Andrew Che lost his life savings after sending it to the wrong account. Barclays Bank has refunded his money after a prolonged battle for compensation. Video \ Jason Dorday
Westpac CEO Catherine McGrath intervened after Andrew Che Sit Bong accidentally sent $158,000 to the wrong account.
Barclays Bank refunded Che after the money was spent by the unintended recipient in Auckland.
McGrath emphasised the importance of customers ensuring correct information for international transfers.
Westpac chief executive Catherine McGrath personally intervened on an elderly customer’s behalf after the pensioner accidentally sent $158,000 to the wrong account, the Herald can reveal.
McGrath - who earned $2.4 million last year - directly contacted Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom to escalatethe case of Mt Roskill man Andrew Che Sit Bong after he missed a digit when trying to send his retirement nest egg back to New Zealand in January last year.
The error meant his money landed in the account of an Auckland woman who allegedly went on a “spending spree”, purchasing two cars, transferring $60,000 to her boyfriend and another $20,000 to a relative in Samoa.
McGrath once worked for the UK bank so is likely to have high-level connections with Barclays’ executive team.
Che has been fighting for compensation since realising the money had not landed in his account in February 2024.
Both banks refused liability and the Banking Ombudsman cleared Westpac of fault.
However, in a shock move last week, Barclays refunded Che’s huge loss and gave him an extra £500 ($1112) as compensation for the 15 months of stress he’d endured.
Earlier this year, Labour MP Camilla Belich wrote to McGrath highlighting the “unjust and unfair situation” of Che’s case.
Belich said best practice suggested Westpac should have checked that the recipient account name matched that on Che’s payment instructions, and she urged the bank to put things right.
In an April 28 letter of reply - obtained by the Herald - McGrath said Westpac acknowledged the seriousness of Che’s concerns, including the “real and distressing impact this situation has had on him”.
Andrew Che Sit Bong, who lost $158,000 in an online banking error, is relieved to receive a full refund from Barclays Bank in the UK. Photo / Jason Dorday
McGrath said her team had worked extensively with Che to try to recover the funds.
While Belich believed Che was due compensation from Westpac, McGrath said she disagreed.
Although Che missed a digit in the recipient account number he gave Barclays, “the number was a recognised and accepted structure for international payments to New Zealand banks”.
“As such, Westpac followed standard processing rules and the number provided matched that of another customer,” McGrath wrote.
“We emphasise that in the case of a funds transfer, particularly over international borders, the onus remains on the customer to ensure the information provided is correct.”
Westpac NZ chief executive Catherine McGrath.
Photo / Mark Tantrum
McGrath reiterated that a confirmation of payee name checking service did not exist for international payments. Given the volume and complexity of these transactions, “it is not possible for banks to manually check”.
While customers were required to enter personal information such as the payee’s name for international transfers to be completed, “this is to meet anti-money laundering requirements, and not for verification purposes”.
McGrath said Westpac immediately froze the recipient’s account after Che notified the bank he had not received his money in March 2024. The remaining $28,000 was recovered.
“Had Mr Che alerted us to the issue earlier, it is probable that we would have been able to recover a far greater portion.”
Westpac staff tried hard to recover the rest of Che’s funds, McGrath said.
“This included several engagements with the unintended recipient, by phone and face-to-face, to explore ways the funds could be returned.”
McGrath said Westpac had encouraged Che to contact police and also revealed she directly intervened in the case on Che’s behalf.
“I personally contacted and escalated the matter with Barclays directly. Unfortunately, these [attempts] have not been successful.
“We want to reiterate that we empathise with Mr Che and understand the distress this has caused. I hope this letter provides some insight into the efforts Westpac has made to assist him.”
Andrew Che Sit Bong says banks should be forced to check account names when processing international payments. Photo / Michael Craig
A Westpac spokeswoman told the Herald that McGrath had a good relationship with senior leaders at Barclays having worked there for eight years before joining Westpac NZ in 2021.
“She wrote to a former colleague at Barclays in June 2024, asking the bank to look into Mr Che’s situation and make contact with him, after Mr Che had written to Catherine expressing frustration at a lack of communication from Barclays.
“This outreach led to Barclays working more closely with Mr Che. We’re pleased they have now decided to fully reimburse him, however we weren’t involved in that decision.”
Che said he had “no love” for Westpac, which yesterday announced a $525m net profit for the six months to March.
He was surprised to learn McGrath had personally intervened in his case.
“Maybe they knew there was something quite wrong so they took initiative to contact [Barclays] bank.”
Che believed banks should be forced to check the names of recipient accounts to help protect their customers.
Belich said she was pleased Westpac had contacted the overseas bank and that ultimately Che had been refunded.
It was clear that his story had resonated with many others.
“Everyone can imagine being in that situation and making a simple mistake, which for Mr Che, the consequences of that were extremely devastating.”
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
