screenshots of your online electronic statement etc. should be acceptable as evidence for banks

zaax

The Bankers Books Evidence Act 1879 ['BBEA'] was introduced to permit Banks to produce copies of Bank Statements in Court rather than the actual Bank Ledgers themselves. In a subsequent Court Case, from the late 1970s/early 1980s, the Judge ruled that the BBEA was introduced to permit the use of the latest technology at the time; and therefore the production of microfiche [!] records was merely an updated development.

eskbanker

Not sure what the significance of the history lesson was, but banks and other organisations will typically verify ID via electronic methods nowadays, such as the credit ratings agencies, so the issue of producing documents should be more the exception than the rule, but the trouble with softcopy documents is that they can be edited in a less noticeable way than their paper equivalents, although this isn't insurmountable for those wishing to devote time and money to resolving such issues.

However, in the absence of any defined and binding standards, organisations looking to verify ID are generally free to set their own rules, so if you don't like the approach a given bank takes, vote with your feet and go to one of their competitors....

Zanderman

Not quite sure what you're getting at here? 

Have you had trouble with using screenshots as evidence?*   

And if so did you manage to get round that by quoting an 1879 Act of Parliament?


*[Many people do, of course, as a screenshot is not a document, it's a digital picture of what is effectively an extract of a document, and being a digital picture is easily forged with basic imaging software, so is inherently completely unreliable, whereas your microfiche is a photo of an original and extremely difficult to forge]. 

IanManc

The Bankers Books Evidence Act 1879 governs the production of documents by banks and the use of those documents in court cases. The fact that the document represents what is in a bank's books has to be proved by evidence from a bank official, either by oral evidence in the case or by affidavit, and by evidence that the document in question has been compared with the bank's books and certified correct.

If you take a screenshot then that is not a document that the bank has produced - it is an image which you have made yourself. The BBEA 1879 has no application or relevance to that whatsoever. It doesn't apply to documents created by customers.

Screenshots of online electronic statements produced by customers should not be acceptable in evidence as they are too easily manipulated or falsified. The correct way to obtain access to such documents from a bank which are to be used in litigation is during the discovery stage in the case, via a court order from a judge if necessary.

zaax

Bank would not accept an emailed screenshot - had to go to Library to get it the screenshot printed!! The latest technology is online accounts for all utilities. Screenshots are more difficult to manipulate than paper prints, as a changed area may look the same colour but looking at the colours codes will detected the difference.