Nationwide Frozen Accounts!

bemmiegirl26

Hello,

I don’t know if you can help but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I received an email and because of the information being requested, I automatically thought this was a scam.  With wording like, We’re sorry but if you don’t give us this information, we won’t be able to continue to offer you banking services, flagged up warnings for me that it was bogus. I have held several accounts with Nationwide for over 20 years and never been asked for anything like this previously.  I logged onto my account and found an email to send to express my concern that this had been sent to me and advised that I would be happy to go into my local branch and discuss this if it was a genuine request.

Today I received an email to say that my accounts had been frozen!  I quickly phoned Nationwide and was told that my accounts had been frozen because I had not completed the form.  I explained that I was not comfortable completing the form as it was asking for information that I didn’t feel was necessary for my account (NI number, full employment history, list of my assets!) but was told that I had to complete it.  I asked if there was another way around this as my day-to-day account had been frozen which left me without funds and was told that the only way for this to happen was to complete the form!  I said that, in that case, I would like to close my accounts and bank elsewhere but was again told that they wouldn’t do this until I completed the form!  This is a form of blackmail and bullying and I am quite upset about the whole experience.

All of my accounts (I have 3) are in credit with no overdraft facility and are all quite healthy.  Where do I stand with this?

Hoping you can advise.

eskbanker

The obvious pragmatic thing to do is to complete the form, but if you choose to dig in, then they'll presumably argue that they're legitimately requesting information under the Know Your Customer regulations and the ombudsman would probably agree (many months later).

GTR_King

Banks only freeze/Suspend accounts when T&C’s have been broken or they suspect suspicious activity & need to do their check to make sure everything Is above board. 

Banks can ask for Assets NI number Employment details bank statements where funds come from etc, 

If you got nothing to hide then send NW all the info they need then switch banks if your still not happy with them

Most emails from your bank will have 
**** (Last 3 numbers of your account number) and your name/address 

Band7

They can ask you for your NI number. Just give it to them.

They can also ask you for your full employment history, and you can be as brief as possible.

They can ask you for a list of your assets. You can tell them that this is not information they can reasonable expect to get from you, and if they persist, raise a complaint. This could take a while to get resolved, and you might have to escalate them to the FOS.

Meanwhile, open another current account elsewhere and have your regular income paid into this other account.

HobgoblinBT

Sounds like Nationwide are catching up on due diligence that they should have been doing for some time.  I retired a few years ago from a career in banking and in the latter years my job was dominated by KYC updates.  

The reason banks want this information is to assist them to assess what is normal and what is not.  For example, employment and salary details, as well as assets can give an indication of monies likely to go through an account and determine whether transactions flagged for review warrant further investigation.  

Probably not what you want to hear, but if you don’t comply with what they are asking your account will probably be closed.  The cost of dealing with complaints, even if escalated to the Ombudsman is substantially less than potential fines if Nationwide don’t comply with the latest KYC requirements. A replacement bank account may well require the level of detail Nationwide are requesting.

EviUK

Nationwide did the same to an elderly relative with dementia in a care home. She retired 30 years ago and can't remember her employment details (naturally). It is really cruel to ask people with dementia to remember things. We too thought it was a scam and were shocked that they insisted on doing this. Like you, this is her only bank account, she isn't running a money laundering ring from her care home and has no idea what crypto currency is.

born_again

EviUK said:

Nationwide did the same to an elderly relative with dementia in a care home. She retired 30 years ago and can't remember her employment details (naturally). It is really cruel to ask people with dementia to remember things. We too thought it was a scam and were shocked that they insisted on doing this. Like you, this is her only bank account, she isn't running a money laundering ring from her care home and has no idea what crypto currency is.

Someone should have had POA on their account.

grumbler

born_again said:

EviUK said:

Nationwide did the same to an elderly relative with dementia in a care home. She retired 30 years ago and can't remember her employment details (naturally). It is really cruel to ask people with dementia to remember things. We too thought it was a scam and were shocked that they insisted on doing this. Like you, this is her only bank account, she isn't running a money laundering ring from her care home and has no idea what crypto currency is.

Someone should have had POA on their account.

And should have known their employment history more than 30 years ago?

friolento

EviUK said:

Nationwide did the same to an elderly relative with dementia in a care home. She retired 30 years ago and can't remember her employment details (naturally). It is really cruel to ask people with dementia to remember things. We too thought it was a scam and were shocked that they insisted on doing this. Like you, this is her only bank account, she isn't running a money laundering ring from her care home and has no idea what crypto currency is.

Were Nationwide informed that the lady suffers from dementia, and what did they advice should happen with her accounts?

Bigwheels1111

I class myself as a lazy bum, retired at 43 years old.
Carer for best friend 24/7 for over 10 years.
Will be fun when I need to fill these forms in.
I kind of don’t exist, Not on tenancy, council tax, gas, electricity, water bills etc.
Im not self employed or employed.
Im a ghost.

I never produce id in day to day life.
But here you are screwed, they have you by the meat and two veg.

[Deleted User]

Bigwheels1111 said:

I class myself as a lazy bum, retired at 43 years old.
Carer for best friend 24/7 for over 10 years.
Will be fun when I need to fill these forms in.
I kind of don’t exist, Not on tenancy, council tax, gas, electricity, water bills etc.
Im not self employed or employed.
Im a ghost.

I never produce id in day to day life.
But here you are screwed, they have you by the meat and two veg.

If you're getting support from the Government or on the electoral roll then you'll not be a ghost.
If you have a bank account or a sim only contract for a few pounds then you'll have a digital footprint