Poor Service

JeffG

I went into Barclays this morning to open an ISA.
I objected when asked to fill in my salary amount. I could not understand why this was required for a savings account. I was told that they would not open the account without. when I handed over my cheque for the money to put in my ISA, I asked for a receipt. I was told that they do not give receipts and that I should trust them. I eventually got them to give a photocopy of my cheque. I consider this to be very poor customer service. what do other people think?

dunstonh

I think you are being difficult.

They have a responsibility under money laundering rules to ascertain the source of the investment. By asking your income, they can class the contribution as coming from surplus income.

From what I understand, Barclays ISAs are not held by the branch (S&S ISs certainly are not). In which case, they forward your cheque and application to be set up centrally. So, you arent going to get a cashiers stamp on it.

amcluesent

>what do other people think?<

I found my old Halifax Gold pass book (£13.15 in the account) and went to the branch to close it. They wanted photographic proof of identity to close the account. Madness.

tom188

What if somebody else had misappropriated your passbook and gone into the branch to close it? Surely it is only wise to ensure that only you have access to your money?

JeffG

dunstonh wrote: »

I think you are being difficult.

They have a responsibility under money laundering rules to ascertain the source of the investment. By asking your income, they can class the contribution as coming from surplus income.

From what I understand, Barclays ISAs are not held by the branch (S&S ISs certainly are not). In which case, they forward your cheque and application to be set up centrally. So, you arent going to get a cashiers stamp on it.

Thanks.

Good point. I had'nt thought about money laundering. I just assumed the bank is trawling for personal info to enable them to try and sell more products to you.

reehsetin

amcluesent wrote: »

>what do other people think?<

I found my old Halifax Gold pass book (£13.15 in the account) and went to the branch to close it. They wanted photographic proof of identity to close the account. Madness.

barclays wanted the same

amcluesent

>Surely it is only wise to ensure that only you have access to your money?<

Fair point. Actually the cashier's attitude changed quite considerably when she noticed I had > £10,000 in an on-line account. Computer says yes!:D

ManAtHome

I've never been asked for my salary when opening a savings account (wouldn't open one if asked either..). What business is it of theirs whether the money is coming from spare income or another account? Certainly can't be a requirement under money-laundering rules, especially when you're depositing a cheque.

regularsaver1

When opeing any account - id checks and KYC checks are done (Know Your Customer) - in which case one of the bits of information required is where the source of funds have come from - ie gift, salary, own account, sale of house ect

All for money laundering regulations

regularsaver1

ManAtHome wrote: »

I've never been asked for my salary when opening a savings account (wouldn't open one if asked either..). What business is it of theirs whether the money is coming from spare income or another account? Certainly can't be a requirement under money-laundering rules, especially when you're depositing a cheque.

why do you say especially if depositing a cheque

actually cheques is one of the biggest reasons to need to know

regularsaver1

for examplwe - student

openeing an account with £100'000. may be a gift

if adviser not too happy, they HAVE to submit a suspcious activity report - if they don;t they can get into trouble