Fidor Passport Email

ChiefGrasscutter

Not to mention that once acquired and actually used to visit some foreign hell hole the owner will spend rather less time moaning about how put upon we all are in the UK and instead reflect instead on how lucky they are to have been born in the UK.

colsten

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Not to mention that once acquired and actually used to visit some foreign hell hole the owner will spend rather less time moaning about how put upon we all are in the UK and instead reflect instead on how lucky they are to have been born in the UK.

I personally like to avoid travelling to hell holes (even inside the UK), and am glad to say that - aided by my passport - I have been to many places, and hope to travel to many more, which are as developed, beautiful and inspirational as most of the UK is. I have to admit though that most can't quite match our amount of rainfall and dismal cloudy weather.

pmduk

grumbler wrote: »

I think for many people that don't drive and don't go abroad an internal ID card, even if optional, would be much cheaper and would last longer than a passport.

Remember when this Tory Govt came into power in 2010, one of the first things they did was invalidate the National ID Cards issued by the previous Govt, despite them only being issued to current passport holders.

GingerBob_3

pmduk wrote: »

Remember when this Tory Govt came into power in 2010, one pf the first things they did was invalidate the National ID Cards issued by the previous Govt, despite them only being issued to current passport holders.

A very wise thing for them to do, if I may say so. Unusual for a British government, but there you are.

ChiefGrasscutter

colsten wrote: »

I personally like to avoid travelling to hell holes (even inside the UK), and am glad to say that - aided by my passport - I have been to many places, and hope to travel to many more, which are as developed, beautiful and inspirational as most of the UK is. I have to admit though that most can't quite match our amount of rainfall and dismal cloudy weather.

Excellent!
Snag for me is that primarily I went to the places for business where the objective seemed to be as unpleasant as possible to you because - unlike tourists I did not come bearing bountiful gifts of hard currency.

I tend to identify with the unnamed individual who many years ago remarked in the press that the best point of an overseas business trip was checking in at the BA desk on the way home - as you knew that from then on all the hassle and aggro would cease. (This was in the days when BA was indeed a world class international airline)

There was one much traveled sales individual who legitimately had 3 or 4 parallel running passports - because once a passport had been used to enter country A and stamped then it could not be used to enter country B as they would be turned back at the border of B ...because country B hated country A: so the solution all approved by HMG was to own multiple passports.
Now all he needed to do was, depending on which mutually hating countries he was visiting, was ensure he had the "right" passport with him!
He went to the Isle of Wight for his holidays as he hated just about everyone foreign.

blink18

grumbler wrote: »

Then we have to stop complaining that passport is needed even if we don't go abroad.
I think for many people that don't drive and don't go abroad an internal ID card, even if optional, would be much cheaper and would last longer than a passport.

Thats the point though, a passport isnt needed in 99.9% of cases, we have some quite sophisticated methods of proving id, hence the reason you can applly and get bank accounts, loans, credit cards etc etc without ever providing any ID, or speaking to anybody or visiting a branch / office in person.

what's so different about fidor and the like that are unable to verify this information like every other card issuer or bank in the UK.

Fidor were happy to open an account for me, have gone through the verification process by I think receiving a letter with a code to my address, i've transferred the bonus they gae on account opening to another UK bank account, they have issued a debit card that was sent to my address and verified as being received online with the CVV.

What possible reason is there for wanting an unverified copy of a passport?

grumbler

blink18 wrote: »

What possible reason is there for wanting an unverified copy of a passport?

To make sure that it's you who applied for the account, not somebody else living at this address or having access to the arriving post?

The "sophisticated methods" appear to be not that sophisticated and reliable at a closer look. That's why ID fraud is not uncommon in UK and why in some other countries the only way to get a bank card is to visit a branch with proofs of ID. ID fraud is next to impossible there, but so are online banks like FD, Smile and Fidor.

System

It's a box ticking exercise from the German FCA.
Fidor already electronically verified ID via Experian.

grumbler wrote: »

To make sure that it's you who applied for the account, not somebody else living at this address or having access to the arriving post?

The "sophisticated methods" appear to be not that sophisticated and reliable at a closer look. That's why ID fraud is not uncommon in UK and why in some other countries the only way to get a bank card is to visit a branch with proofs of ID. ID fraud is next to impossible there, but so are online banks like FD, Smile and Fidor.

grumbler

OK, can you explain please, if 'heng leng' calls Fidor to open an account and says that he is 'grumbler', how can Fidor 'electronically via Experian' make sure that it's 'grumbler' calling, not 'heng leng'?

masonic

blink18 wrote: »

what's so different about fidor and the like that are unable to verify this information like every other card issuer or bank in the UK.

Well, for one thing, fidor isn't really "like every other card issuer or bank in the UK". It is a German bank offering accounts to people in the UK. It is subject to the rules and regulations of a foreign authority. It is not FCA regulated and it isn't part of the FSCS. If it should go bust, you'll be at the mercy of a foreign compensation scheme.

That aside, it is perfectly reasonable for such a financial organisation operating within the EU to expect all EU citizens to be able to supply a copy of their Government issued photographic ID. Having sight of this is just one part of a much more thorough investigation to determine that you are who you say you are. It may well be a regulatory requirement in Germany.

I don't really know much about the regulatory environment in which Fidor operates - because I wouldn't touch a bank like this that isn't covered by the FSCS with a barge pole. However, I would expect anyone considering opening a bank account at Fidor to have done their research into how safe their money is and exactly how the German "Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht" differs from the FCA, so perhaps one of the people posting in this thread will know?