ID Verification

When I rang in to speak TO VM, they told me that the electronic checks they made have failed and Experian require additional data

Experian have no requirement there. They may use Experian's money laundering ID check service but its up to firms to interpret the outcome of that check. Experian dont give two hoots. What the person is really saying is that you failed to pass VM's criteria using the electronic ID check and they are reverting to the old ID method of actual documents.

I am wondering if it's anything to do with brexit or this new Open Banking app which apparently comes out in Jan 2018.

Brexit has absolutely nothing to do with it. There is a major change coming in 2018 under MiFID II (an EU directive) which the UK is following to the letter. However, ID checks are not part of that.

Firms are required to carry out ID checks. ID check requirements have changed in recent years. So, maybe what you had before was fine then but not now. Maybe you have moved address from when they last ran a proper check and they only have stuff on file from before then. Maybe you passed old electronic checks but something on your file is causing a failure now.

Has anyone else experienced this request for additional ID's recently?

yes they have. happens all the time someone fails the electronic check.

if your worried about what info they have when running a check just get a copy of your credit report see if anything has changed

it really isnt that big a deal

Thanks for your reply. This is exactly what concerns me. How is it that I have passed VM electronic checks criteria in the past (on several occasions) and also other banks, previous successful check with VM was 2 months ago, and yet, all of a sudden, their checks fail. The man at VM didn't know why it failed - apparently, the system doesn't tell them.

I have used the Experian one in the past. it gives very little data. Effectively, it is a scoring system and firms can decide the pass score. Usually that means there are different pass levels. For example, a score below a certain level could be an automatic referral to their money laundering department. A slightly higher score may just be insufficient or contradicting information. A score higher up but not a full pass may need supplementary extra info.

I thought the Data Protection Act gives me the right for their data to be disclosed to me

it does. However, as VM dont have that data, they cannot give it to you. The same act prevents that data being passed to VM. VM just get the score and a few codes. Not the actual data that results in that score.

I haven't moved - been living at current address for last 11 years, I'm on the electoral register. As far as I know, my data has not changed. However, that said, could it be that some database at Experian may have got corrupt or someone tried to use my name and now it's being flagged up on some fraud database. What really worries me in situations like this, is that i am not being told what is wrong. I feel something has gone wrong, and I'm being excluded from knowing.

You are not excluded from knowing. You can sign up for an experian report and see if there is incorrect data.

I had a few Experian failures in my time using them and there is a good reason we dont use them any more. When you did get a failure that suggested a data error, we would ring Experian who would say we cant tell you. So, we would ask the client to ring. They would speak to Experian who would tell them there was nothing wrong with the data and when they run the same enquiry it passed. They would pass the blame back to us for not doing it properly. I always suspected they cleaned the fault and didnt admit there was an issue.

Where someone fails who may have passed in years before, it could solely be down to data dropping off and nothing more up-to-date being held. They can only retain data that is current for 6 years. So, applications made 7 years ago would no longer be on there. If you have gone a long period without credit agreements, there may not be much on the file any more. It may be that VM didnt use Experian previously and their old method passed you but the new one doesnt.

I know 1st Direct suddenly came up for air a year or so ago and needed additional ID for my OH - for a current account that has been open and in use for over 20 years. Not sure what they thought I'd done with him .....