Incorrect bank transfer

A small business made two incorrect bank transfers and ended up losing €15, 814. 59. The issue arose because, when ordering the payment, an IBAN that did not correspond to the beneficiary that the company believed it was paying was indicated. In other words, the account number (IBAN) sent the money elsewhere, even though a different name was listed as the "beneficiary" in the order.

The company filed a complaint against the beneficiary's bank to return the amount, plus interest and costs, arguing that the bank should be held accountable for incorrectly executing the payment order. The bank, on the other hand, argued that it simply carried out the transfer based on the unique identifier provided (the IBAN), and that it is the originator's responsibility to provide it correctly. It also claimed to have collaborated in trying to recover the money.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed; the court ruled that the bank must process the transfer based on the IBAN , without being required to verify if the beneficiary's name matches that IBAN, although it must collaborate to attempt to recover the funds in case of an error.

The Provincial Court (AP) of Valencia overturned that decision and sentenced the bank , considering that if there is a discrepancy between the IBAN and other data (such as the name), a warning would be enough to prevent harm.

The Supreme Court (SC), however, ruled in favor of the bank , under the regulations applicable in 2019, the entity's liability is limited to carrying out the transaction according to the provided IBAN, without the obligation to verify if it matches the beneficiary's name, even if that name was provided. The error was due to identity theft via email that led the company to use an incorrect IBAN. Therefore, the SC accepted the appeal and annulled the sentence of the PA.