Cambridge Building Society Credit Check

mgarl10024 · 14 June 2017 at 9:07AM

Good morning,

I have a Regular Saver which is maturing with the Cambridge Building Society, and I wanted my funds returned on maturity. The maturity instructions said that Cambridge would send a cheque, but I contacted them to ask if they could pay the money electronically as I felt this was less hassle and more secure.

They advised that they could add a nominated account to my regular saver and then make the payment - great - but they would want to see a statement dated in the last 3mths for the account to be nominated. However, this could be avoided if they could run a credit check with Equifax.

I queried this, as the account I wanted to nominate has no credit facility, and so I wasn't sure what they hoped to achieve, and I pointed out that neither my Regular Saver nor my nominated account appears on my report.

The chap was very polite but didn't really know, and the best he could offer was that "it is the process we have to follow" and that it was "something to do with money laundering".

In retrospect, I should have confirmed that it was a 'soft search' although I'm not concerned about a single hit.

Low and behold, 10 mins later he called back to say that it didn't contain the information they were looking for, and so I have to send the statement copy anyway.

I just don't see how this works in practice. Perhaps most customers are paying funds into accounts with credit facilities? What am I missing?

Eco_Miser · 14 June 2017 at 10:53AM

Most people will use their current account as their nominated account, and current accounts have the possibility of an unarranged overdraft (even ones that claim they don't), and therefore have credit facilities.

jimjames · 14 June 2017 at 12:18PM

mgarl10024 wrote: »

I just don't see how this works in practice. Perhaps most customers are paying funds into accounts with credit facilities? What am I missing?

I'm assuming it's really an ID check but done via credit agency, similar to checks done by insurance companies for quotes

mgarl10024 · 14 June 2017 at 12:27PM

jimjames wrote: »

I'm assuming it's really an ID check but done via credit agency, similar to checks done by insurance companies for quotes

But they already know who I am - I'm a long standing customer!

ID'ing me again would tell them nothing about whether the account details I've just given them are genuine? How would it replace having a copy of my statement?

badger09 · 14 June 2017 at 2:18PM

mgarl10024 wrote: »

But they already know who I am - I'm a long standing customer!

ID'ing me again would tell them nothing about whether the account details I've just given them are genuine? How would it replace having a copy of my statement?

I've been mulling this over as I too have a Cambridge BS account maturing soon but have opted for a cheque as the interest loss over a few days is minimal:cool:.

They do indeed know who you are, as they will have performed an ID ML check when you opened your account. However, they don't know that the account to which you want maturity proceeds sent belongs to you. So, they ask for evidence in the form of a recent statement.

As an alternative they've suggested running a check with Equifax. Any accounts you hold which have credit facilities, such as a current account, should appear on the CRA record. But, as you've said, savings accounts do not appear, apart from the record of the initial opening ID check, which 'drops off' after a while (a year?).

So, they can use the CRA check to verify that the maturity proceeds are going to a current account in your name, but cannot do this for a savings account.

Hope I've explained that:o

dunstonh · 14 June 2017 at 3:18PM

But they already know who I am - I'm a long standing customer!

And is their evidence held up-to-date? Were you a customer before the regulations came in?

There was a change a few years back and firms are required to treat large withdrawals and maturities under the AML guidelines.

Most use the electronic ID check. This is not a credit check but it does use the same systems. It is a soft check and has no impact on your credit file.I suspect the clerk incorrectly referred to it as a credit check.

mgarl10024 · 15 June 2017 at 8:20AM

Thanks all for the responses.

When I say "long standing" I was kinda joking - this account runs for a year, so I assume that they ID'd me less than a year ago.

Most of the comments concur with what I was thinking. I guess what I hadn't considered was Eco Miser's point that even a Current Account without an overdraft still counts as having credit facilities, and thinking back to my record these do show up.

I guess that me wanting the money paid into a savings account puts me in the minority.

One final thing I don't get - isn't money laundering about establishing the source of funds? In which case, Cambridge have quite happily been taking money from this same savings account regularly after the last year. It's only when I want it paid back to where it came from that the ID checks started (indeed they were quite happy to issue a cheque without ID checks...). Perhaps "money laundering" was just the first thing that popped into the adviser's head.

dunstonh · 15 June 2017 at 10:34AM

- isn't money laundering about establishing the source of funds?

It used to be but as I said, it was extended to maturities and withdrawals a few years ago.

mgarl10024 · 15 June 2017 at 11:03AM

dunstonh wrote: »

It used to be but as I said, it was extended to maturities and withdrawals a few years ago.

Sorry - missed that bit.

Great - all understood. Thanks for all the responses.

Cambridge Building Society Credit Check

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