Warning: Potential new Barclays customer?

melorablack

Isn't this all the very same information you have to give in a census?

bankemployee101

Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience Fire Fox, hopefully the assistant manager explained that part of our regulations as a bank is something called 'Know Your Customer' (aka KYC) and there are various reasons behind it.
One such reason is that it links in with another regulation, in which banks must keep customer information up-to-date so they can inform you of products and services that are available to you, so you can make informed decisions. Whether or not (just as an example) you need the *loan* that is available to you, you may well need it in future (as millions of people do), and if your details aren't up-to-date, then we risk offering you something that is totally unsuitable for you.
Another purpose of KYC, as has already been posted on here, is to prevent money laundering, fraud and terrorism etc., and although the information can seem rather irrelevant, it may prove useful - I, for example, willingly give the information out, because I feel that if all good, honest people did so, it would be a lot easier to pinpoint the scum behind these crimes - if these people didn't exist then I would more than likely also object to giving out such information.
That being said, I would like to think the advisor was able to explain the above.

willo65

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Ah, the old "if you value your privacy you must have something to hide" comment.

Maybe we just, you know, value our privacy. Maybe we just, you know, value our freedom (which is subtly eroded by this kind of thing). Maybe we've just learnt that the less detail you release about yourself and the less frequently you do so, the less your chances of being a victim of identity fraud.

Maybe we just, you now thought we were better than everyone else and think everyone is interested in us.

I'm not quite sure why you want to put your money in a Bank if you think you are more likely to be a victim of identity fraud because you tell them your income.

If you have such little trust in the bank and its integrity then seriously you need to think about where your money is.

Mister-D_3

I have recently opened a Barclays account and whilst we were asked some information about our personal lives we did not find this intrusive (it was a joint account and my wife and baby were present when applying)

Fire_Fox

I am really surprised that I have been ripped to bits in this thread, when I deliberately posted this on the 'Vents and Warnings' board. :rolleyes: I will clarify and then you can rip into me again if you have nothing better to do.

I was opening a regular saver account with a £250 cheque - NOT applying for a current account, loan/ mortgage or investing £25K in used notes. I knew exactly which account I wanted, it's no strings so can't be mis-sold and I clearly stated that I did not wish to take up any other product.

I was entirely willing to answer the questions required by the computerised application, and had my passport, bank statements and utility bills to hand. I own my home outright and I am registered to vote, so it's not particularly difficult to check my authenticity. My given occupation is full time (mature) student: I don't believe it's relevant how much 'pocket money' I have, nor how I choose to spend it.

I was in branch for an hour before I discovered that the appointment was more than just the usual brief form filling exercise. I was not happy to help the advisor complete in an extensive additional paper form about my exact relationship status (I supplied my title), lifestyle, budget, etc. I have never previously experienced having to answer this level of personal question when opening a savings account.

Perhaps I should have simply left; written off over an hour and lost out on 6% interest rate. Not very MSE tho! I opted to explain to the Assistant Manager why I felt the questions were intrusive and should be optional. I don't deny being 'petulant' on occasion, but copping a strop and stomping out isn't going to change anything. As it transpires some / most the questions are optional as my account was opened without having to answer them.

nanker

I'm with fire fox on this one.

The wife and I went to open ISA accounts and took our baby in with us. We also found the questioning intrusive and not at all relevant to the product we wished to purchase. An example being, after giving our marital status and clearly having a child, they insisted on having her date of birth. Not wishing my 6 month old to go on another database or receive junk mail we declined. The assistant manager told us it would not be possible to open our ISA if we didn't tell them her D.O.B. After 5 minutes of nonsense, we got up and said we would go open the ISA at Abbey instead. Only then did she offer to put us down as childless and open our accounts. Time taken 1 hour 10 minutes, which meant a grumpy tired baby. Had to sit through all the sales talk for loans and especially current accounts. Poor show!

RobertoMoir

willo65 wrote: »

Maybe we just, you now thought we were better than everyone else and think everyone is interested in us.

I'm not quite sure why you want to put your money in a Bank if you think you are more likely to be a victim of identity fraud because you tell them your income.

If you have such little trust in the bank and its integrity then seriously you need to think about where your money is.

Actually, I myself don't have a big problem with what my bank has asked me, as it happens. I'm not the OP either, as you seem to be replying to me as if I were. I wouldn't go about things the way they did either - if I didn't like the questions I was being asked, I'd stop and explain my concerns and then walk out rather than waste my time or theirs if they kept on asking for stuff I truly believed they didn't need to know.

I was talking about things in principle rather than a particular experience, and your comment about thinking people are "interested in us" clearly shows that you clearly don't understand the subject you're attempting to discuss.

I'll leave you with this thought by someone who has a fair amount of relevant experience.

taker920

melorablack wrote: »

All the extra information like marital status, employment and income is for security.

If you put £1 as your income and then £1,000.00 comes in regularly you will set off money laundering checks.

This post should have ended the thread, all banks will ask this info regardless of the product

dacouch

bankemployee101 wrote: »

Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience Fire Fox, hopefully the assistant manager explained that part of our regulations as a bank is something called 'Know Your Customer' (aka KYC) and there are various reasons behind it.
One such reason is that it links in with another regulation, in which banks must keep customer information up-to-date so they can inform you of products and services that are available to you, so you can make informed decisions. Whether or not (just as an example) you need the *loan* that is available to you, you may well need it in future (as millions of people do), and if your details aren't up-to-date, then we risk offering you something that is totally unsuitable for you.
Another purpose of KYC, as has already been posted on here, is to prevent money laundering, fraud and terrorism etc., and although the information can seem rather irrelevant, it may prove useful - I, for example, willingly give the information out, because I feel that if all good, honest people did so, it would be a lot easier to pinpoint the scum behind these crimes - if these people didn't exist then I would more than likely also object to giving out such information.
That being said, I would like to think the advisor was able to explain the above.

I don't agree, KYC is something you have to ensure you do before you give any investment or the like advice out. In my opinion the questions are data mining for future sales and cross selling. Having a completed KYC makes it easier for the advisers to sell / market investment products an the like to you

If the customer had expressed an interest in advice on other products then yes you should get them to complete a KYC if they are not interested in them and have bought a savings account from you without requesting your advice then they would not need to fill these out.

For the record I cannot understand why any one would seek investment advice from a bank with their track record. Although maybe if they had made all of the sub prime mortgage holders in the U.S that they bought the mortgages from they might have understood the risks involved and not messed up so badly...

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/smallfirms/resources/factsheets/pdfs/KYC_factsheet.pdf

Mrs_Ryan

I went to try and open an a/c, (current) with Barclays, in my sole name. They asked me my partner's name, who his employer was and how much he earned, and who he had the mortgage and his (sole) current account with!
I was a bit gobsmacked - I said very nicely that I didnt think it was any of their business, tbh!! I opened a similar sort of account with Halifax, and they just asked me the usual - name, address, how long at address, marital status and employer details. Easy. Even when I changed my name recently I found the branch staff pleasant and efficient - they changed it over with the minimum of fuss and I had my new card within 3 days (very impressive!!!)
I know about all this KYC stuff (used to work in banking and finance) but I still find it puzzling why they need to know loads of totally irrelevant stuff and why it only seems to be Barclays doing it?????