If EFT Setup Then Can Google Also Withdraw Money

Is this true. Hypothetical if then question

[kaz]

I was talking to my local bank representative today about eft. During our conversation they mentioned that anytime you setup/authorize for a business/someone to deposit funds electronically into your account, you are also giving them the ability/authorization to withdraw funds from that account. While I am sure it is unlikely to happen and I haven't setup EFT, if I did I wouldn't be overly concerned about this. But I'm curious if this is true and if so if it applies to all. Could google make a withdrawal from your account if you setup EFT (without you approving that withdrawal first)?

[ewanfisher]

EFT some money into my account. Then take out as much as you want to see if it works! :)

[europeforvisitors]

Sounds like you need a new bank. :-)

[kaz]

Thanks for the helpful response efv :-)

So you don't think this applies to everyone who is already is setup with EFT, maybe they are not aware this is the case? I asked if this applied to all banks and electronic funds transfer setup and they said yeah - but i don't know about this stuff myself.

[MichaelCrawford]

Anybody can withdraw money. I don't see how it's legal, but it seems to be.

There is fine print on both my credit card and auto loan statements saying that by sending them a check, I authorize them to deduct the amount from my bank electronically. They don't deposit my checks, and I don't get them back with my statement.

I have a hard time understanding how this could be legal, or how my bank would allow it without seeing my signature on each individual check, but there it is.

Note that I didn't do ANYTHING to authorize these electronic withdrawals but send in a check. I'm pretty sure my bank has seen nothing from me to indicate that these withdrawals are legitimate.

[guitaristinus]

It kind of worries me. There is so much money being transferred electronically. There is quite a bit of trust involved. I just "signed" up for Google's EFT this morning. I'm trusting that my bank, Google and the government regulators know what they are doing and that there are enough safeguards to keep the whole system from imploding overnight.

I'm not worried about Google per se. We will know if Google withdraws funds illegally. I don't think Larry and Sergie are planning on ripping us off and fleeing to Mexico.

[MichaelCrawford]

What if you owe google money and don't want to, or can't pay? Could they then just TAKE the money? Would they be within their rights to do so, given that the bank thinks you gave them permission?

This is not so farfetched given that many adsense publishers are also adwords advertisers. If google tries to charge your card for your adwords fees, and the charge is declined, could they then just take the money from your account?

Hearing that this could be the case makes me very hesitant to sign up for EFT.

[blairsp]

Michael

I am presuming you are in the US. If you are in the UK then yes you certainly do need to change your bank as this is theoretically possible but ht ebanks must re-imburse you under the terms of the BAC's agreement that they will have.

[valley]

If you are worried - do as we do.

Keep the account balance as low as possible by transfering your EFT from google (or anyone else)to a secondary account (easily set up) .

[sailorjwd]

I guess it is so. I was surpised one day to find Paypal had sucked funds out of my checking account.

[Sunflux]

Yup, withdrawls can certainly be done... once some processing center mixed up branch codes and tied my bank account in with a retail business - I had dozens of DEPOSITS each day, plus a few withdrawls (refunds). Took them over a week to figure out what was going on and fix it. And it was ME that had to notify the STORE where their money was going.

[ncreegan]

The whole bank process is a joke -- it is scary how easy it is to rip off people. Any time you write a check you open yourself up to it. All you need for ACH billing (online payment by check) is an address, routing number, and checking account, which are all conveniently located on most checks. A major processor once released numbers that said around 30% of all ACH transactions were fraudulent. Think your signature protects you? How difficult is it to reproduce a signature? How many times do clerks actually check your signature? Think the bank is any different? Banks and merchants don't rely on security, they rely on the fact that you're probably not commiting fraud.

As for the loan and credit card payments, if you read the fine print on the original contract, there will probaby be something about how writing a check makes your creditor an authorized agent, able to draft their own checks from your account, should you default etc.

Checks are allegedly being phased out, but it's a super long process, I just read somewhere that only something like 1/3 of the people in the US even have debit cards.

There are ways to protect yourself, but I don't think anybody is 100% protected.