Virgin Money - ID requirements

soulsaver

davidwatts wrote: »

There's nothing like a timely and genuinely amusing response...

Looking forward to it...

schiff

I've opened 19 store RSs and Virgin have 19 photocopies of my passport in their archives. I am on friendly terms with the staff, one greets me by name. I'm seldom in a hurry and it all amuses me.

Off topic: yesterday I had over 20 redwings perched in my laburnum, for so long I thought they may roost there for the night. Driven by very cold weather it seems. A sudden event drove them all off. They are back again today, which is nice

davidwatts

soulsaver wrote: »

Looking forward to it...

I did consider putting a note in the diary and responding in just over 3 months' time, as per the post I was reacting to. Timing is everything!

Chordeiles

soulsaver wrote: »

Looking forward to it...

ok, I give up on trying to be amusing

Here's the serious bit.
We opened a joint "Double Take E-Saver" on the 4th December (online). Today, eight days later, the (undated) "welcome" letters arrived in the post. They are asking for no ID from me, but want the usual 2 items from my wife. This seems very strange as she's aready a Virgin customer, but I realise that I'm the one that comes up on the credit checks.

However, we are absolutely nowhere near a Virgin branch. Time was that there was a Northern Rock in our nearest market town, but that closed long ago rather than being rebranded Virgin. There is no way that we fancy venturing into a big city this side of Christmas just to show her ID at a Virgin Money branch, and putting her passport into their reply-paid envelope at the mercy of the Christmas mail doesn't appeal much either !

As it happens we did visit a Virgin Money branch exactly three weeks ago, where we showed my wife's ID (in connection with account closure for someone for whose estate she is an executor). We've referred them to those account numbers which should show a very recent record of her ID. If that doesn't work then we'll just let it close and put our money into Marcus.

FWIW Marcus and some other banks (e.g. RCI) are able to take a more relaxed approach to the money-laundering regulations by linking the account to your existing current account. All money in and out has to come through that account. In that way they are sneakily taking advantage of the checks that your current-account provider is supposed to have aready done, I think. Having said that, Marcus still wanted a scan of my wife's passport, but that's not so difficult to provide