Bank asking dodgy questions

Bee175

Hi.

A friend transferred a small amount of money to me recently. 

My bank put this transaction on review, which was surprising for such a small amount (£21-60).

The bank then proceeded to ask me for the senders full name and date of birth before completing the transaction. They already had his name, but I was pretty cautious about the idea of giving them my friends DOB.

Surely they are not allowed to ask me for someone else's personal details?

I refused to give them the details, and asked them to return the money to the sender, which they did right away.

I have since told them that I believe what they asked of me was borderline illegal, and they have now stopped talking to me 

What do others think about them asking me for someone else's personal details?

Gary.

Vortigern

Which bank is this?

Simple answer to both questions is "I don't know" - because I don't know all  my friends middle names and dates of birth.

fatbelly

We transfer small amounts like that all the time. When someone is leaving work, one of us sets up an account and the rest transfer small sums into it to buy a leaving gift. Never had a problem.

If it had happened though, I wouldn't  be telling the bank that they were acting illegally. 

You may want to think about starting a relationship with a new bank.

Bee175

Vortigern said:

Which bank is this?

Simple answer to both questions is "I don't know" - because I don't know all  my friends middle names and dates of birth.

I tried that, but it didn't help. They said they needed that DOB.

Bit reluctant to mention the bank name at the moment.

DullGreyGuy

Bee175 said:

The bank then proceeded to ask me for the senders full name and date of birth before completing the transaction. They already had his name, but I was pretty cautious about the idea of giving them my friends DOB.

Surely they are not allowed to ask me for someone else's personal details?

I refused to give them the details, and asked them to return the money to the sender, which they did right away.

I have since told them that I believe what they asked of me was borderline illegal, and they have now stopped talking to me 

What do others think about them asking me for someone else's personal details?

How would they have his name? They'd have the name on the account which may or may not be his name or could be an incomplete name.

They are perfectly entitled to ask you questions, banks are legally required to do sanctions and counter terrorism checks on transactions and the reality is there are a few thousand people on the UK Government published list (more if you also have to comply with US and EU sanctions) and there is going to be more than one person in the world with the same first and surname. The sanctions list inc middle names and DoB so having these to check makes it much easier to determine if your friend "Oleg" is one of the 70 or so that are subject to asset freeze or not. 

Bee175

fatbelly said:

We transfer small amounts like that all the time. When someone is leaving work, one of us sets up an account and the rest transfer small sums into it to buy a leaving gift. Never had a problem.

If it had happened though, I wouldn't  be telling the bank that they were acting illegally. 

You may want to think about starting a relationship with a new bank.

No trouble with transfers before this one. 

I've plenty of other accounts to use, and I immediately removed 95% of the cash in there to a different bank. 

Bee175

DullGreyGuy said:

Bee175 said:

The bank then proceeded to ask me for the senders full name and date of birth before completing the transaction. They already had his name, but I was pretty cautious about the idea of giving them my friends DOB.

Surely they are not allowed to ask me for someone else's personal details?

I refused to give them the details, and asked them to return the money to the sender, which they did right away.

I have since told them that I believe what they asked of me was borderline illegal, and they have now stopped talking to me 

What do others think about them asking me for someone else's personal details?

How would they have his name? They'd have the name on the account which may or may not be his name or could be an incomplete name.

They are perfectly entitled to ask you questions, banks are legally required to do sanctions and counter terrorism checks on transactions and the reality is there are a few thousand people on the UK Government published list (more if you also have to comply with US and EU sanctions) and there is going to be more than one person in the world with the same first and surname. The sanctions list inc middle names and DoB so having these to check makes it much easier to determine if your friend "Oleg" is one of the 70 or so that are subject to asset freeze or not. 

If they cannot trust the name given them by the sender's, they should question the sender's bank, not me. 

Same with DOB. They should check with the sender's bank.

They surely cannot expect me to know everyone's DOB and middle names? That would be totally unreasonable. How would they know I'm not lying? My bank would not have my friends DOB to compare too, unless the sender's bank are willing to share it with them. They're talking to the wrong guy by asking me.

"They're perfectly entitled to ask me questions".
I couldn't agree more, but no point asking me stuff I simply won't know. 

All they should be asking me about is whether I'm expecting the payment, or have requested the payment. Beyond that it's up to them to check out the sender and his bank, or at least that's how it has always worked in the past when other banks have put a payment on review.

AmityNeon

"I don't know, and neither should I. These are personal details, my own of which I would not divulge to my payees either."

The banks should perform their checks in their official capacities for AML purposes without relying on you to confirm the personal details of a third party to which you are not privy.

Bee175

AmityNeon said:

"I don't know, and neither should I. These are personal details, my own of which I would not divulge to my payees either."

The banks should perform their checks in their official capacities for AML purposes without relying on you to confirm the personal details of a third party to which you are not privy.

That's exactly how I see it.

I think they have made a mistake by asking me for these details. 

It almost feels as though my bank are asking me to "police" my friend.

AmityNeon

Bee175 said:

AmityNeon said:

"I don't know, and neither should I. These are personal details, my own of which I would not divulge to my payees either."

The banks should perform their checks in their official capacities for AML purposes without relying on you to confirm the personal details of a third party to which you are not privy.

That's exactly how I see it.

I think they have made a mistake by asking me for these details.

It almost feels as though my bank are asking me to "police" my friend.

Did your bank even consider it from the payer's perspective?

If I paid someone new and my payee then asked me for my middle name and date of birth claiming their bank requested those details, I would become highly suspicious thinking I was being phished and immediately cease all contact.

Bee175

AmityNeon said:

Bee175 said:

AmityNeon said:

"I don't know, and neither should I. These are personal details, my own of which I would not divulge to my payees either."

The banks should perform their checks in their official capacities for AML purposes without relying on you to confirm the personal details of a third party to which you are not privy.

That's exactly how I see it.

I think they have made a mistake by asking me for these details.

It almost feels as though my bank are asking me to "police" my friend.

Did your bank even consider it from the payer's perspective?

If I paid someone new and my payee then asked me for my middle name and date of birth claiming their bank requested those details, I would become highly suspicious thinking I was being phished and immediately cease all contact.

As the conversation was happening on secure bank chat on the app, I felt fairly sure I was actually talking to the bank.

I chatted with my friend who transferred the money, and he thought this was all wrong, as do I.