Verifying a bank

sharonb66

I’m planning to reinvest savings to s new account and my current bank is telling me I must be certain the new bank is genuine. I’ve made a small test deposit (and can see it in the App), run some checks on sortcodes.co.uk, fscs.org.uk, phoned the bank to confirm the sort code and account number they have on record for me and asked for a voice recording of the call. Is there anything else that I can / should do? Thanks

Malchester

I think you have done than most people do!!! Certainly I don't go that far but I do not put savings into a bank / building society unless I know they are genuine. I tend to stick with those I have heard of (which is most of them)

masonic

The standard way is to use the Financial Services Register: https://register.fca.org.uk/s/
Scroll down and use the search form to find the bank in question, check that they have the correct regulatory permissions (for banking/savings this should be 'Banking - Accepting Deposits'). You can then cross-check the firm details to ensure you have the correct website and contact details.

pramsay13

All of those steps are far more than I would have attempted for a new savings account.

Are you sure your bank wasn't just checking you weren't being coerced into making a transfer to a fraudulent third party, rather than actually wanting you to verify the validity of the bank?

Eyeful

1. Check your money is protected by the FSCS (up to) £85000.
Type the name of the bank or building society into the box on the " check your money is safe" 
Every bank or building society will have whats called a FRN. You could type their FRN into the box. 
    https://www.fscs.org.uk/check-your-money-is-protected/

2. Check that the Financial Company you are dealing with is on the FCA register. Example if the bank is HSBC bank. Type HSBC into the box.
https://register.fca.org.uk/s/

sharonb66

pramsay13 said:

All of those steps are far more than I would have attempted for a new savings account.

Are you sure your bank wasn't just checking you weren't being coerced into making a transfer to a fraudulent third party, rather than actually wanting you to verify the validity of the bank?

I was asked about being coerced but also told I needed to verify the bank. Thanks

RG2015

Which bank is it?

Users here may be able to give you some specific information on their experience of the bank.

sharonb66

It’s Atom bank. Thanks.

refluxer

Atom are a reputable bank and, provided you downloaded the official app from a reliable source such as the Google Play store or Apple Store, you should be fine.

You're right to be cautious though with any new bank and small test payments are always a sensible precaution.

Just for info, my main bank (Barclays) have blocked payments to my Atom accounts in the past (even when I've authorised previous payments to the same accounts) so don't be surprised if you want to transfer larger sums and they get held up. It's just a consequence of many banks' increasing anti-fraud measures.

Bigwheels1111

I hope Atom are ok as in September they owe me 50k plus.
Every new bank Ive set up accounts with have had this issue, Chase, Atom, Tandem, Ford Money and Raisin.