As mobile banking has become easier and more convenient, remittance mistakes are occurring more frequently than before. These erroneous remittances are increasing every year. Before experiencing a situation where you send money by mistake and have to request a refund, you should carefully check the recipient of the money in advance, but it is true that anyone can make mistakes in life.
If you make a mistake and send money to someone else’s account, the first thing you should do to resolve the issue is to file a claim for a refund of the erroneous remittance. Today, we will find out what a claim for refund of erroneous remittance is and even examples of claims for return of erroneous remittance.
What is the erroneous remittance return system?
In the past, the process for returning erroneous money transfers was difficult. There was the complexity of having to contact the bank and request a return through the recipient’s consent. Accordingly, in situations where the person who received the wrongly sent money did not consent, sometimes lawsuits were filed.
However, these days, it is possible to receive a refund through the ‘error remittance return system’. The erroneous remittance return system is a legal device that can be used in situations where money sent in error cannot be returned despite contacting the bank. In the past, the other party had no obligation to return money sent by mistake, but these days, you can get a refund if the amount is less than 10 million won.
Additionally, even if the person who received the remittance cannot be contacted due to a mistake, you can request a refund of the remittance in error with the help of the Deposit Insurance Corporation. Previously, in such cases, you had to unconditionally file a lawsuit requesting the return of funds, but with the development of smart banking, cases of erroneous remittances have increased, and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation is operating a service to support the return of erroneous remittances.
If you are unable to contact the recipient, you can use the erroneous remittance return support service to file a return claim as before. There are no special application documents, but you need to log in, so you will need to verify your identity when logging in, i.e. if you have a joint certificate, you will need information on the remittance details and a screen capture.
What are the important things to consider when requesting a refund of a remittance in error?
In general, the important thing is to contact the financial institution on the recipient’s account as quickly as possible. It is difficult to simply cancel a refund request at a financial institution unless it is a problem that can be resolved in an account within the same bank or branch. You must go through the process of requesting the return of funds and obtain consent from the recipient to return the funds.
The process of confirming consent to return funds can be done by contacting the customer directly by phone or requesting consent for return by text message. A return is actually possible only after the claim documents from the financial company arrive.
You will be asked for the recipient’s account number, the recipient’s name, the amount to be remitted, and the name of the sender. From here, tracking may begin depending on which route you used the computer network. Depending on the computer network through which the erroneous transfer is made, the processing time will vary.
In addition, if the transfer is made to another account at the same bank’s financial company, it will be simply connected to the relevant department, but if the transfer is made to another bank’s account, it may take time to send a document requesting a refund of erroneous remittance.
Let’s talk through an example.
In one case, Mr. A, an office worker, transferred a small amount by mistake. In order to contact the recipient of the remittance, Mr. A contacted the sending bank and the receiving bank countless times, but was unable to contact them. He also contacted the error remittance return system operated by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, but none of them responded to text messages or phone calls, so he ended up filing a small claims lawsuit. There were two things to report to the police station for embezzlement.
In the end, Mr. A decided to consult with a lawyer to get help. The lawyer listened to the situation of her client, Mr. A, and decided to file a complaint for embezzlement and visited the police station. Regarding the erroneous remittance, I prepared and reported the deposit/withdrawal statement and identification card.
Client A submitted text messages to show that various actions were taken before filing the complaint, and submitted details of progress made by the bank and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation as evidence. By taking these measures, we wrote a complaint highlighting the fact that the other party was able to recognize the erroneous remittance but did not return it.
After some time, I spoke to the customer who received the money from the police station and asked if he could withdraw the complaint if I returned the erroneous remittance amount. After consulting with an attorney, I decided to withdraw the complaint and was able to confirm that the remittance amount had been deposited in error.
If you are concerned about remittance by mistake, consult a lawyer.
If you send money by mistake, as in the case above, you may be embarrassed. In this case, many people are worried that they will not be able to get back the money they sent in error. However, as shown in the example, you can safely receive your money back after contacting the recipient through ‘refund request by mistake’.
However, if an individual feels that the process is too complicated to use the ‘Refund by Error’ system or is experiencing difficulties due to erroneous remittance, it would be beneficial to consult with a lawyer and get help to resolve the problem wisely.