Money Laundering Checks - Why?

pjamaman

I recently checked my Equifax credit report and was surprised to see that three "search reason" references stated: "Identity Check to comply with Anti Money Laundering Regulations".

Each of these three references had an associated "search reason": "Additional Address" (presumably another check).

The company was listed as: "Royal Bank of Scotland-emc Compu" (the rest looks cut off).

This will be a reference to NatWest as I do not use any other RBOS institutions. These three requests (identity check plus address check) occurred in the second week of July 2012, late October 2012, and mid-November 2012.

I checked what "Identity Check to comply with Anti Money Laundering Regulations" meant on this site which is amazingly informative and helpful. My impression is that this wording means that NatWest is checking both my identity and also (at the same time) my address details.

My impression is that this is what members of this forum call a "soft" check which means it will not be seen by other lenders. They are located in "other searches" (rather than "credit searches"). Equifax states that "Not all searches are performed for lending purposes. Table 2 below may show some of these other types of search. Any requests you have previously made to access your own Credit Report will also show here but are not seen by any lender or other organisation reviewing your Report."

What I do not understand is why NatWest would be making these checks. I have not applied for or accepted any of their products for some time. Can anyone speculate as to why they would need to check me on three occasions?

The rest of the Equifax file is fine - no CCJs or CIFAS information or suchlike.

jonesMUFCforever

Do you have an overdraft facility at all?
Making these soft searches allows them to offer you credit facilities (or not as the case may be).

chattychappy

Financial institutions are suppose to ensure their records are up-to-date. It might be that.

pjamaman

Any other suggestions?

I do have an overdraft with them (which I do not use) but what has that got to do with making money laundering checks?

meer53

pjamaman wrote: »

Any other suggestions?

I do have an overdraft with them (which I do not use) but what has that got to do with making money laundering checks?

Why do you need to know ? They won't affect your credit file. If they have been carrying out checks in connection with Anti Money Laundering on your account, they wouldn't tell you anyway.

stephane_2

pjamaman wrote: »

Any other suggestions?

I do have an overdraft with them (which I do not use) but what has that got to do with making money laundering checks?

Your question was answered previously......

Tiglath

I work in AML - as someone has already said, regulated financial institutions have to ensure that their customer info is kept up-to-date. It's not something they just choose to do - it's required, even if nothing has changed from your perspective.

gglaze

Thanks to OP for posting this. I also noticed something very similar on my Noddle report last month, and was curious about why these were showing up all the sudden.

By the way, if they are "soft", how come I can see them? Why wouldn't other banks be able to see what Noddle can see?

Sparx

gglaze wrote: »

By the way, if they are "soft", how come I can see them? Why wouldn't other banks be able to see what Noddle can see?

Because it is YOUR credit report and you are entitled to see ALL requests companies have made to search your credit profile.

Other 3rd parties are only entitled to see when a CREDIT SEARCH has been completed.

cjethwa

pjamaman wrote: »

I recently checked my Equifax credit report and was surprised to see that three "search reason" references stated: "Identity Check to comply with Anti Money Laundering Regulations".

Each of these three references had an associated "search reason": "Additional Address" (presumably another check).

The company was listed as: "Royal Bank of Scotland-emc Compu" (the rest looks cut off).

This will be a reference to NatWest as I do not use any other RBOS institutions. These three requests (identity check plus address check) occurred in the second week of July 2012, late October 2012, and mid-November 2012.

I checked what "Identity Check to comply with Anti Money Laundering Regulations" meant on this site which is amazingly informative and helpful. My impression is that this wording means that NatWest is checking both my identity and also (at the same time) my address details.

My impression is that this is what members of this forum call a "soft" check which means it will not be seen by other lenders. They are located in "other searches" (rather than "credit searches"). Equifax states that "Not all searches are performed for lending purposes. Table 2 below may show some of these other types of search. Any requests you have previously made to access your own Credit Report will also show here but are not seen by any lender or other organisation reviewing your Report."

What I do not understand is why NatWest would be making these checks. I have not applied for or accepted any of their products for some time. Can anyone speculate as to why they would need to check me on three occasions?

The rest of the Equifax file is fine - no CCJs or CIFAS information or suchlike.

Hello,

I had the same thing happen to me last week, turns out it could be something to do with MasterCard SecureCode / Verified by VISA but I am not sure, still looking into it.

The_Boss

Fair enough wondering what it is, but why has the original post been thanked twice? Shambles