First Direct want proof of identity years after account opened: anyone else affected?

GingerBob_3

The thing is though, First Direct are the awkward squad for wanting people to go along with this stupidity.


What irks me - amongst other things - is this description "know your customer". B***ocks big style. They don't know their customers at all. It long gone since you knew the local bank manager. What they mean is "know ABOUT your customer". In other words, put your customers under detailed financial surveillance because chances are they're criminals.

mgdavid

redkite89 wrote: »

.........
Do people now have to get their documents certified when they open a new bank account? ..........

No, they don't.
I've opened five bank accounts and two credit cards in the last couple of years, none have requested any physical ID at all, all done online quickly and conveniently.

DavyS_2

Received this letter asking for ident and proof of address after 30 years of banking with FD. So phoned the help line to ask what its about and they explained that they suspect that the address they hold for many of their customers is out of date so they are writing to their customers to ..... doh!

It might be co-incidence but I received this letter only days after they wrote to me informing me that my Regular Saver account was now one year old so would be closed and transferred to my bank account. It states that this would only be possible if the name on the Regular Savings account is the same as on my cheque account. BUT my cheque account is a joint account with my wife and Regular Saving accounts are Sole accounts only. So the name wont match so the funds cannot be transferred to my joint account. So what they will do is to set up a basic account paying almost no interest in my sole name. NOT pleased with that.

But I did not apply for this new sole account so am I getting the letter about Id and address cos FD are setting up the account in my name without any application form from me?
Tell me I am too cynical?

colsten

DavyS wrote: »

Received this letter asking for ident and proof of address after 30 years of banking with FD.

Max you could have held an account with them is 26 full years as they didn't exist before 1 October 1989 .

DavyS wrote: »

So what they will do is to set up a basic account paying almost no interest in my sole name. NOT pleased with that.

This is in line with the T&Cs you accepted when you open the Regular Saver. You can withdraw the money from that account any time you like.

jonesMUFCforever

DavyS wrote: »

Received this letter asking for ident and proof of address after 30 years of banking with FD. So phoned the help line to ask what its about and they explained that they suspect that the address they hold for many of their customers is out of date so they are writing to their customers to ..... doh!

It might be co-incidence but I received this letter only days after they wrote to me informing me that my Regular Saver account was now one year old so would be closed and transferred to my bank account. It states that this would only be possible if the name on the Regular Savings account is the same as on my cheque account. BUT my cheque account is a joint account with my wife and Regular Saving accounts are Sole accounts only. So the name wont match so the funds cannot be transferred to my joint account. So what they will do is to set up a basic account paying almost no interest in my sole name. NOT pleased with that.

But I did not apply for this new sole account so am I getting the letter about Id and address cos FD are setting up the account in my name without any application form from me?
Tell me I am too cynical?

You are far too cynical although the new account may have triggered their actions.
All banks are doing this - 30 years ago id and address confirmation was virtually unheard of - what they are been forced to do is gather enough information about you to satisfy the authorities that you are who you say you are.
This information is standard to any account opening with any bank.
Should you feel the need to close your FD accounts then any new bank will need to ID you.

slopemaster

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

All banks are doing this ...This information is standard to any account opening with any bank.
Should you feel the need to close your FD accounts then any new bank will need to ID you.

Yes, but most banks now ID you electronically.
I recently opened a Yorkshire Bank account online with no need to send any ID; it was up and running straight away and I have now transferred my 1st Direct account over.

Doc_N

Difficult to understand why First Direct are getting such support in here on this issue.

Yes - it's a good bank (I've been with them since 1990).
Yes - that may mean that existing information is non-compliant.

BUT - it's not so much what they're doing, or why they're doing it. It's the way they're going about doing it that's the problem. It's being done with a view to minimising the cost and inconvenience to the bank, with a consequential maximising of cost and inconvenience to the customer. That is just not good customer service.

Yes, of course you can close your account and go elsewhere, as some people have said. But a simpler and more sensible option might be for First Direct to use a verification method more in line with other banks and less problematic to its customers.

Is that really such an unreasonable stance on my part?

masonic

Doc_N wrote: »

Yes, of course you can close your account and go elsewhere, as some people have said. But a simpler and more sensible option might be for First Direct to use a verification method more in line with other banks and less problematic to its customers.

Like open a branch network and ask people to go in to branch with original documents?

Is that really such an unreasonable stance on my part?

It is unreasonable for either party to try to dictate how the other should behave in the relationship, without accepting that there may be valid reasons why the said party may be unable to comply and under those circumstances may end the relationship.

FD are requiring customers to comply with verification, but giving them the opportunity to end the relationship if they so choose. They are not holding customers hostage and freezing their assets until they comply, unlike certain other financial institutions have done. If you do not wish to comply with the request, you are free to go elsewhere.

Similarly, you have the opportunity to assert your own requirements (or refusal) regarding the verification upon FD. Should they not wish to comply with your request, they can end the relationship.

What is unreasonable is thinking you have a right to be a customer of FD on your own terms.

ChiefGrasscutter

Indeed as @masonic has said on blocking accounts without ID, in the past I have wanted to make a withdrawal from an existing old unit trust type investment made in the days way before all the ID stuff became mandatory.
Back came the reply that under the new regs they did not have on file the required ID for me so my withdrawal request was blocked until I did provide it.
So with yet another weary sigh out comes the certified copy of my passport plus a recent paper bill of some form acceptable to them as address ID verification and off they go in the post.

Doc_N

masonic wrote: »

Like open a branch network and ask people to go in to branch with original documents?

It is unreasonable for either party to try to dictate how the other should behave in the relationship, without accepting that there may be valid reasons why the said party may be unable to comply and under those circumstances may end the relationship.

FD are requiring customers to comply with verification, but giving them the opportunity to end the relationship if they so choose. They are not holding customers hostage and freezing their assets until they comply, unlike certain other financial institutions have done. If you do not wish to comply with the request, you are free to go elsewhere.

Similarly, you have the opportunity to assert your own requirements (or refusal) regarding the verification upon FD. Should they not wish to comply with your request, they can end the relationship.

What is unreasonable is thinking you have a right to be a customer of FD on your own terms.

Had you forgotten that First Direct is just a part of HSBC, which does of course have the branch network to which you refer? And that it is possible to take original documents into such a branch - but only if you take the matter up as a formal complaint.

This is a matter of basic customer service - not just contractual terms. I started this thread 18 months ago and was able to persuade them to take a more customer-friendly approach using a local branch, but a customer-centric (think Amazon) approach would make that offer generally available.

Let's not forget, either, that First Direct is not as blameless in all this as you might think:

"As you'd expect at first direct we set ourselves the highest possible standards, but we're sorry to say that in the past we have fallen short of this in some areas and we now hold incomplete proof of identity and address for a number of our customers."