Great 'Work in a bank? What should we know' Hunt

lola_26

convenience101 wrote: »

Several years ago I was unfortunate enough to work for RBS. As 'Underground' posted, bank credit databases are common practice. In RBS's Back Office system, which ALL staff have access to, it is option 99, 6 on the menu. This tells employees what, based on past account behaviour, the customer is likely to be instantly approved for. As I recall, this gives a loan figure, an overdraft figure, the type of card available (eg a gold £250 cheque gaurantee card as opposed tothe normal silver £100 one), and also the bank's risk grading of the customer. Under the Data Protection Act you can request to see this information. After all, it is better to be aware that you can have a £10,000 overdraft for 6 months than a £10,000 loan over several years with all the associated fees.

I currently work for NatWest and the back office system 99,06 still works and it's still the main tool used to asses customer credit score. Congtras for leaving, hope to leave myself soon! :rotfl:

MABLE

I have been with Lloyds for over 25 years and in the early days if you wanted an overdraft it was at the managers discretiion. I remember going into my branch in Reading and was declined for an overdraft by the manager. The Assistant Manager told me if it were up to him I could have the facility but the apparently the manager did not like me. I feel in some respects things have changed for the better and the customer is no longer at the mercy of the banks.

Lawnmower_Man

Direct Debits - Never let a Bank fob you off with 'you have to contact the payee to cancel or claim a refund'.

It has been a while since I worked for the bank but I do know that direct debits only have to be cancelled via your bank. It is up to the bank to send a cancellation advice (used to be manual via post but again from memory changed to an automated system before I left). If a D/D is debited incorrectly the Bank must re-credit your account immediately and then carry out enquires if necessary. If it transpires later that you are in fact in the wrong or lying then they can redebit the funds.

The direct debit indemnity scheme (not quite the right the name but I remember the acronym on the internal manual was ADDACS) covers all the rules in this regard and every branch should have it or at least whatever the current version is.

It annoys me how many times I ring to cancel a D/D and I am told to contact payee and yet when I gently point out I was a manager in a bank and I know the indemnity rules they always change their tune.

In fact what annoys me further is that as previously mentioned all staff are under huge pressure to sell, sell, sell to such an extent that it seems training in other areas is neglected. A manageress at Halifax did not even know the rules until I took things further and received the appropriate apologies. Not entirely blaming her but rather her employers.

In fact look at any direct debit mandate and it has a brief version of the guarantee on it. The one I have in front of me right now clearly states that to cancel just contact the bank and also states that if the payee still claims incorrectly that a guaranteed refund is immediate from your bank. Mind you it doesn't hurt to contact payee anyway but this is not an imperative more just good manners.

Lawnmower Man

regularsaver1

However Lawnmower man. I have seen direct debits cancelled in branch from NTL/Virgin Media - who then re-instate

Yes, we do direct indemnities for them all the time, so the customer gets their money back straight away

so if the banks do just cancel the direct debit, because the direct debit was set up automated in the first place, who is in the wrong if the debiting company re-instate the debit, the bank or the debit company?

which is why bank staff will usually say you are best to double check with this, by doing both

Lawnmower_Man

Cheques - when I was in the bank no cheque below £1000 was ever checked for irregularities. I think it increased to £5000 before I left.

The reason being that it is more cost effective to pay out in the future if any cheques are fraudulent than pay somebody to manually check all cheques for correct date, payee, signature and that words and figures marry up.

Believe me it was a time consuming job.

Try it (don't blame me though if they do happen to spot it)- put a totally different signature on a cheque below £1000 and it will still be paid.

Not something a customer can particularly use for his advantage but then I don't think with a criminal mind.

Lawnmower Man

Lawnmower_Man

regularsaver1,

I wasn't saying all the banks were wrong. If the indemnity is done then that is correct. If you do indemnities then you are working correctly. If the payee incorrectly re instates them then it is not up to the customer to get involved it is up to the bank and payee to resolve. After all the banks have the power to remove any company from the D/D scheme if they act unlawfully.

I was pointing out not to be fobbed off when banks try and make out monies have to be reclaimed from the payee by a customer when it simpy is not the case.

Lawnmower Man

Lawnmower_Man

Regularsaver1

I suspect many, many things have changed. The cheque post was a gentle rib that's all.

Technically, all cheques that come through the clearing system should be checked. I know it is a few years since I worked in a bank but I bet that in reality this should still be done but just isn't because of what I said in that post.

Regards

Lawnmower Man

ps what happened to my login. My post count has plummeted. I was well in the hundreds now it only shows 60 odd. Maybe it is because I don't post that regular any more - oh well.

Lawnmower_Man

regularsaver1,

No I haven't deleted anything. I used to have the same level as you - gutted mate.

Never mind, it won't change any replies I make just means I lose a bit of credibility I guess. Out of interest (only if you don't mind me asking or you answering) do you work high up for one of the big 4?

I adore all things financial but could not bear having to push products that whilst I generally believe in them I knew were not the market beaters. Partly why I left back in 2000.

Do you have the misfortune of working in branch banking? (or fortune if you enjoy it)

Regards

Lawnmower Man

BASFORDLAD

this is one of the better and more useful threads as of late, others have been all the same... like, will i get accepted for a credit card....

Lawnmower_Man

regularsaver1

I have no idea why my post have gone down. Maybe it is because it has been a fair while since I last logged on and when the new site was tested maybe something just went a little awry. In fact in could be over a year since I last posted though why the reduction down to 60 odd rather than zero I have no idea.

Guess we better not talk too long on that, after all this is the wrong thread for that - apologies to anybody wasting theier time reading this reply.

Regards

Lawnmower Man