Opening an Abbey savings account

As I understand it, they now have to verify ID (money laundering regs) before opening an account, and the usual way to do that is to check a credit record. And that's a right *any* financial institution has.

In any case, it's prudent: if the person has a criminal record for fraud-related offences, they may not fall into the bank's preferred client category. ;)

You might want to check out

Jon

That's news to me. AIUI they merely have to *see* ID, not check it.

It is unlawful, surely, in data protection terms, for the bank to carry out a credit check where the client has not asked for credit. This is a *savings* account we're talking about.

Some places do not call it a credit check anymore It is now a Bureau check. As said before it checks that you are not a bankrupt and will confirm if you are on the electoral roll at the address stated. Eric

And why should there be any problem with a bankrupt opening a *savings* account?

In message , Tumbleweed writes

It wasnt the marital status question that was in din doubt. It was the occupation question. That CAN be checked.

................................................................................................................... They have to first obtain permission from their trustee in bankruptcy to open any bank account, in case they have been hiding money from creditors. Eric

And why should the bank get involved in policing this?

Why should not the bankrupt be physically allowed to do what he is legally not allowed to do? Nobody, for instance, takes real steps to prevent people who have been banned from driving from driving.

Besides, if they *have been* hiding money, presumably as a stash of cash, why would they not simply spend it, instead of drawing attention to it by trying to pay it into a bank?

it depends..if it says 'occupation' and you put 'consultant' or 'carpenter' how are they going to check that? OTOH if it asks for your employers address and suchlike, that is an unwarranted intrusion.

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Well then such a customer wouldnt state they were unemployed would they (if they were intent on money laundering) They would state they were self employed or would geta job for the period they opened the account or collude with someone to provide a reference. Nothing you have suggested provides *any* protection against money laundering but imposes an unreasonable and intrusive load on the rest of us ordinary people. Or are you suggesting that banks are going to start monitoring our wages, profession and payments?

"Mr Jones your account is frozen as you stated you were a carpenter but they just dont earn enough to make the kind of payment you made last week into your account"

Anyway, I stand by my original comment that it was a marketing droid that put these questions in.

And why should the bank get involved in policing this? Simple - if a bankrupt had been keeping money secretly which could have been used to pay creditors - then the trustee in bankruptcy could make a claim against the bank for all monies paid in whether they are still in the account or not. Eric

1. The bank could become a target for the creditors' agents for debt recovery, a bad enough situation in itself (for the bank);
2. In that situation, the bank would have no-one from whom to recover its costs. It can't recover them from the account, since the account's balance will already have been sequestered. It can't recover them from the account's holder, since that person is bankrupt. It can hardly recover them from the creditors.

Banks don't like to lose money, especially when it's their own.

Jon

In message , Ronald Raygun writes

Its got nothing to do with 'policing' the bankruptcy laws, its all to do with the bank covering its own back. If ity accepts credits into a bankrupts account then the Trustee in Bankruptcy can sue the bank in conversion, and bank shareholders dont like that. The doctrine of 'relation back' means banks would place any credits received into a suspense account where the bankrupt cant get at them. Similarly, if the bank pays a cheque after the declaration of bankruptcy then they bank can be used by the Trustee.

Specifically, under s47 of act applicable in my day (1914 was the definitive in my day) specifically requires a bank to report the existence of a bankrupts account if it finds it holds one and is prohibited from making payments on it without the authority of the Trustee.

Quite!

Aha! You *are* older than I thought.