letter from Santander asking for a lots of information

[Deleted User]

hermante said:

Ronak_Dave said:

Anyone had any progress on the above? I received the same letter asking for information. Please let us know what step-anyone took to resolve this.

Provide the information requested. Or initiate a current account switch ASAP which will close the account automatically and hope for the best....

You can:
1) Provide the information requested to the best of your ability.
2) Refuse to do so and expect your accounts to be closed. 

Basically, they are risk averse and want to cover their backs should you actually be a fraudster, tax evader or shady individual.

Thrugelmir

Ronak_Dave said:

aralexiao said:

I received a letter from Santander yesterday, it says it want to keep all their information up to date and want me to provided. The form attached called customer information details, they asked for the following:

1. two forms of ID
2. employment details with payslips
3. rental information with rental agreement to support it
3. property sales details with sales contract or title of deeds
4. business details with accountant letter or company accounts
5. savings
6. inheritance
7. inventment
etc etc

not just the information they want, but also you have to send evidence to support you.

this is a lot of information to ask. has anyone received the same letter, could you please share your story.

Many thanks

Hi, can you please share an update on the above issue? How you solve that. I received the same letter today. Any help appreciated. 

What account activity triggered the letter ? 

philonthehill

I did not receive a letter but here is my story. I was so annoyed about it that I have written the following letter to the financial ombudsman and my local MP!

  I telephoned Santander in reply to a message that was left on my answer phone. 

A Santander employee started asking very intrusive questions. I was convinced it was a scam and ended the conversation. I then looked on several web sites where many others had thought the same. I contacted Santander on their official customer phone line the next day to find that it was not a scam but a getting to know your customer incentive. Also it was needed by the financial authority.

I am very perplexed, I have banked with them for decades, during this time they have seen my passport, my national insurance number, home utility bills etc…. So they certainly know who I am and where I live. 

The questions, which they wanted answered immediately, were extremely invasive. How anyone could have answered them I do not know. 

For example … what was the date you bought your house, how much did you pay for it, how much deposit did you put down , how much is it worth now? 

In my case I purchased my home in 1987…36 years ago and I was expected to have remembered all the details! I am not an estate agent so I have no idea about it’s worth now. 

I own another house, same questions, however my late husband dealt with that so I had no idea but I was still pressed to give answers otherwise I was informed that my accounts could be blocked. I regard that as intimidation of an elderly person. 

Next came …. How much money do I have in savings … I gave a ball park figure but why did I need to do that? 

They then wanted to know if I had any shares or bonds and how much are they worth. 

Followed by how much pension do I receive. They wanted to know where I worked, what I did and also my final salary. I retired in September 2012, so maybe God knows the answer but as a mere mortal I don’t remember! Do I have other pensions and how much and so on. Let me remind you that I was not written to or told what information was needed but I was expected to answer them all off the top of my head.  

I answered as best I could under the circumstances. I suffer from hypertension so you can imagine how I felt after the whole interrogation. 

I felt sorry for the lady asking the questions but I asked her to raise a complaint, this she did, as I received a phone call yesterday (Sunday) morning. Hence my BP is raised once more! 

When I asked why this was necessary his reply was, it is required by the financial authority. I have several accounts in various banks and building societies but no other bank has put me through over an hour of constant, impossible to answer questions with the threat of blocked accounts if I don’t comply with their demands. 

Unfortunately the young man made the mistake of saying that we need to know who you are. I drew his attention to how many years I have banked with them and their knowledge of my passport, NI number, utility bills and ended the conversation. 

My question to you is… are they allowed to do this? If so has any consideration been given to the elderly or less capable people. I am 72 years old and a widow. Fortunately I am still able to conduct my own business affairs and am considered intelligent. However this encounter left me shaken, upset and threatened. 

I would very much appreciate your thoughts on this and if possible see that Santander change their approach to one that is less intrusive, threatening and impossible to comply with. 

WillPS

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

HobgoblinBT

Interesting thread.  

I retired in 2019 following 39 years in banking, the latter 3 in Corporate Banking, dealing with amongst other things updates in KYC.  The FCA require banks to know their customers.  It is up to the banks to determine what this means in terms of the data that they hold, so the questions asked when updating customer details may well vary from bank to bank. The questions may well appear intrusive, but the bank needs to be able to demonstrate that they know that payments into and out of the account are in keeping with what is normal/expected for the account.   If you opened an account 30 years ago, unless the data has been updated, probably via an application to open another account or a lending product,  then the data held by the bank will likely be the same as when the account opened, so if you worked for Mc Donald’s earning £5000 Pa 30 years ago and the data has not been updated, that is what the banks records show and doesn’t explain your £2000 monthly payment from xyz ltd

My advice to anyone asked such questions is carry out due diligence to make sure that the request is really from your bank, and then answer the questions honestly. 

When analysing the answers the bank will think, does this explain any recent transactions. So if you have recently retired and received £X,000s and a monthly pension of £X, then tell them, same for large transactions or funds/assets held elsewhere that lead to any bank transactions eg sales or purchases or income/dividends etc.

If you decide for whatever reason to not answer the bank’s questions be prepared for the account to be frozen and then closed, as a relatively small complaint is better for the bank than a multi million pound fine for failure to comply with kyc regulatory requirements.

Shakin_Steve

WillPS said:

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

Yes, of course, perfectly acceptable behaviour. The banks have every right to browbeat and threaten an elderly lady when ringing out of the blue. The ombudsman will no doubt find that the bank's behaviour was perfectly reasonable, given that she perfectly fits the profile of a drug dealing money launderer.

friolento

Shakin_Steve said:

WillPS said:

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

Yes, of course, perfectly acceptable behaviour. The banks have every right to browbeat and threaten an elderly lady when ringing out of the blue. The ombudsman will no doubt find that the bank's behaviour was perfectly reasonable, given that she perfectly fits the profile of a drug dealing money launderer.

Banks do not ring out of the blue to do a KYC. There will have been a written communication beorehand.

Customers have a choice, they do not have to answer the questions. They can also raise a complaint if they feel the questions are too intrusive, and they can move their accounts elsewhere if they remain unhappy with how they are being treated.

WillPS

Shakin_Steve said:

WillPS said:

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

Yes, of course, perfectly acceptable behaviour. The banks have every right to browbeat and threaten an elderly lady when ringing out of the blue. The ombudsman will no doubt find that the bank's behaviour was perfectly reasonable, given that she perfectly fits the profile of a drug dealing money launderer.

So you think elderly ladies should be treated differently to other customers, I take it?

Shakin_Steve

WillPS said:

Shakin_Steve said:

WillPS said:

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

Yes, of course, perfectly acceptable behaviour. The banks have every right to browbeat and threaten an elderly lady when ringing out of the blue. The ombudsman will no doubt find that the bank's behaviour was perfectly reasonable, given that she perfectly fits the profile of a drug dealing money launderer.

So you think elderly ladies should be treated differently to other customers, I take it?

I do, actually, yes.

GeoffTF

Shakin_Steve said:

WillPS said:

Shakin_Steve said:

WillPS said:

They're a bank. If they deem you to be a risk then they can simply close your accounts. Rather than doing that they're putting a process in to place with the intention of allowing you to clarify/derisk yourself.

It's extremely arduous but you as a customer have an option of simply moving your banking elsewhere if you don't like it.

Yes, of course, perfectly acceptable behaviour. The banks have every right to browbeat and threaten an elderly lady when ringing out of the blue. The ombudsman will no doubt find that the bank's behaviour was perfectly reasonable, given that she perfectly fits the profile of a drug dealing money launderer.

So you think elderly ladies should be treated differently to other customers, I take it?

I do, actually, yes.

There are 80 year olds who are as bright as a button and have excellent records. There are youngsters who need special help and consideration. The questions asked do need to be relevant to context, however. Selftrade notoriously demanded whole life accounting to demonstrate where our money had come from, and few if any of us had detailed financial records going back 50 years or more.