Why do the Halifax want to know where my money is from?

debbie42

jamesd wrote: »

masonic, they would need to know because it's no longer acceptable to assume that the institution from which the money is coming has done appropriate money laundering checks, so they have to be done at each stage.

I can appreciate they'd want to know if you were transferring money to their institution, but I don't see that they need to effectively validate your savings elsewhere when you may have no intention of ever moving it to them?

realshannon

My hubby paid in via an ATM £200 cash - in 3 days it only shows as deposited not cleared so I have queried and have been told that it needs clearing in case it is forged or whatever - I was absolutely fuming but then told that if I had paid it into them via an advisor at branch they would have checked it then and there - which is so rubbish - I have never seen anyone checking my cash when I pay it in. Once in a blue moon we deposit amounts around £1000 if we sell something but Halifax even quibble about taking my piggy bank money when I bag it up - when I have enough worth bothering to carry and pay in - only a small number of bags are allowed. Yeah I know the principle of keeping customers waiting but this is a small rural branch which never seems to have more than 2 customers at once - have you ever heard of something so daft? Because they havent cleared my cash one of our direct debits has bounced and it was for our halifax credit card - so fees all around being bounced by the same company on us! just gives me another job to do by writing letters and sorting it all out - mad mad mad mad:eek:

regularsaver1

if you pay in through the atm it does not go the account straight away - it has to be opened (envelope) and validated by a cashier and keyed to the account - this is why it takes longer (someone once keyed £1million and some others there were empty envelopes)

if the cash had been paid in over the counter it would have cleared straight away and they do check it - otherwise they might have a cash error - which is a no no for their job

it does say when the money is cleared on a receipt from the atm, so they may not look at your complaint about clearance, as you had the option to pay at counter

penny bags - its more about space - the tills and safe are really small - and change takes a lot of space up. The limit is 5 bags a day per customer. this is different for childrens accounts and charities

masonic

jamesd wrote: »

masonic, they would need to know because it's no longer acceptable to assume that the institution from which the money is coming has done appropriate money laundering checks, so they have to be done at each stage. If I recall correctly this was a fairly recent change to the requirements.

I assume that the intended purpose is to reduce the potential rewards for corrupt or corruption of bank staff. It's possible that someone has noticed that terrorists and other criminals are able to work anywhere, including in financial institutions where they can work to subvert the systems.

I understand perfectly that an institution has to check out money THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING, but Debbie was being asked about her savings at another institution that were not even being transferred to the share-dealing account she was opening. The funds were not being transferred, so why the money laundering check for money being held at another bank? Surely no organisation audits all of the funds held in various other institutions by an individual at the time they open an account?

regularsaver1

When I applied for a sharedealing account I was checked for id and asked where ym funds are from, but it did not ask any questions about other savings accounts

it asked for my bank account details as this I will do my dealings and the shares I have the dividends go to there as a feeder account

So I am unsure masonic why they need to know that

debbie42

masonic wrote: »

The funds were not being transferred, so why the money laundering check for money being held at another bank? Surely no organisation audits all of the funds held in various other institutions by an individual at the time they open an account?

That was my question, precisely. It was in the application for a CFD share dealing account: they asked for my general income and savings. I filled it in, and someone asked me (by phone) to confirm the figures and asked where I'd acquired my savings from. To be honest, the answer I gave probably wouldn't have satisfied any money laundering check, if that was the actual intent!