Zopa refusing to return my money unless I supplying a copy of my bank statement

Codger1947

Hi
I have some money invested in Zopa.  Recently the website would not let me access liquid funds as my bank account details had to be "validated".

I emailed the management and they said to re-enter my bank details (as though for a new account), which I did, but when the system demanded an upload of my bank statement, I queried this with the management.  I was told this was a "regulatory requirement".

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

I told them I wanted to withdraw funds and close my account, but they are still insisting a full bank statement.

What recourse do I have please?

Thank you.

colsten

You can either give them what they asked for and get your money, or you can raise a complaint which you may then have to escalate to the FOS. This could take a long time, and the FOS may well side with Zopa.

I have sympathy that it should be none of Zopa’s business what you do day to day on your current account. You don’t mention which bank you are using but a circumvention might be to open an account with Starling who let you generate your own statement. So you can just give them what you want them to see. 

PRAISETHESUN

No recourse against Zopa - if they need a non-redacted bank statement you won't get far by refusing to supply one since they can argue if you've tampered with the statement to redact it, what else have you changed? What I normally do in these situations is nominate one of my spare bank accounts that only really gets used for monthly rewards, and provide a statement for that account. That way there's no info getting out that I'd rather not share, and Zopa can meet their "regulatory requirement". If you don't have a spare account consider opening a second account with your main bank, or something quick and easy to open like Monzo or Starling.

Notepad_Phil

Codger1947 said:

What recourse do I have please?

It's very unlikely that you'll get anyone in authority to agree that you can supply an edited bank statement.

But if you have another bank account then you could try to use those bank details to pass their security. It wouldn't be the first time that I've seen security fail on one bank account but pass when a different bank account was used.

p.s. if you've not already got a second bank account then use this opportunity to open one - it may well come in handy in the future at some time.

eskbanker

Codger1947 said:

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

Did they actually say this in those terms or was that just supposition?  As dunstonh says, if the image was edited that may have disqualified it, so if that was the case then it may be acceptable to supply a semi-blurry (but readable) photo of a statement with the transaction detail obscured manually by a piece of paper on top, rather than a high-res PDF scan?

cymruchris

Codger1947 said:

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

Did they specifically tell you that's what they wanted to see - in absolute clarity of English - or did you surmise that because they wanted to see the whole unadulterated statement - that it must obviously be the reason why they want it?

csgohan4

ZOPA are a regulated institution. Giving edited bank statements are usually not acceptable. 

There must be a reason they wanted an unedited version, probably to confirm/pass ID check. Either way if you don't comply you will find it hard to get your money.  I am sure they don't care you spent x amount at y establishment. 

See it this way, someone wants to close the account and empty the account of significant amounts, it would be reasonable to get proof of the person asking. I am sure you wouldn't be happy finding your account is empty in the morning because of lax security.  

I tried applying for a halifax credit card the other day, but they required I go in branch to prove my ID and address with two different methods, Annoying, but likely a regulatory requirement, but nothing I am going to grind my axe for though. 

OP are you worried about big brother?

Codger1947

eskbanker said:

Codger1947 said:

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

Did they actually say this in those terms or was that just supposition?  As dunstonh says, if the image was edited that may have disqualified it, so if that was the case then it may be acceptable to supply a semi-blurry (but readable) photo of a statement with the transaction detail obscured manually by a piece of paper on top, rather than a high-res PDF scan?

They said it was a "regulatory requirement" to see the whole unedited document, but I cannot see why as they never asked for this when I signed up. What I sent them was just the top bit showing date, name, address, sort code, account number.  Details of debits and credits are none of their business.

Codger1947

Thanks everyone for your comments.  I will particularly bear in mind the idea of opening a different account if all else fails.  In the meantime I have written to the ombudsman and will await his response before proceeding further.

cymruchris

Codger1947 said:

eskbanker said:

Codger1947 said:

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

Did they actually say this in those terms or was that just supposition?  As dunstonh says, if the image was edited that may have disqualified it, so if that was the case then it may be acceptable to supply a semi-blurry (but readable) photo of a statement with the transaction detail obscured manually by a piece of paper on top, rather than a high-res PDF scan?

They said it was a "regulatory requirement" to see the whole unedited document, but I cannot see why as they never asked for this when I signed up. What I sent them was just the top bit showing date, name, address, sort code, account number.  Details of debits and credits are none of their business.

That's not what you said then - they didn't say they needed to see your incomings and outgoings - just an unadulterated statement. I would see it as simple a security measure to ensure that they are releasing funds to the right person. They aren't going to sit at their office desks over lunch and discuss why Mr or Mrs Codger1947 is spending £49 at Anne Summers or have a bit of a laugh that there's 34 pornhub transactions - it'll be a quick scan to ensure the document is original - and then filed to show due diligence before your funds are released. They couldn't care two monkeys what you spend your money on - they just want to make sure that the money that they are releasing is genuinely your money. 

Thrugelmir

Codger1947 said:

eskbanker said:

Codger1947 said:

I did supply a version with the transactions, balance etc. redacted, but they emailed me to say this was unacceptable also, i.e. they want to see my sources of income, expenditure patterns etc.!

Did they actually say this in those terms or was that just supposition?  As dunstonh says, if the image was edited that may have disqualified it, so if that was the case then it may be acceptable to supply a semi-blurry (but readable) photo of a statement with the transaction detail obscured manually by a piece of paper on top, rather than a high-res PDF scan?

They said it was a "regulatory requirement" to see the whole unedited document, but I cannot see why as they never asked for this when I signed up. What I sent them was just the top bit showing date, name, address, sort code, account number.  Details of debits and credits are none of their business.

The activity on the account isn't of any interest to them. Is your account any different to the hundreds of others that will be vetted during the closure process. Full of mundane day to day transactions. As for requirements these will change and be updated as the regulatory environment imposes them. These will have been notified to you previously.