulnerable not being able to get access to money! Luckily, I was able to borrow cash from someone because you literally can't get access to any money, it's crazy," another said. "It's actually terrifying that they can do this," a third added. Others agreed they would feel uneasy about providing their personal information over email. "I'd refuse to send personal details over email, that's ridiculous!!" one said. "It's a very odd process for fraud verification, and goes against our basic security instincts ... It adds even more stress and confusion to the situation," another said. McMaster said she was now in the process of changing banks and was considering opening up accounts with multiple banks to avoid getting stuck in the same position. She has called on ING and other banks to reconsider their fraud verification processes, including the requirement for customers to provide sensitive information via email. 'The main concern of all of this is the verification process. It was just having to click on a link to upload my ID from a text message. It's just everything we're told not to do,' she said. She has urged other Aussies to continue to remain diligent when it comes to scams and to double-check any messages received were legitimate.
