Anyone had problems? 30 April 2014 at 12:58PM in Savings & Investments 6 replies 806 views

MarcoM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/10788369/Savers-must-answer-intrusive-questions-to-get-money.html

It seems they will now ask several detailed questions when transferring large amounts. Has anyone had any problems when sending funds for property purchases or investments?

jimjames

Not for property and no large amounts but last 2 transfers I've done have been blocked and needed me to call to authenticate them.

Paul_Herring

Was featured on last Saturday's MoneyBox: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041txvt

but last 2 transfers I've done have been blocked and needed me to call to authenticate them.

That's not what the problem is - you were presumably asked to verify that you did indeed intend to remove the money. This is something different entirely and more sinister; they're threatening to block your account/prevent you withdrawing money because they decide they want to know your inside leg measurement or somesuch along with a whole slew of other information - none of which they (should) have any right to, under the guise of "knowing your customer" regulations to prevent money laundering.

JohnRo

What happens when someone can't give the answers demanded simply because the information, with the best will in the world, just isn't available?

Surely the threat of locking peoples accounts if information is not forthcoming is entering the murky realm of politics and blackmail?

It's easy to get paranoid about these things, in the context of a collapsing, fraudulent fiat monetary system, but there does seem to be a pervasive shift towards guilty until proven innocent in recent times. Perhaps we're all much further than imagined down the nightmarish Orwellian road where anyone can be switched off at the whim of big brother.

If there is a suspicion of criminal activity the police state needs to investigate and earn their living for once. If there isn't then your finances should be no one else's damned business unless you choose to make them so?

Paul_Herring

JohnRo wrote: »

What happens when someone can't give the answers demanded simply because the information, with the best will in the world, just isn't available?

They can't access their money. Next question?

(SelfTrade IIRC cited Money Laundering regulations, when asked what gave them the right to do this.)

Reaper

There's an existing long running thread about Self Trade asking for excessive financial details:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4938765

MarcoM

My concern is with HSBC. I will soon be receiving a transfer from another provider as my investment is maturing. My preference was to deposit this via HSBC current account but I do not wish to be interrogated to a ridiculous extent. Am I better off opening a current account with a less intrusive bank?