I'm talking job not rhyming slang!
I have been with my bank 35 years or thereabouts and, as well as my current account, have a credit card and mortgage with them.
I was going to open a simple instant access savings account and, in my stupidity, thought it would be a simple case of telephoning, given that they already have all my details, and transferring a sum to open the account.
Not a bit of it! They have had the gall to tell me that if I wish to open a savings account they need to do a credit search which will leave a footprint.
Why would there be a need to do a credit search when I'm giving them money?! I could understand it if i wanted a loan or further advance on the mortgage etc but when I'm giving them money?!
This has really wound me up. I hate borrowing so the "footprint" is neither here nor there in reality if I choose to proceed but there is a principle at stake and I really resent being told that a credit search is needed for me to give them money!
I won't name the bank in question other than to mention that they pride themselves on their ethics and that their former chairman has a drugs conviction. I cannot help but think that they must all be on drugs if they are credit searching people who are GIVING them money!
Anyway the purpose of this is to see whether a banker can explain it because I am angry and perplexed by the whole thing and am seriously considering taking my banking elsewhere.
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I don't work for your bank and I am on the corporate side in my own (looking after law firms, rather than individuals).
However, it sounds like you have been with them so long that your existing accounts pre-date any of the checks that they all have to do these days when opening accounts for any new client.
If this is now the first time you have come to them for something new, that has probably just triggered the "know your customer" procedure for the first time.
I know it sounds daft. When it first hit us many years ago, I spent a lot of time going round my clients and "identifying and verifying" people I had known for over a decade.
However, the regulator requires us to complete all these checks these days and I assume this is what's happening with you. I certainly can't see that a credit search for this reason would be an issue though.
Appreciate you'll still feel it's a bind. Hope it explains a little though.
Cheers
Tel
Banks such as the Cooperative are required to do KYC checks (know-your-client) when handling client money, whether it be lending or saving so even if you don't intend to use credit facilities they will do a credit check. This is for, amongst other things, to determine your risk factor for fraud or money-laundering. If you have previous suspicions or convictions for fraud/money-laundering then they may refuse your business to protect themselves. Unfortunately it is standard procedure and I doubt you'll find a bank in this country that doesn't do these checks. On the plus side if you've done nothing wrong then there is little chance that the credit check will come back with anything. I'm not sure what they mean by 'footprint' though - I have been involved with these credit checks in the past and cannot see why opening a bank account would be bad. There is a log every time a credit check is run but as long as you're not opening 20 bank accounts in the space of a week then there shouldn't be an issue, the footprint just gives the bank or financial institution an idea of how financially active you are.
my bank makes me re verify my ID every year and just found out the same with my Lawyers .i wouldnt choose to change your bankers because of this ,in fact they would be punished if they didnt do as instructed .It would be even more hassle opening an account elsewhere
It seems from them that the purpose is to verify who I am. If I was a new customer that would make sense but I've been with them since about 1980!
I still don't understand and regard it as an insult to a longstanding customer.
If I'm going to be treated like a criminal regardless I may as well move the whole shebang.
I cannot believe my stupidity in believing it would be easier to open an account somewhere I have been a customer for 35 years rather than move elsewhere :-(
Len, it's not just checking your creditworthiness, it's protecting you too by looking for indentity theft, etc. Relax it's no big deal.
It is a slur on my personal integrity and thus has become a matter of principle. They have all my details and are just being bloodyminded and over officious as far as I can see.
Principles are an old fashioned concept I know but this experience has made me feel even more of an anachronism in the modern world than I did already.
That said, I blame the EU
Slags.
All the best
The point is though they DO know who I am. At the start of the phone call I went through rigorous security checks as I usually do. The mortgage I have with them only dates from 2009 and I took a short term (now repaid) further advance in 2012 too.
I went through credit checks etc then which was perfectly reasonable as I was borrowing money.
All I wanted to do was transfer a bit of money from my current account to open an instant access saver account as I may be receiving a small sum following the recent death of my mother which I didn't want to leave sitting in a current account.
How is it that a transfer from my current account to a would be savings account is deemed criminal and seemingly worthy of oppressive money laundering procedures when I can and have paid money into my current account without question?
I am not the sharpest tool in the box as they say but it makes absolutely no sense and yes it is personal! They've had the use of my money for 35 years for Christ's sake and taken interest for legitimate borrowings and then treat me in that fashion!
However people seem to consider the bank's behaviour to be reasonable so it is obviously just me that is certifiably insane for considering such an action unreasonable and an insult to a long term customer.
Not the first time in my life I've been in a minority and if I'm spared probably not the last! 50 plus years of supporting Charlton is just one example of why! Social leper me.
i can envisage a time where if you dont have a mobile phone/scanner/passport/drivers licence/connected to the net you just wont qualify for a bank account
Here's an extract from the FCA's guide to banks on risk assessment. It's a small snippet from a large document but I hope you'll get the flavour. The bold emphasis is the FCA's not mine.
Examples of good practice
• The firm’s risk assessment is comprehensive.
• Risk assessment is a continuous process based on
the best information available from internal and
external sources.
• The firm assesses where risks are greater and
concentrates its resources accordingly.
• The firm actively considers the impact of crime
on customers.
• The firm considers financial crime risk when
designing new products and services.
Examples of poor practice
• Risk assessment is a one-off exercise.
• Efforts to understand risk are piecemeal and
lack coordination.
• Risk assessments are incomplete.
• The firm targets financial crimes that affect the
bottom line (e.g. fraud against the firm) but
neglects those where third parties suffer
(e.g. fraud against customers).
You've asked your bank to open a new account for you. You've told them that an amount of money which amounts to an unusual transaction is going to be credited to the new account.
Now, you are an honest and upright citizen. But, the bank's experience will tell them that previously honest and upright citizens do odd things sometimes. They lose their marbles for one and tell somebody else all their bank security data so that someone else can access the account because it's convenient. Sometimes these mates do bad things with other people's money. They steal their identities and borrow money in other people's names and then put the money in bank accounts that don't belong to them so that they cannot be traced as the individual who has done this.
Despite you answering the bank's security questions, it's all been done on the 'phone, they don't REALLY know it's you do they?
They've done the check you mention not because they have concerns about you but to make sure that countless applications for loans or other bank accounts haven't suddenly started to be made in your name. A credit check is a bad phrase for it frankly - because the data will include information about all your "financial associates". I'll explain further, a tactic often used by fraudsters/money launderers is to open accounts with small sums of money in the first instance and to gradually ramp up the transaction amounts/volumes in the hope that the bank won't notice the subtle changes to the account's profile.
You really should not see this as some sort of affront to your good self or be at all outraged about it. Instead you should probably sign up for the free trial with someone like Experian to see what data about you are held - you'll be surprised I expect! Just make sure you cancel before the free period expires.
A bank can't just say, "that Len, he's a good guy, we don't need to worry about him". It has to be an on-going and never-ending obligation and process to protect not just the institution but you too. You'll also see from the emboldened bits above that even if they wanted to not care two hoots about you, they don't have a choice unless they want to line themselves up for a hefty fine for having inadequate systems and controls.
Chill out and open the account. It'll be good for your blood pressure too! Have a great three-point weekend.
I do get it. I wish we could have some common sense around it, but that doesn't exist in the world of compliance & regulation. You have to be able to show an audit that you have gone through all the hoops. The bank, all of them, (should) have to do this for any new "product" and a deposit account counts as one if you've only had a current account in the past.
On the corporate side, I have to review my client's businesses every year, ensure their turnover is as expected and, if they've had any changes in senior positions, make sure I ID them as well. That's as well as reviewing all transactions and making sure nothing is out of the ordinary.
My old managers, 30 years ago, don't know how easy they had it!!!