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

masonic

Doc_N wrote: »

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.

I haven't forgotten that. What we don't know is what that took for FD to arrange. Companies will sometimes make concessions to disgruntled customers, even if it is not viable for them to do so as a matter of course. Making a fuss can achieve quite extraordinary results sometimes. It doesn't mean the customer has a right to that treatment.

Suppose you are in a corner shop that doesn't accept payment by card for low value transactions and has one of those fee-charging private ATMs available to customers who don't have enough cash. You find you don't have enough cash and don't want to pay a fee to take out money, so you go to the till and make a fuss, refusing to give up, and since there is a long line of customers behind you, the person on the checkout finally relents and puts the order through, taking the hit on the card processing fees. Were you being reasonable?

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."

So it is the fact that they have waited until now to ask you to verify your identity that is the problem and if they had made you do it some time in the past, you would have been fine with it?

meer53

slopemaster wrote: »

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.

Not everyone can be ID'd electronically, those people who can't will still have to provide documents to open an account.

masonic

Doc_N wrote: »

Is that really such an unreasonable stance on my part?

Incidentally, I'm just about finished switching an account to M&S Bank (also part of the HSBC group) in order to avail myself of its regular saver.

Not only have I discovered it is not possible to log in at all without the "secure key", but M&S Bank do not allow customers to open the regular saver online.

No doubt, you will consider this unacceptable behaviour and poor customer service, because both FD and HSBC are able to let you log in with a limited service using memorable information and will also allow you to open a regular saver online.

I don't, though. It's just the way they want to do business and I'm willing to accept that. I might find it inconvenient, but not enough to prevent me going ahead, so I see no point in complaining about it. Perhaps you find that strange.

Doc_N

masonic wrote: »

I might find it inconvenient, but not enough to prevent me going ahead, so I see no point in complaining about it. Perhaps you find that strange.

Not at all - each to his own. I prefer, however, to be a little more proactive when necessary. And since I'm the customer, and the bank has all the cards stacked in its favour, that doesn't seem unreasonable. They chose to go along with my suggestion - they didn't have to.

FD is normally responsive to its customers, and it was here. I'd urge anyone else adversely affected to raise a formal complaint.

Santander's the way to go for larger savings, though - difficult to beat 3% on up to £20k (even with a £5 pm fee), leaving aside the various regular savings accounts.

masonic

Doc_N wrote: »

Santander's the way to go for larger savings, though - difficult to beat 3% on up to £20k (even with a £5 pm fee), leaving aside the various regular savings accounts.

I'm sticking to the current accounts paying 4-5%, and I've got the rest spread between various regular savers opened 2 months apart across the year.

Santander 123 can be beaten for a £20k lump sum. 3 x BOS and Club Lloyds, for example, and add in a TSB Plus and/or Nationwide FD to the mix if you can juggle that many.

Santander is fine if you just want to stick to one account.

Doc_N

masonic wrote: »

I'm sticking to the current accounts paying 4-5%, and I've got the rest spread between various regular savers opened 2 months apart across the year.

Santander 123 can be beaten for a £20k lump sum. 3 x BOS and Club Lloyds, for example, and add in a TSB Plus and/or Nationwide FD to the mix if you can juggle that many.

Santander is fine if you just want to stick to one account.

I agree with you about the mix, but nothing beats the 123 account for one single straightforward account up to £20k. HSBC itself can also be added usefully to the mix.

colsten

Doc_N wrote: »

I agree with you about the mix, but nothing beats the 123 account for one single straightforward account up to £20k.

I suppose it depends on your criteria. In terms of interest %age on £20K, Santander can easily be beaten with a little more effort than the 123 requires.

Doc_N wrote: »

HSBC itself can also be added usefully to the mix.

How so?

saundg

As I am currently in the middle of this First Direct fiasco, I will give you my 'take' on the issue. I received letter from FD asking me to provide ID etc. I understand that compliance requirements are more onerous that when I opened the account (circa 1993), so have no objection to the request, what I do have an objection to is that after (a) Agreeing the documentation & taking it into a HSBC branch, only for FD to tell me weeks later that the post code was missing (B) Booking a webex to provide new information. FD have, without any further notice, restricted my ATM withdrawals to £50 a day & made my internet banking 'view only'!!!!!!!

saundg

The issue is not what FD are doing but the shambolic way they are going about it. lack of resource, and making the customer pay for it

masonic

saundg wrote: »

FD have, without any further notice, restricted my ATM withdrawals to £50 a day & made my internet banking 'view only'!!!!!!!

Well that is very naughty and probably worthy of a complaint.

Edit: Out of interest, how long after initially requesting the verification did they lock down your account?