No bank can verify my ID

bob_man_uk

Hi all,

Im hoping someone can explain this because it is really causing me a headache.

Last week i went to Metro Bank, Tottenham Court Road store with my partner to try and open up a couple of accounts, I am currently with Lloyds and they have put on stupid restrictions that will only allow me to withdraw money from lloyds ATMs, even with metro banks basic account they dont have any restrictions and i can use it anywhere, brilliant i thought, i can have my student loan paid onto it and i can use it anywhere, exactly what ive needed for the past 2 years. except when i came to verify my details, they straight away asked for 2 proofs of address and Passport, this confused me as i was happy with going the basic account that only required my ID to be verified and didnt require the letters... regardless i carried on after about an hour of waiting for their "back office" staff to verify the details the ID check failed.... "WHAT!!!! are you telling me i dont exist?" I had been sat there for an hour to find out that i dont exist and they cant tell me why and since ive lived with my partner for the past 5/6 years every address i had provided he had the same and... lowe and behold, also failed the ID check.... following on from this, nationwide initially said they could open account, but later closed it again due to "being unable to verify details" lloyds tsb were the same, we also tried in the CO-OP but still awaiting a decision from them, which i wouldnt be surprised if its a no.

rant over, my question WHY?!? what baffles me is the fact that metro bank had tried to open the account anyway but put a block on actually using it until they had verified my details, since i had been there for 2 hours now i said, just try a credit check anyway, ive been here long enough, whats a few more minutes, this came back as passed... the person who was dealing with this then disappeared for an hour and came back and said they refused to open an account for either of us, end off, how can i pass a credit check and not pass an ID check.

I have contacted metro bank about this but seem to hit a brick wall, they have been more helpful than other banks but no one seems to know why.

apologies if this doesn't make much sense, but if they havent even done credit checks, i cant just go to equifax/experian etc and "fix" whatevers wrong because i dont know what is wrong.

thanks in advance.

EDIT -->

another thing that confuses me is the fact we are on the electoral register, we have the polling cards for the referendum... do banks not search the electoral register anymore?

izools

It sounds like an address mismatch.

I live at Flat X, XX Ashphalt Road.

The postcode database only lists XX Ashphalt Road, and no flats.

Equifax originally listed all my financial accounts at XX Ashphalt Road, but my ER registration at Flat X, XX Ashphalt road. They sorted this after a letter to them.

However, if I apply to any institution that rigidly uses the postcode database, they can only search XX Ashphalt road, not Flat X, XX Ashphalt road, so their search turns up a blank.

Also, because my debit card is registered to Flat X, XX Ashphalt Road, I can't use my debit card with companies that verify the cardholder address and use the postcode database rigidly.

This means I can't order from Pizza Hut, and I can't get an Orange Prepaid Mastercard, or a Post Office Telecoms landline, or a Bank of Cypress current accoun (oh... big loss)

Similar thing for you?

bob_man_uk

nope, there is only one XX Wolfa St, and if they wanted my previous address there is only one XX Howe Crescent (as in the number we live/lived at) and as i said, we are registered on the electoral register.... so i really dont know.

izools

I would suggest you get a copy of your credit file.

Either the address is formatted incorrectly by your local council on the electoral register, or there is a CIFAS marker against the address.

Evilm

I would suggest some sort of error on the report or on the details you are using. For example a record saying Smithey instead of Smithy. I know another poster has had problems opening accounts because a name is spelt wrong on a deed poll and the only way to sort it is to get another deed poll drawn up.

worried_jim

izools wrote: »

I would suggest you get a copy of your credit file.

Either the address is formatted incorrectly by your local council on the electoral register, or there is a CIFAS marker against the address.

I suspect this may be the case. Some addresses are getting ridiculous now so I am declining applications linked to them and this maybe Metro risk policy as well.

bob_man_uk

my name and address match exactly to the poll card, the address may have credit problems with other people, being a student house and all, but remember i havent had a credit check done when they refused the first time, so what does getting my credit file have to do with actually verifying my ID? this is what metro have failed to answer and i am still asking, do they use the same database? if so, how can they do a search on my credit file without ACTUALLY doing a credit search?

can anyone explain this without driving me round the bend?

jen245

Banks use your credit files to verify your identity, making sure that everything on your credit files matches what you have put on your application. If there any discrepancies, they wont open accounts, its as simple as that. You need to get copies of all of your credit files with the 3 agencies to make sure there is nothing on there that shouldnt be.
And banks dont check the electoral register, they check your credit file to see if you are on there. They can do this without doing a full credit search, its known as a soft search for ID verification, which is not visible to other lenders who search your files, whereas a full credit search is.

worried_jim

I'd imagine the address has been used a lot for fraudulent applications and Metro are not prepared to chance anyone living at the address. I see this everyday and just stop the application as there is no point going any further. Metro will have there own policy to what constitutes a high risk address. I look at all addresses and decide on its merits but when I see a "bad" one I just know with experience and stop.
This may have absolutely nothing to do with you and if you get your credit file it may not give you any indication as it maybe perfect, but sadly the address is not, and information held against the address by other databases shared by banks is what Metro have looked at. I once heard that one of the worlds biggest Rock stars tried to get an Amex card but Amex had stopped all applications at the village he had moved to as they has deemed the entire postcode a risk.
I don't have much advice to offer except to try another bank as they all have there own risk policy and Metro may just be very risk adverse as they are not a huge UK operation and may be limited with the back office support that they can utilise but if they all keep saying no I am afraid that you are stuck.

bob_man_uk

jen245 wrote: »

Banks use your credit files to verify your identity, making sure that everything on your credit files matches what you have put on your application. If there any discrepancies, they wont open accounts, its as simple as that. You need to get copies of all of your credit files with the 3 agencies to make sure there is nothing on there that shouldnt be.
And banks dont check the electoral register, they check your credit file to see if you are on there

then surely if doing a credit check passes, which mine did, then the fact that they declined the ID check is pointless as my credit file has proved that i lived at all the previous addresses i have provided.

and i understand that if an address is flagged as bad and that might be the reason that i was refused an account, but if thats the case, then how is anyone in the coming years likely to get any kind of credit, or indeed, if i wasnt a student and was living in my own rented place, it would be impossible to pass any kind of check as the address is "flagged" so getting my credit file and checking it would be useless as it ultimately comes down to where i live.

jen245

bob_man_uk wrote: »

then surely if doing a credit check passes, which mine did, then the fact that they declined the ID check is pointless as my credit file has proved that i lived at all the previous addresses i have provided.

and i understand that if an address is flagged as bad and that might be the reason that i was refused an account, but if thats the case, then how is anyone in the coming years likely to get any kind of credit, or indeed, if i wasnt a student and was living in my own rented place, it would be impossible to pass any kind of check as the address is "flagged" so getting my credit file and checking it would be useless as it ultimately comes down to where i live.

Not necessarily. You can be deemed credit worthy, and be eligible for an account, but if what you have put on your application, doesn't tally up with the information gathered from your ID/fraud search, banks won't open you an account. There have been cases here, where posters have applied for accounts, been told they have been accepted, only for the account to be closed down once further checks have been made as some banks do ID/fraud checks after the account has been opened. Natwest/RBS are notorious for this.