CIFAS DSAR - Undertook a search

nadnerbsregdor1993

Hi all, I recently opened an account with Algbra whos app and cashback offer I was interested in. I had carried out a CIFAS DSAR as I had tried to open an account with Monzo last month who mentioned to check with Cifas and CRAs in their generic response. Although from researching further it appears Monzo don't accept old customers who previously closed an account. Their support confirmed this with me.

The DSAR came back to say

"Algbra Group Limited undertook a search on 25 Sep 2023 using your details - please contact
Algbra Group Limited for further information".

Should I just ignore this or would it be worth contacting Algbra to ask why a search was carried out?

Thanks

born_again

Any financial institution will run a CIFAS check.
That is the whole point of CIFAS to allow them to check you have not been naughty in the past with other financial institutions.

nadnerbsregdor1993

Thanks for your reply. @born_again

MrFrugalFever

Ignore it. Unless you've got a registered CIFA's category 1-6 I believe (which would show on your credit reports also) then this is just a standard data check that lenders must do to ensure they are not exposing themselves to fraud.

nadnerbsregdor1993

qbadger said:

born_again said:

Any financial institution will run a CIFAS check.
That is the whole point of CIFAS to allow them to check you have not been naughty in the past with other financial institutions.

So does the DSAR result mean that there's nothing in the OP's CIFAS record that could be the cause of the Monzo account application decline?

I'm thinking that the Monzo rejection is due to me trying to open a new account after closing my old Monzo account back in 2019. No search appeared in the DSAR from Monzo so I would guess it was nothing to do with CIFAS data but to do with closing the old account previous, as I would've expected to see a search from Monzo on the DSAR if it was related to CIFAS data. 

From searching other forums I've seen other people having the same issue with Monzo and receiving the same generic unable to open an account message.

I'm guessing Algbra have done the search as they are relatively new and are being more cautious about who is opening accounts with them, as I recently switched to TSB for their switching bonus a few days before the search from Algebra and no search from TSB was made. The search was made when the account was opened rather than a later time.