Pestering from the bank

MarcoM

Hi,

I'd like to know if other customers are experiencing the hassle I am getting when paying a few thousands into a current account.

I have recently had money moving in and out of my account, these are not life changing sums by any means but still quite substantial. Every single time I am getting phone calls from branch or other offices where I am asked the following:
a)where is it from
b)what are you doing with it
c)do you want to come in for a chat.

Now I do not mind this happening once but having told them that there would be other payments / deductions I am getting sick of the pestering.

I dread to think what hassle lottery winners or someone selling a business would get when cashing his proceeds.

Is there any way I can stop this and is this quite common?

opinions4u

You are on the receiving end of two things.

1) Money Laundering legal obligations being complied with.

2) Selling.

Ask to opt out of marketing and some of the contact will stop.

latecomer

Make sure when someone from the "bank" phones that you make them prove who they are before giving out any personal details. I refuse to acknowledge them in any way until they provide me with enough evidence to prove they are genuine. Makes for an interesting conversation and for some reason they dont phone me very often even when I'm shuffling money around

MarcoM

I take your point but if I refuse to answer their questions then they might just freeze my account. All I am asking is that they stop ringing me. Surely after they have checked a couple of times they can assume that one person is honest.

Deru

Is it Natwest? :P

Nicholas-bloody-Parsons

Got accounts with four of the five big banks; the only one who rings me up is the one which is 82% owned by the government ! "Helpful banking" indeed !

GooeyBlob

I sometimes move substantial sums into my current account prior to moving it into shares or savings accounts elsewhere, and usually get a brief lecture and sales pitch from the person behind the counter.

On one occasion I received a hand-written letter 2 days later, asking if I'd like to come in and discuss their (pretty lamentable) savings accounts.

This isn't Natwest though.

Rollinghome

I'm feeling left out. With no excuse, I've had an account with Natwest since they were just the Westminster Bank, before they merged with the National Provincial, and have only ever been contacted by them once.

That was when I miscalculated and went overdrawn by £1-17-6p ten days before my salary was paid in. The manager wrote to me pointing out my demeanour. More accurately, it was twice because he wrote again a week later expressing "his surprise" that I hadn't been in to see him about the matter. Bank managers were more moral guardians then than the salesmen of today.

Don't often go in to a branch but, when I have done, it's been to arrange some fairly hefty CHAPS transfers and was never hassled. Perhaps they still hold that £1-17-6p oversight against me, all recorded on yellowing paper somewhere..

srcandas

I had problems paying in my company's cheque once. I was wheeled off to an office for 7 minutes and the cheque was scrutinised. They explained that this was about money laundering. I then asked why they didn't use the simple process of automated profiling. If they had they would have seen that the cheque between the two accounts had been regular over the last 18 years, and no doubt money laundering would be greatly reduced.

Of course that would mean a minor change to their computer systems and as we know the last time RBS tried that it cost them (or do I mean us ) millions.

I know always deposit cheques in the slot in the wall. They always get credited on that day so no difference and no hassle.

Never get calls. I'd be very stroppy if I were you but all the best with it :beer:

MarcoM

srcandas wrote: »

I had problems paying in my company's cheque once. I was wheeled off to an office for 7 minutes and the cheque was scrutinised. They explained that this was about money laundering. I then asked why they didn't use the simple process of automated profiling. If they had they would have seen that the cheque between the two accounts had been regular over the last 18 years, and no doubt money laundering would be greatly reduced.

Of course that would mean a minor change to their computer systems and as we know the last time RBS tried that it cost them (or do I mean us ) millions.

I know always deposit cheques in the slot in the wall. They always get credited on that day so no difference and no hassle.

Never get calls. I'd be very stroppy if I were you but all the best with it :beer:

Would you trust the wall machine with a cheque worth 120k?

Gromitt

GooeyBlob wrote: »

I sometimes move substantial sums into my current account prior to moving it into shares or savings accounts elsewhere, and usually get a brief lecture and sales pitch from the person behind the counter

I got similar from First Direct after moving some funds from an account I had there. They sent me a letter offering me a savings account of 1%, plus a bonus of 1% for being a loyal customer, and then went on about keeping my money all in the same place with a bank that has never accepted money from the government, etc, etc.

MarcoM wrote: »

Would you trust the wall machine with a cheque worth 120k?

I have done. Got a copy of the cheque for my records, and it was credited by the end of the week.