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

dunstonh

They said it was a "regulatory requirement" to see the whole unedited document,

It is a regulatory requirement to ensure the money goes to the right person.  It is up to the business's own compliance department as to what they consider appropriate to remain compliant with the regulations.        Arguing over wether they should have used the word "regulatory" or not isn't going to get you anywhere.

n the meantime I have written to the ombudsman and will await his response before proceeding further.

That is a waste of time and energy for all concerned.  Plus, the FOS cannot look at your complaint until you have made one to the company first and had their response or waited at least 8 weeks.   The FOS will just send an email to the company telling them what they believe you have said and ask them to handle it.

ivormonee

It does not appear that an alternative account can be used. They want an unadulterated statement of the account linked to the Zopa account; so there is no choice of account.

The income and expenditure "patterns" and source of income may not actually be what is being asked for; there may be a simple question of source of wealth for amounts considered large but no more detail on this would be asked for as far as I know.

You can't, as already stated, go to the FO as you have to exhaust Zopa's complaints process or wait eight weeks from the date of raising a complaint, which ever comes sooner.

A statement with transactions blanked out but which show all the other info. I know have been accepted by other insitutions, so I am not sure if Zopa are more stringent on this but the OP's transactions are not relevant to the regulatory AML and KYC regulations.

colsten

ivormonee said:

It does not appear that an alternative account can be used. They want an unadulterated statement of the account linked to the Zopa account; so there is no choice of account.

Surely that account can be changed as people can change their current accounts as they see fit. Thereby a choice which current account to use exists.

ctdctd

Zopa clearly say they want to see an bank account statement with transactions.

https://www.zopa.com/help/article/why-do-you-need-to-validate-my-bank-details

Just give them what they want, withdraw your cash and move on!

ivormonee

ctdctd said:

Zopa clearly say they want to see an bank account statement with transactions.

https://www.zopa.com/help/article/why-do-you-need-to-validate-my-bank-details

Just give them what they want, withdraw your cash and move on!

It does, but it doesn't say they need to be visible. So, if all the dates of transactions are present, with the transaction details blanked out. then that too should be acceptable to them. How one spends their money is not any of their business.

Sorcerer2018

Perhaps give them the information, get your money out, then contact the GDPR (information commissioner) regulator, and let them know ZOPA are storing information about you, that they shouldn't have.

dunstonh

Sorcerer2018 said:

Perhaps give them the information, get your money out, then contact the GDPR (information commissioner) regulator, and let them know ZOPA are storing information about you, that they shouldn't have.

Virtually every investment platform works this way.   Bank statements are also a recognised and accepted document for anti-money laundering checks.  So, ZOPA, along with all the others, are allowed to store information that they can have.

It does, but it doesn't say they need to be visible. So, if all the dates of transactions are present, with the transaction details blanked out. then that too should be acceptable to them. How one spends their money is not any of their business.

They don't care about the transactions.  Including dates and blanking out payees is irrelevant.  All they want is an official document that shows the sort code, account number, account name and address.    Most platforms will accept other methods.  Such as a void cheque or a letter from the bank confirming the details.  Maybe ask ZOPA if they will do that.

Adyinvestment

OP really does not want anybody seeing the transactions...perhaps in future you should have a separate account for all the naughty transactions you don't want anyone to see 

Codger1947

The idea that they need to see an unredacted bank statement to "validate" the account is laughable. They have been quite happy to accept money via debit card, and have paid out money directly to my bank account according to the details I have given them - sort code, a/c number, name.  Everyone I have mentioned this to has said "no way" or "this sounds like a scam". 
I think the way I have been treated is insulting, and I would not recommend Zopa to anyone because of this.
If there really is a regulatory requirement to see investors' bank statements, then I suspect these businesses are doomed.

cymruchris

Codger1947 said:

The idea that they need to see an unredacted bank statement to "validate" the account is laughable. They have been quite happy to accept money via debit card, and have paid out money directly to my bank account according to the details I have given them - sort code, a/c number, name.  Everyone I have mentioned this to has said "no way" or "this sounds like a scam". 
I think the way I have been treated is insulting, and I would not recommend Zopa to anyone because of this.
If there really is a regulatory requirement to see investors' bank statements, then I suspect these businesses are doomed.

Paying money in and taking money out are two different things though. When it's paid in, they are keeping it safe. When they are being asked to give the money back - they are just ensuring that the person asking for the funds is the person that is supposed to be getting them, and asking for a non-photoshopped straight bank statement is one way to do that. Even though we are all saying it over and over again that nobody there will care what you spend your money on, you seem to be fixated on hiding your transactions from them, even though they have ABSOLUTELY no interest in how or where you spend your money. 

Nobody you have mentioned it to here has said 'no way' or 'this sounds like a scam' - and that includes people that I believe have significant industry experience. If you feel you have been insulted, then write a letter of complaint, but if they handed over the money to someone willy-nilly after looking at a photoshopped bank statement, and then you claimed that all your money had gone - and then they said 'well you did send us your photoshopped statement' - you'd be the first to complain then

I don't think a business that takes pertinent security measures will be doomed. They might be doomed for other reasons - but not for this one. 

You've come to the forum, asked for some advice (which was definitely the right thing to do - as there's a helpful bunch here), and of course now it's up to you what you might do with the views shared, but if you're not hearing the answers you'd like to hear, it might be time to involve your local solicitor, who will no doubt charge an arm and a leg, and will detract from any money that you've made from your investment,, adding additional stress, prolonging the time it takes to get your money back, when you could simply send them what they're asking for, and probably get the funds into your account within a couple of days, and everything would be settled and done. I know which route I'd choose - but appreciate you might not want to do that for whatever personal reasons you have.