Since share registrars have been discouraging dividend payments via cheques, and some companies have insisted on bank transfer payments, it has become increasing difficult to keep track of dividends.
In the good old days you knew the dividend had been paid and who it was from when a cheque in the company’s name was received. Now some payments arrive into our joint bank account and some arrive via cheque still. Some also go into our accounts with ISA and SIPP providers where the shares are held in nominee accounts.
The direct bank payments do not indicate whether they are for me or my wife so I have to figure it out from my Sharescope system and the worst culprit is City Partnership who send dividend payments for some VCT holdings without referencing the company name in the bank transfer.
Other companies send dividend cheques where the company issuing the cheque is not clear.
These changes mean I have significant extra work to figure out the dividends received and to check none have gone missing. It’s becoming quite exasperating having to waste time on this. Basically the system is a mess and not fit for purpose.
Paying in cheques has also got more difficult as so many bank branches have closed. And paying in a cheque via scanning it with a mobile phone app only works for smaller amounts. In addition, one recent such transaction for one our trust accounts was rejected for no good reason.
The assumption seems to be that recipients don’t bother to check dividend payments received (which I certainly do) and that they are always paid correctly (which is not the case).
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
You can “follow” this blog by entering your email address in the box below. You will then receive an email alerting you to new posts as they are added.
Same thing happens with savings interest payments. At one time the senders name was shown. Now the recipients name (ie Me) appears rather than the sende.
Even my bank doesn’t know who dents.
Crazy.