Bank Switching - any alternative ID for people who don't have a Passport or Driving Licence?

pridehappy

EarthBoy said:

pridehappy said:

Most people should have a birth certificate, you should be able to use this at most banks/building societies. You might also be able to use a utility bill or another bank statement as proof of identity.

Birth certificates are not proof of identity because anyone can easily obtain them from the register office.  Some banks will accept them for opening a child's account, by the parents, but no banks will accept them for opening adult accounts. 

Going in-branch to Skipton Building Society they accepted it as proof of identity when making transactions on the account.

ZeroSum

ih8stress said:

Thank you to everyone for their comments.  It looks like a passport is my only option - unless they would consider a senior bus pass, which I doubt, ha ha.

I'll probably struggle in providing utility bills in the future too, so my days of switching might be over

I've switched a few times & have never been asked for ID (think chase which was just a standard opening have asked for ID). It all just seems to be done electronically via electoral roll & credit agencies. So as long as you have those things, you should be fine.

PollyPainter

This morning I tried to switch to a "free £200" NatWest account ... however my application came to a sudden halt because I don't have either a passport or a driving licence: and additionally I was required to have either a smart phone or a webcam to transmit my mugshot through cyberspace.This sort of discrimination is SO frustrating!  

flaneurs_lobster

PollyPainter said:

This morning I tried to switch to a "free £200" NatWest account ... however my application came to a sudden halt because I don't have either a passport or a driving licence: and additionally I was required to have either a smart phone or a webcam to transmit my mugshot through cyberspace.This sort of discrimination is SO frustrating!  

Also it's a requirement of the "free £200" that you sign into your new account using their app, so it was never going to work.

Arnie7com

A senior bus pass might well do as will a Northern Ireland Electoral Card. They're looking for something official with a photo. Both of these (plus student cards) are acceptable ID for domestic flights.

Arnie7com

You can do the NatWest/RBS/Ulster switch by taking your ID into a branch as we had to in one case. However, I think one of the requirements was to log into the app too.

nottsphil

boingy said:

Zanderman said:

boingy said:

Lots of online accounts magically verify your ID electronically with a combination of the Electoral Register, other things and, um, magic (yeah, ok, I don't know how exactly they do it). However many of the app-based banks need you to take pics of your ID and that almost always means driving licence or passport. 

It shouldn't be this way but it may well be worth getting yourself a passport even if you have no plans to go abroad. It's not a very cheap option but that and a driving licence are the closest we have to universal ID in the UK.

I think a driving licence is cheaper (and wallet-sized)? If a non-driver a provisional one is fine for ID I believe, no need to actually know how to (or even want to) drive.

. Personally I wish we had some sort of national photo ID card but I realise that the civil liberties lobbyists will always object to such things...

We'll only object if they're compulsory.

This situation is the fault of the banks and building societies themselves because in the days when most people went into a branch to open an account, they could easily have taken a photo of you and incorporated into the credit/check guarantee card but no, too much trouble and expense, despite the massive potential fraud  savings.

Zanderman

nottsphil said:

boingy said:

Zanderman said:

boingy said:

Lots of online accounts magically verify your ID electronically with a combination of the Electoral Register, other things and, um, magic (yeah, ok, I don't know how exactly they do it). However many of the app-based banks need you to take pics of your ID and that almost always means driving licence or passport. 

It shouldn't be this way but it may well be worth getting yourself a passport even if you have no plans to go abroad. It's not a very cheap option but that and a driving licence are the closest we have to universal ID in the UK.

I think a driving licence is cheaper (and wallet-sized)? If a non-driver a provisional one is fine for ID I believe, no need to actually know how to (or even want to) drive.

. Personally I wish we had some sort of national photo ID card but I realise that the civil liberties lobbyists will always object to such things...

We'll only object if they're compulsory.

This situation is the fault of the banks and building societies themselves because in the days when most people went into a branch to open an account, they could easily have taken a photo of you and incorporated into the credit/check guarantee card but no, too much trouble and expense, despite the massive potential fraud  savings.

Interesting idea but not sure that would really work. Or that any of this is the banks' fault.

Yes, banks could add a photo of you to the debit card (and, at one time there was a trend for this, maybe 25 years ago I had my mugshot, albeit tiny, on an RBS card).  But that wouldn't be proof of ID for a third party (in the case of this thread a completely different bank) and would, in any case, be a massive pain for banks to upkeep - as the photos would become outdated and would need re-taking every few years. Not least as they'd be so small on the card.  You might end up with multiple versions of yourself on multiple cards from every provider. And could this system prove your address with that card too?  (yes I know passports don't have addresses - but that's another failure of the systems we use!)

Unless there was a central system for the photo (and ideally, address)...

Which is the whole problem - there isn't a central system except for passports and D licences.  That's not the fault of the banks, it's the fault of the state in not giving us the option (doesn't need to be compulsory, just need the option!) of an official ID card.  

ID is required for lots of things, not just banks, it's not the bank's job to supply ID cards.  A proper ID card system (instead of the, frankly clumsy, reliance on passports and D licences, which aren't set up for this purpose - except at ports and, er, driving) would solve the bank and many other ID problem scenarios.  

boingy

Until I joined this forum it is not something I had ever considered, because I've always had a driving licence and a passport and I can hopefully keep my driving licence for a couple of decades more before health issues take it away . But what then? I'm unlikely to be travelling by then so a passport becomes an expensive ID. Maybe I won't care by then and I'll have spent all the money! 

sheramber

nottsphil said:

boingy said:

Zanderman said:

boingy said:

Lots of online accounts magically verify your ID electronically with a combination of the Electoral Register, other things and, um, magic (yeah, ok, I don't know how exactly they do it). However many of the app-based banks need you to take pics of your ID and that almost always means driving licence or passport. 

It shouldn't be this way but it may well be worth getting yourself a passport even if you have no plans to go abroad. It's not a very cheap option but that and a driving licence are the closest we have to universal ID in the UK.

I think a driving licence is cheaper (and wallet-sized)? If a non-driver a provisional one is fine for ID I believe, no need to actually know how to (or even want to) drive.

. Personally I wish we had some sort of national photo ID card but I realise that the civil liberties lobbyists will always object to such things...

We'll only object if they're compulsory.

This situation is the fault of the banks and building societies themselves because in the days when most people went into a branch to open an account, they could easily have taken a photo of you and incorporated into the credit/check guarantee card but no, too much trouble and expense, despite the massive potential fraud  savings.

I opened my main account in 1968.  A photograph from then may not be suitable in 2023.

What about those who have never been near a bank branch but opened their account online.  I have two such accounts.