Online Savings - proving your account balance

ricky101

Hi,

While there is plenty of advice around about being safe online, one thing not clearly mentioned is how do you prove you have an online account and its current balance.

Every month I print out my online savings statements etc and also keep a copy of my current account showing the debits and credits to the savings accounts but of course this is just computer printed stuff not an official bank document.

If something went wrong with my savings account would the above papers be enough to prove I had such an account and ensure I could recover things.

Any suggestions of anything further I could do to protect the savings in this way ?

thanks

dealer_wins

Maybe keep a screenshot on your pc?

Miss_Havisham

your bank will be able to provide you with a paper statement on request, probably for a fee.

Gromitt

I keep a copy of the opening certificate, and every transaction regarding that account. I don't bother printing anything (save the trees, etc), but if I ever had a problem, I could request official statements from my bank for free (since I'm paperless).

droopsnoot

I think the OP was asking what would happen if he tried to log in one day and could not, and the bank denied any knowledge of the account when he enquired further.

I also don't print anything in reality, but I do sometimes print PDFs of stuff "for reference". I've never had to refer to them, though.

psychic_teabag

My concern would be that the provider could just argue that minutes after printing the statement, you withdrew everything and closed the account. A printout shows the balance at the instant it was prepared, but doesn't really prove that the money should still be there.

Haven't there been stories recently where people found an old passbook, but the provider had no record of the account, and argued similarly that the account must have been closed without the passbook. (Though I guess in that case, a passbook might have been declared lost and a replacement could have been issued and used to close the account. )

System

I think the OP is right to be a little concerned, and to be pressing for something a bit more concrete. On-line banking is so recent that a lot of old procedures and safeguards have not really found a new equivalent yet.

On example I have discovered recently is what to do when someone who has an online account dies. I have found it really difficult as an executor to get through to anyone at the bank who will give me any information, or allow me to talk to anyone useful. I have been stonewalled with the reply that this is an internet account, there is no facility for paper correspondence, no address to write to.
When I finally spoke to a human he said I needed to talk to the branch. Which branch? Internet accounts don't have branches,

Finally sorted out, after resorting to solicitor's letters to head office.

I don't think on-line financial institutions have fully woken up to the possibilities of things going wrong, or not being accessible by the original account holder.

But even an online account has to send you a paper certificate of tax deduction at the year end, so that is some kind of verification of the account's existence.

Rafter

Ultimately you are questioning the integrity of the UK banking system and regulation.

If you really believe that there is a risk that the bank will deny all knowledge of your account and not keep proper records then you should probably buy a safe!

Other than that, keeping the occassional print out and at least a record in a fireproof place of all your account numbers and savings accounts should be all the backup you need.

R.