Money laundering ott

So I finally succumbed to doing an on-line switch of a joint UK bank account to a similar one with a slightly better offer. No other changes.

Today I get all the forms necessary to provide to prove I'm who I say I am. Why? How come they don't already know?

Reply to
AnthonyL
Loading thread data ...

Are you saying that you remain with the same bank and have merely opened a new account with better terms?

If so it does seem strange that they would require AML (anti moneylaundering) documents. In the old days you'd be able to write to your bank manager to query this. Now you can write to a team at a call-centre who will send you whatever stock reply they always send.

Reply to
The Todal

Because the UK has no credible identity card system or methodology.

It only inconveniences genuine customers too. I doubt that anyone into professional money laundering will find it hard to get a fake ID and just about anyone with a scanner can forge a utility bill these days.

Old ladies who have never had a driving licence, passport or utility bill in their own name find it incredibly difficult to meet the list A & list B ID requirements to open a bank account when they need to.

Regards, Martin Brown

Reply to
Martin Brown

New regulations apply to new sales and the identity information they already have on file for you might not be adequate. The same has happened to me with a bank I'd been an active customer of for over 20 years.

Reply to
Mike Barnes

Every utility bill is in my name - I lived here before I was married.

I guess I must have gone through similar hassle when we opened the original joint account from which we are now moving (to another bank lest there be any confusion).

Reply to
AnthonyL

Because the UK has no credible identity card system or methodology.

It only inconveniences genuine customers too. I doubt that anyone into professional money laundering will find it hard to get a fake ID and just about anyone with a scanner can forge a utility bill these days.

Old ladies who have never had a driving licence, passport or utility bill in their own name find it incredibly difficult to meet the list A & list B ID requirements to open a bank account when they need to.

Regards, Martin Brown

........................

Very much so, an inconvenience to genuine customers.

This year I tried to buy ISAs from HSBC and Barclays, both of whom I've had accounts for years. Neither bank would open an ISA for me without all sorts of proof of identity which meant my going home and doing a round trip of twenty five miles. One of the banks would not take no for an answer as they 'required' a valid passport, I don't have one having let it lapse about two years ago. In the end I got so frustrated and angry I told both to shove their ISAs up there arse and bought thousands of pounds of gold online without a glimmer! Been a damn fine move too, as my gold is now worth about 7% higher than what I paid and because they are Britannias [UK Tender] no tax to pay on them whatsoever if I sell.

Also, I remember buying a brand new car online and wanted to pay the remainder of the price, four thousand pounds in cash, yes all mine and perfectly legit. The firm in Chesterfield told me they would only accept £2,000 in cash due to money laundering regulations. By the hell did they do a turn around when I told them to cancel the order and get what money I'd paid so far, back to my account. There are money laundering regulations as I understand but some of the buggas make it up as they go along. I left one car dealer banging his head on his showroom door after his insistence they don't do cash, how do you make business with the gypos?

We live in the age of bullshit, I rather fancy we should challenge it far more often, after all, it is we who are the customers!

omega

............................

Reply to
Omega

If it is to another bank then why would you expect them to "already know"?

That would mean that your current bank would have been in breach of the DPA, to have passed that information on.

Reply to
Alex Heney

They needn't pass the information on. If I have a bank account in the UK that's been opened since the money laundering rules came in then I must have gone through the money laundering procedure. I would expect that my credit details at Experian and all the others that hold it will show that I have made application for an account. My home details remain unchanged. Assuming that to be the case the old bank would merely need to confirm to the new bank that the details were as lodged at the various credit agencies.

I had to go through a similar procedure to access my personal pension.

30+yrs of paying in thank you very much now you want it prove you are who you say you are.

Surely with all your intellect you can devise a better system?

Reply to
AnthonyL

Yes, but that information will not be shared.

Yes, but that just affects your credit score. The full detail of what you may or may not have done to prove your identity will not be included in any credit scores returned to your new bank.,

Most of the details will not have been "lodged" anywhere but at your old bank.

And your old bank would be in breach of DPA rules if it passed on those details.

Yes, physically, your old bank could pass on your details to your new bank, but there is no incentive for them to aid your transfer away from them, and far from requiring it, the law actually prohibits it.

I'm quite sure there are much better possible systems.

But not with our current laws.

Whether those current laws are either reasonable or at all effective in their stated aim is another question entirely.

Reply to
Alex Heney

Whatever happened to consent? Some people would be quite happy for relevant information to be "shared".

Reply to
Pelican

To me it is amazing in an environment where there are so many concerns about money laundering and in particular for terrorist purposes that it is not compulsory for such information to be shared. I can apply for a tax disc and DVLA automatically know that I am insured and have a valid MOT.

Wierd.

Reply to
AnthonyL

Oh well - I'll take all the documents to a branch next week and wonder what on-line switching is all about.

The most compelling reason I've been given is that it is possible that I am someone pretending to be me, and then next most compelling reason is that each financial organisation has itself to be responsible for the checks it carries out. Not very convinced by either.

Reply to
AnthonyL

The lack of any credible UK ID card system is a massive hinderance.

Online switching is about clueless politicians making sound bites.

Changing or moving bank is always painful and unpredictable. They once scoofed up another entirely unrelated M.T Brown's current account with mine giving me two salaries and her no bank account at all when I moved.

Both are possible scenarios that the bank are supposed to guard against, but their staff are unlikely to be able to detect a decent quality forged ID so their procedures are fairly pointless anyway.

The bank just wants to have scans of two pieces of approved ID from list A and list B that they can wave at the authorities after they have laundered however much money goes through the rogue account.

It amuses me no end that despite the fact that BMD certificates are marked "this is not proof of ID" and "Crown Copyright" (do not copy) that first thing banks do is copy them as ID proof for their files.

Regards, Martin Brown

Reply to
Martin Brown

I had this trouble when I put my house on the market and used a solicitor who I'd known socially for forty years. I still had to provide proof for him that I was who I said I was.

Reply to
®i©ardo

Last year I attended a seminar about money laundering procedures. The speaker was a solicitor who said that he'd asked to ask his mother for proof of identity when he did some work for her.

Reply to
Tim Jackson

Tsk... he'd had to ask his mother for proof of identity...

Reply to
Tim Jackson

My wife and I showed ID to her aunt, who was doing the conveyancing when we bought our house.

Reply to
Simon Finnigan

There is an electronic ID check that banks can do. Lloyds and First Direct used this on me when switching. I don't know how it works but it requires the right info to be lodged somewhere in the system. If not it is back to List A and List B. (Not very helpful when they don't publish the lists - although you can guess - and require the copies to be certified but have a different list of certifiers to the Passport Office for example.)

Reply to
Rob

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.