Paid the Wrong Account by Mistake: How to Get Your Money Back in Australia

If you transferred money to the wrong account in Australia, contact your own bank at once and report a mistaken payment. If your bank has signed up to the ePayments Code, it must investigate and, if it is satisfied a mistake was made, ask the other bank to send the money back. What happens next depends on how soon you report it: within 10 business days, between 10 business days and 7 months, or after 7 months.

Claim Done drafts a mistaken payment report and return request from your answers for a flat A$49: a written report to your bank, and a polite letter asking the person who received the money to agree to its return.

What counts as a mistaken internet payment

The ePayments Code (clause 25.2) defines a mistaken internet payment as a payment made through a “pay anyone” banking facility that lands in the account of an unintended recipient, because the BSB number or identifier you entered or selected does not belong to the person you meant to pay. The cause can be your own error or being given the wrong details.

The Code is administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. ASIC says it is a voluntary code of practice (as at November 2026) that most banks, credit unions and building societies subscribe to, and that it only protects consumers who deal with a subscriber. Check ASIC’s list of subscribers or your account terms.

Three limits:

• Business accounts. The Code does not apply to a facility designed primarily for use by a business and set up primarily for business purposes (clause 2.1).
• You paid the right person. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) says that if you paid the right person and they did not supply the goods or services, this is not a mistaken internet payment.
• Scams. A payment to a scammer is dealt with differently. See below.

Step 1: report it to your bank straight away

Moneysmart says to contact your bank as soon as possible, and that the sooner you do, the more likely you are to get your money back. It helps if the person who received it still has enough money in the account to cover it. Get a reference number when you report. Under the Code your bank must acknowledge every report in a way that lets you check that you reported and when (clause 28.3).

What the banks must do, and by when

Your bank must investigate. If it is satisfied a mistaken internet payment happened, it must send the other bank a request for the return of the money as soon as reasonably possible, and no later than 5 business days after your report. The other bank then has 5 business days to acknowledge the request and say whether there is enough money in the account (clause 29.2).

Where the money is still there and the banks are satisfied it was a mistake:

In each case your bank must return the money to you as soon as practicable. AFCA’s factsheet describes the same three time bands.

If the money is no longer in the account. The other bank must weigh the interests of both sides and decide whether to pursue all, part or none of the money (clause 34.2). If it pursues the full amount, it must use reasonable endeavours to get it back, for example by arranging repayment by instalments (clause 34.4).

The outcome. Your bank must tell you the outcome in writing within 30 business days of the day you reported (clause 35.1).

If you know who received the money

Sometimes you do: an old supplier, or a saved payee with a similar name. You can write and ask them to agree to the return. That matters most where the Code leaves the result to their consent, such as a report made more than 7 months after the payment.

AFCA says a person who has money transferred into their account by mistake should not spend or withdraw it, because it is not legally theirs and they have to pay it back. The letter does not replace the report to your bank. Do both.

What the two documents say

1. Report of a Mistaken Payment (to your own bank)

• The report: that a payment went to the wrong account by mistake, or confirmation of a report you already made.
• The payment: date and time, amount, the account you paid from, the details exactly as entered, who you meant to pay, and the receipt number.
• How the mistake happened: in two or three sentences.
• Your request: acknowledge the report, investigate, ask the other bank to return the money, return it to you, and tell you the outcome in writing.
• The process and your contact details: the Code’s steps, stated briefly, and how to reach you.

2. Request to Return a Mistaken Payment (to the account holder)

• The date and amount of the payment, and that it was meant for someone else.
• The request: tell their own bank they agree to the money going back, by a date 14 days away.
• That they can arrange the return with their bank, including by instalments.
• What AFCA says about money received by mistake, and thanks for their help.

The second letter carries your name only. It has no address, phone, email or bank details of yours, and it makes no threat of any kind.

How to send them and what to keep

You download both documents as PDFs and send them yourself. Claim Done does not contact your bank or the account holder for you. Give the report to your bank and note the reference number. If you know the account holder, send them the request. If you do not, the report asks your bank to have it passed on, if its procedures allow.

Keep the payment receipt, a screenshot of the transaction, each reference number, and copies of both letters.

If your bank does not fix it

First complain to your own bank. The Code says you can complain about how your report was dealt with, including where the bank has not kept to the Code’s steps and timeframes. Your bank must not make you complain to the other bank instead (clauses 36.1 and 36.2).

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can complain to AFCA, which describes itself as a free, fair and independent service. Moneysmart says to complain to AFCA as soon as possible after your bank has finished considering your complaint, because time limits apply.

A deliberate payment to a scammer is different

The Code’s own note says the definition is meant for typing errors or picking the wrong payee from a list, and is not intended to cover money sent to a recipient as a result of a scam. Scamwatch says to contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the scam and ask them to stop any transactions.

Mistakes to avoid

• Waiting. The 10 business day and 7 month bands are counted from when you made the payment.
• Reporting by phone and keeping no record.
• Threatening the account holder.
• Putting your own bank details in a letter to a stranger.
• Calling it a mistaken payment when it was a scam, or a dispute with someone you did mean to pay.

Answer a short set of questions and Claim Done will draft your mistaken payment report and return request for a flat A$49, ready to download and send.