First Direct Identity Checks

Sheriff23

One big drawback of switching to First Direct is that unlike most other banks they seem unable to complete electronic identity checks instead requiring copies of certified paper documents.  Seems strange for a purely online bank and in the current climate its not easy to find someone in a position to complete certification!

eskbanker

Are you just relaying your personal experience or do you have any objective evidence that FD have a higher proportion of manual ID checks than their competitors?

cricidmuslibale

To be fair to the OP their experience of First Direct re. identity checks very closely matches mine! If I hadn't had a longstanding HSBC current account, First Direct would have insisted on copies of certified paper documents from me in order to open a joint account with another immediate member of my family with the same surname as mine very recently! Furthermore I don't know whether this should be taken into account or not by banks in these circumstances but that family member already had a current account with FD which they'd held for several years.

Sheriff23

Yes I do have objective evidence in the sense that I am a regular bank account switcher/opener and this is the first and only time I have encountered this requirement.  Every other bank has been able to carry out a satisfactory electronic ID check.

born_again

Sheriff23 said:

Yes I do have objective evidence in the sense that I am a regular bank account switcher/opener and this is the first and only time I have encountered this requirement.  Every other bank has been able to carry out a satisfactory electronic ID check.

Banking is done differently at first direct. One of their slogans.

They are like going into a CAMRA pub after being in wetherspoons

eskbanker

eskbanker said:

Are you just relaying your personal experience or do you have any objective evidence that FD have a higher proportion of manual ID checks than their competitors?

Sheriff23 said:

Yes I do have objective evidence in the sense that I am a regular bank account switcher/opener and this is the first and only time I have encountered this requirement.  Every other bank has been able to carry out a satisfactory electronic ID check.

Well yes, if you cherry-pick the words 'objective evidence' and choose to use them out of context in a different sense from the original question then you can shoehorn your point in, but the fact apparently remains that you're extrapolating from a sample size of one if you're concluding that your experience is representative of typical new FD customers....

DesG

Sounds like a good way of dissuading serial switchers to me, but what do I know!

rallycurve

I had that same problem a few years ago. I didn't send them the documents as it was too much hassle. I tried again now for the switch incentive without much hope and this time they could identify me electronically

welshman10

eskbanker said:

eskbanker said:

Are you just relaying your personal experience or do you have any objective evidence that FD have a higher proportion of manual ID checks than their competitors?

Sheriff23 said:

Yes I do have objective evidence in the sense that I am a regular bank account switcher/opener and this is the first and only time I have encountered this requirement.  Every other bank has been able to carry out a satisfactory electronic ID check.

Well yes, if you cherry-pick the words 'objective evidence' and choose to use them out of context in a different sense from the original question then you can shoehorn your point in, but the fact apparently remains that you're extrapolating from a sample size of one if you're concluding that your experience is representative of typical new FD customers....

It’s on First Direct’s Security Procedures Document that they can only accept certified copies that need to be countersigned by someone from a list of professions 

https://www2.firstdirect.com/content/dam/fsdt/en/documents/pdf/security_procedures_and_FAQs.pdf

Not sure why why you seem to have it in for the OP and gone on the attack. I also wanted to open an account with First Direct too and the fact I can’t just do it online has prevented me from doing so.

eskbanker

welshman10 said:

eskbanker said:

eskbanker said:

Are you just relaying your personal experience or do you have any objective evidence that FD have a higher proportion of manual ID checks than their competitors?

Sheriff23 said:

Yes I do have objective evidence in the sense that I am a regular bank account switcher/opener and this is the first and only time I have encountered this requirement.  Every other bank has been able to carry out a satisfactory electronic ID check.

Well yes, if you cherry-pick the words 'objective evidence' and choose to use them out of context in a different sense from the original question then you can shoehorn your point in, but the fact apparently remains that you're extrapolating from a sample size of one if you're concluding that your experience is representative of typical new FD customers....

It’s on First Direct’s Security Procedures Document that they can only accept certified copies that need to be countersigned by someone from a list of professions 

https://www2.firstdirect.com/content/dam/fsdt/en/documents/pdf/security_procedures_and_FAQs.pdf

Not sure why why you seem to have it in for the OP and gone on the attack. I also wanted to open an account with First Direct too and the fact I can’t just do it online has prevented me from doing so.

I was simply asking OP for something that backed up their assertion that FD seek manual ID as a matter of course, but, unlike OP, you have provided something that suggests this to be the case, so it would seem that their policies have changed since I opened an account with them....

welshman10

Fair enough 👍