Bank refuses to give reason for rejecting application for savings account - ?Redress?

generic-san

Dear all,

! I seek clarification on what information ( for rejecting a new client's account application ) a bank and bank cannot withhold.


** Background
! !I applied on-line to Abbey International/National in Jersey for their savings account (fixed 1 year). The account was open to UK residents and non-residents. I am British, but have almost never lived in the UK and therefore are not (and probably never have been) on the electoral register.!
I live in Holland.
The application was rejected, which surprised me since I was loaning them my money, which was a reasonable amount.


I telephone Abbey National, and they told me that they usually told me that they tell the applicant why the application was rejected, but in my case they the information was withheld. I asked for someone to contact me and explain why. A lady did, but she told me would not tell me why it was declined, and that I should write to them asking for an explanation as I would be wasting my time. I did not pre-empt this, so I presume that they won't me to write for some reason, so of course, write to them I shall!;)


If they did a ID check, during the application process, on me using methods deemed suitable for UK citizens, then I think I may be flagged as fraudulent, because I have not lived there for nearly twenty years: Marked as gone away.


** My question is:-
! !Is there any law or best practices that banks and building societies offer to adhere to, that I can cite to that they tell me why they rejected my application? Of at the very least, may I force them to report the application as possible fraudulent to the police. This way I can find out by getting it into the public via an official investigation. A little extreme, but presently I have no way to rectify a mistake.


Can I they hide behind their T&C and state that they refuse the application, or can they refuse to give a reason for not informing the failed applicant?



! Best regards,
S.

Loughton_Monkey

This is probably just a symptom of 'Money Laundering' regulation. Not, I hasten to add, that they have any suspicion that you are laundering money. It's more the principle of "know your customer". If they cannot prove (to their satisfaction) who you are, then their compliance department would simply not allow them to open an account.

generic-san

This is what I thought, but I want to find out what triggered it. Otherwise, there is little point in applying for accounts in the UK anymore, which is shame since all of my savings are currently in sterling.

johnmoney05

Where are your savings at the moment? Since they are all sterling...I guess in the UK?

Loughton_Monkey

generic-san wrote: »

This is what I thought, but I want to find out what triggered it. Otherwise, there is little point in applying for accounts in the UK anymore, which is shame since all of my savings are currently in sterling.

Not sure they are obliged to tell you.

When I lived abroad (Asia for 6 years) I had no problems. I maintained all my UK bank accounts (with foreign address noted on them), but also opened new ones in Jersey (HSBC International as it happens) with no difficulty whatsoever. No tax either (although since then, an EEC directive forces them to take 15% witholding tax)

I suspect you should simply try some other Jersey-based 'offshore' bank. Perfectly legitimate. They deal with people all over the world, and there is no reason to decline you as a Netherlands resident.

Santander, these days, has not got all its oars in the water regarding customer service.

generic-san

johnmoney05 wrote: »

Where are your savings at the moment? Since they are all sterling...I guess in the UK?

! !Nope. The savings are with Barclay's in Gibraltar. I moved to Holland only this year.

opinions4u

The legislation that you would need to support you is going to be that covering the terms and conditions of the account you are trying to open.

So most likely the laws of Jersey in this case.

Scottish law and English law in no way compels a bank to explain why they are refusing to provide you with a facility. I would expect Jersey to be similar. In other words, it's just tough.

generic-san

So to summerise: I am no longer able to do business in the UK because I am British yet choose to live abroad. For all intensive purposes, in the eyes of the banks of the British Isles, I am a criminal.


Long love the EU where its people have the right of free movement, but only on holiday: Reside in your member state or else.

xrjtg

That's not quite fair: it's more that one particular bank wasn't happy to take your money. I've had different experiences with ID requirements from banks, and I've always lived in the UK. Try some more before you conclude that none of them want to know.

KingL

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe that if any organisation has written information about you on record, you have the right to obtain a copy of it under the data protection act (some info here). Most organisations charge £10ish to provide the information.

Of course, if they have binned your rejected application, there may be nothing to provide.

For all intensive purposes, in the eyes of the banks of the British Isles, I am a criminal.

That's not true - they aren't obliged to take on anybody. Maybe they just don't want to pay the international postage on mandatory postal updates....?

KimYeovil

Perhaps the application was rejected because it contained too many irregular, irrelevant characters and the computer kept interpreting them as inappropriate 'end of file' delimiters!