NatWest application decline - could it be an ID verification issue?

JimDreaming

Hello,

I have just had an application for a Natwest Reward current account rejected. I want to try and understand whether it will simply be due to failing the credit check, or whether my ID will have been rejected through the HooYu validation process.

I work in banking, and understand KYC checks and that banks can reject an application for whatever arbitrary reason they see fit, and have no obligation to let you know why beyond 'check your credit report'. However, I have no reason to believe that I would be rejected for a current account due to a failed credit check - I have never been rejected for a product before, and I have checked my credit file thoroughly and know that there is nothing untoward and I have an excellent score. I hold longstanding current accounts with both Lloyds and First Direct, have not even used an overdraft in years and I always pay my credit cards in full and on time. I did not request an overdraft on the account.
The reason I applied for the account was, I'll be honest, to claim the £200 switching bonus. I did open an additional 'burner' account with Lloyds in February to facilitate this, so I appreciate that could have had an effect, but it seems unlikely as that is the only application I have made for a financial product in the last 6 months.

However, the initial email I received said 'Your new NatWest account is reserved and almost ready to use. We just need you to confirm your identity before activating it', then another email saying 'Great News - Your Reward account will be up and running soon. We'll email you with more details about your account within 24-48 hours' and was prompting me to register for online banking. This suggests I passed a credit check. I then completed the HooYu ID verification process, but I found it difficult to use due to having to remove my glasses (I can't follow the instructions without them). However, once I had managed to complete it all seemed okay, but I immediately received an email that said 'Your account has not been opened - When you apply for a Reward account we need to carry out a few checks. Unfortunately, having made those checks we are unable to proceed with opening your account at this stage'. The fact this email was received at the point I submitted the ID makes me think this is the issue. I have grown a beard and aged somewhat since my driving license photo was taken, but I would hope their algorithms would be clever enough to see past that! And I would expect that they would usually have another way of verifying it if needed. Unfortunately, the process didn't seem to give me any chance to review what was submitted. 

I have appealed the decision, but I don't hold out any hope that it will be changed. I can live without the Natwest account, but my main concern is that should I ever want to switch banks for any reason then I will have an application rejected, or that I have been suspected of some sort of financial crime.

Has anybody had a similar situation, or managed to get a bank to change an automated decision like this? Could it be that they just failed to verify my ID and that I could simply present it in a branch?

cymruchris

Have you given them a call to ask them? Alternatively you could wander into a branch and ask one of their 'helpers' to look into it for you? If you think that you don't look like your ID due to having a beard since taking the ID pictures - they'll likely think you don't either even with their AI software. (I'd have thought there'd be a manual 'human' review of 'rejected' images though)

Otherwise, wait for the electronic appeal outcome and see what they say.

macy08

RBS rejected my application (after i had already applied for and opened a Natwest account a few days before) with an email giving the option to appeal. I did this, account was opened over the telephone, switch requested a few days later and received the £200.  I would definitely try appealing. 

Fingerbobs

My experience with opening a NatWest account was that they tell you if there is a problem with the HooYu identification. My liveness check and ID document were initially accepted, then the following day I received a text message to say they couldn't use the documents I had submitted and asked me to do HooYu again.

It transpired that HooYu are very fussy about names - if the name you enter on the application form doesn't exactly match the name on your ID document, including any middle names, it will fail, and there's then no way round it other than submitting another application.

I also had the "remove your glasses then follow the instructions on the screen" problem - especially as you have to hold your phone about 2 inches from your face to get the Liveness check to work. Hold it far enough away so that you can read the text, and it just says "move closer". Do they not realise how ludicrous this is?