Payments are blocked as banks' new security check becomes a name game

When the sale of Heather Lord's house completed, her conveyancing solicitor attempted to transfer funds to her bank account. An automated message warned him that her name did not match the name on the account he was paying into, and that the transfer would therefore be at his own risk. "I phoned the bank and asked who I was," she says. "They told me I was Ms Heather Audrey Lord. This was also refused by the system! As we didn't want to risk my money disappearing, I asked for a cheque, made out to Heather Lord, which was processed with no problem."