Sainsbury's Bank and verification

Agent_C

I recently sold my flat and moved in with my partner, so I had some money to invest. I opened a Sainsbury's Bank internet saver account, a BMW ISA and a Birmingham Midshires bond.

Birmingham Midshires required no further confirmation of my identity, and BMW accepted a photocopy of my passport.

However Sainsbury's required a plethora of documents, including my ORIGINAL passport and driving licence. When I asked how they would be returning these original documents to me, they said normal post! :mad: Given that I'm off on holiday next month I wasn't going to send my passport. I struggled to obtain all the required documents as, having just moved house, my driving licence etc is all for my old address, plus all the utility bills etc are in my partner's name. By the time I have rectified this, eg got my partner to put a utility in my name etc, the time limit for verifying the account would probably have been over. The only suggestion they had was to get a photocopy of my passport authorised by a solicitor or doctor - at my expense! Added to that, they couldn't even guarantee they would accept it as my passport etc is in my full name, but for years I have only been known by my middle name and this is on all my bank statements etc...

Anyway, rant over, I have closed the account and they are transferring the money I have already deposited back to me - I complained about loss of interest and they will pay interest back to me, but it will take 7-10 days to transfer. Grrr!

Is anyone aware of a similar high-interest savings account, from which I could transfer money to a regular saver, that does not require such stringent verification?

dunstonh

You are angry for Sainsburys for acting correctly.

BMW accepted a photocopy? Thats not very compliant. Just because they are willing to take on the risk, doesnt mean others should.

The only suggestion they had was to get a photocopy of my passport authorised by a solicitor or doctor

Which is the correct way.

Dont mistake ignoring the rules or being less compliant as better service. The provider at fault here is BMW. All it takes is for them to get caught on a money laundering case and the FSA to investigate how they did ID and when its shown they never saw the original then they could be leaving themselves open to a nice big fine (as others have been given in the past).

Agent_C

I would not have minded sending my passport so much had they agreed to return it recorded delivery, but running the risk of it getting lost in the post was not a risk I was willing to take, given my experience of Royal Mail.

I had plenty of other documentation I could have sent Sainsbury's, such as NI card, payslips and several credit card statements, but they would not accept them. There must be situations where people have recently moved house and do not have all the correct documemts, or where people are known by their middle name, but there was no flexibility at all in their rules for this.

In any case, I did not ask for a lecture on whether I am right or wrong to be angry, I was asking for other people's experiences of verification. :rolleyes:

Stephen_Leak

There is another thread on this, and I too have had a bit of a "false start" with my two proofs of my name, especially the one for my full name.

Having moved in February, it was actually my address that was the "fly in the ointment" - I have advised them of my new address, but the electoral roll will not have been updated yet, so they couldn't verify me automatically from that.

Then, if your proof of name also shows an address, it must be your current one.
Unfortunately, that ruled out my 30-year-old paper driving licence! Fortunately, I found my ISA passbook, which also has my full name and no address. If I hadn't have found this, I suppose that I would have just had to "bite the bullet" and sent my passport by Recorded Delivery.

As advised above, all this rigmarole is a legal requirement to try and prevent terrorists and criminals "money laundering" through accounts in the UK. It is not something the banks, credit cards and building societies have come up with. I agree that it is a PITA, but I also consider that it is infinitely preferable to the alternative.

Unfortunately, poor old Sainsbury's Bank don't have a network of branches - for my Halifax One card, I could take all my documents into any branch.

However, they were in error in saying that they send them back by normal post - my original ones were sent back by Recorded Delivery.

Personally, I'd let the dust settle on this attempt, enjoy your holiday, and then apply again, this time with your three documents sorted out ready for use if/when required.

isofa

They should be able to verify using your passport number and/or electoral role, many many others do this nowadays, it shows they aren't keeping up with technology and slowing things down in my opinion.

Icesave (and many others) use this procedure and it works perfectly.

jem16

Sainsbury's do have electronic verification and it works perfectly too. I had no problem at all.

I would think the problem is that the OP has recently sold his/her flat.

isofa

Ahhh, right you are but then why didn't BM do the same? Most ask for your old address if you've moved within a couple of years and check the registers.

Couldn't a Sainsbury's store "officially" verify and take a copy and pass it to the banking dept?

Geoffo_M

I have just opened an account with BM and they were able to conduct all of their checks without me having to provide further documentation.

When I opened an account with Icesave, they required my driving licence number.

Geoff

Stephen_Leak

isofa wrote: »

Couldn't a Sainsbury's store "officially" verify and take a copy and pass it to the banking dept?

Different parts of the business and data protection ramifications, the number of stores could be argued to give them an unfair commercial advantage, loads of possible reasons.

I also note the message on the online banking site about no longer being able to pay into accounts in stores - this could be due to any of the above, or even that a sell-off could be imminent.

DocProc

Stephen Leak

You say

I also note the message on the online banking site about no longer being able to pay into accounts in stores

This doesn't appear to be the case according to the following Sainsbury's Bank web site:

http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/savings/sav_saveback_dsrv_skip.shtml

where it says

SaveBack in 4 easy steps

1. When paying for your shopping with a debit card ask to SaveBack at the checkout.
2. Tell the checkout operator how much you would like to transfer to your savings account.
3. Hand over your instant access saver cashcard along with your debit card.
4. Take the receipt confirming your deposit.

Agent_C

Thanks for all your responses. I was at my previous address for seven years, and am on the electoral roll at my new address, so it wouldn't have been too hard to verify these details.

I might be being a bit hard on Sainsbury's but I couldn't figure out how BM was able to confirm my details electronically but Sainsbury's couldn't.

I'm going to try Icesave; anyone had any experienec of their verification procedure?