Bank Fraud Check and privacy

michaels

I made some payments today. Their nature flagged a fraud check on my account and a call to see if I want to release the funds.

I was happy that they were valid but not impressed that the bank tried to insist I tell them what the transactions were for. There is no reason for me not to tell them - except that it is none of their business.

AS long as I am willing to accept that I take any risk around the transactions and they are not fraudulent/money laundering then isn't it my right not to have to tell the bank what I am spending money on?

[Deleted User]

It's your right not to tell them, but it's also their right to close your account if they're unhappy with the answers.

Ed-1

michaels wrote: »

I made some payments today. Their nature flagged a fraud check on my account and a call to see if I want to release the funds.

I was happy that they were valid but not impressed that the bank tried to insist I tell them what the transactions were for. There is no reason for me not to tell them - except that it is none of their business.

AS long as I am willing to accept that I take any risk around the transactions and they are not fraudulent/money laundering then isn't it my right not to have to tell the bank what I am spending money on?

The problem is the bank may want to know what the transactions are for to give them confidence that it is not money laundering or you are not using the account for dubious purposes. If they are happy with the nature of the transactions they proceed. They share risk with you.

born_again

The fact you do not want to tell them will flag up alarm.

What are you so scared off? As a customer you are not judged what they are for.

There are many reasons that questions are asked about payments. Many revolve around protection of customers.
Saved many a person sending money to one of the love scams, paying a person that has turned up saying the roof is falling off etc.

Nebulous2

I posted something similar about the Santander app and got very little support.

The Santander app now asks everytime I make a faster payment, what the purpose is. You choose from a picklist- things like - tranferring money to own account.

While there is no reason for them not to know - generally it is shuffling money to meet funding criteria, it annoys me everytime. I'm sure a lot of my data is out there anyway. Banks are amateurs in that regard compared with google and facebook, but the annoyance of having extra clicks to enter it for every transaction, and the blatant intrusion still annoys me.

Simby

I think if it’s large sums of money to another persons account the bank are only trying to protect you and them .. e.g 10k for a car to someone’s account.

But if I the other hand it’s council tax or to a well known retailer or some other easily recognisable institution I would not see them needing to ask.

worried_jim

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Banks are amateurs in that regard compared with google and facebook, but the annoyance of having extra clicks to enter it for every transaction, and the blatant intrusion still annoys me.

Yes I am glad my bank is an amateur, I can live with out Russian bots and fake news in my account quite easily.

Linton

The law requires banks to carry out money laundering/fraud checks. They can be fined if those checks are deemed inadequate.

See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-your-responsibilities

Ergates

Nebulous2 wrote: »

the annoyance of having extra clicks to enter it for every transaction, and the blatant intrusion still annoys me.

Blame the government for putting the rules in place.

Or, perhaps more appropriately, blame the criminals who make the rules necessary.

michaels

I can see it is a tricky question, especially now the banks are more and more being made liable for people who don't bother to do their own due diligence before sending money to random recipients.

However it doesn't half feel like an invasion of privacy. I had a couple of £50 transactions, nothing secret I just don't like having to tell a stranger what I spend my money on and I wouldn't dare lying as no doubt their voice stress detection software would pick that up in an instant.

Too much nanny state in this country imho but I know that is an old fashioned opinion.

Linton

michaels wrote: »

I can see it is a tricky question, especially now the banks are more and more being made liable for people who don't bother to do their own due diligence before sending money to random recipients.

However it doesn't half feel like an invasion of privacy. I had a couple of £50 transactions, nothing secret I just don't like having to tell a stranger what I spend my money on and I wouldn't dare lying as no doubt their voice stress detection software would pick that up in an instant.

Too much nanny state in this country imho but I know that is an old fashioned opinion.

Its nothing to do with nanny state, rather crime detection and prevention. I think you will find similar checks are being implemented across the world. Also, to make a legal point, as soon as you put the money into the bank it is no longer yours but rather the bank's. If you dont want to follow their rules on how you can use it you can always keep cash under your bed and implement your own crime prevention measures.