Post Office CC - information demanded

equado

I applied for a PO cc as advised by Martin for use on hols in the US.

They wrote back asking for ID verification (passport etc) AND address verification (utilities or rates bill etc) AND bank details (current acct statements) AND employment details (payslips etc):mad:

I'm a bit reluctant to pass all this info on - what about identity theft if this lot goes missing.:eek:

I'v got good credit history and good income. They say its for 'money laundering and credit documentation requirements'.

Are they just putting me off appying?

p00pieb0tt0m

Does it give the option of showing these items at a post office and then you wouldn't have to send them anywhere? They definately have this option when opening a savings account but don't ask for quite as much stuff.

equado

Yes - you can take the originals and copies down to the PO to get them 'certified original sighted' but it still seems a lot of info needed. Maybe it's too long since I last got a credit card. (I've got a Barclaycard but just wanted the PO card for hols.)

equado

Oh yes - and I'd still have to post the lot off. What if it went missing in the post????

jonesMUFCforever

Why not just forget about it then?

greatsite_2

I had this with them and binned the application form, was not happy to send all this information off.

Potaroo

Don't think it's a great problem. I have just done exactly the same for travel to Oz.
What they are asking for is only 1 document type in each section. I used my old style driving licence and a council tax bill from last year. If anyone can get ID theft from that then good luck to them.

The driving licence was a photocopy which the local post office did a "sight verified" for free. I was surprised that the photocopy shows up a "FAKE" watermark across the bottom half of the photocopy.

The application was approved almost immediately but the only problem I have is that the credit limit is just £1K.

benf90

This can happen with any other credit card company out there so they're not putting you off applying. These things are usually done by the same teams that deal with fraudulent applications (I'm not saying yours is) so either something has made them ask for this info or it's just a random thing they do to X amount of applicants.

Are you on the electoral roll? This is usually one cause of them requesting proof of your identity and address.

The bank statements/wage slips will just be to confirm the salary you entered in the application is correct.

This type of thing can happen with any credit card company / bank so personally I wouldn't have any problem in giving them what they ask for. I suppose it's down to personal choice though, and whether or not you want the card.

What I would say though is if one credit card company has asked for proof of these details then it's not uncommon for another company to do the same if another application is made elsewhere, especially if a person isn't on the electoral roll.

If you are on the electoral roll and there's no other obvious reason for them to need to check these details then it could just be you've been picked at random.

exel1966

It's quite simple really. Your ID obviously cannot be electronically verified by the information you have supplied for whatever reason.

The majority of people can be can be verified, but not all, therefore the PO has a duty to you and itself to establish your credentials.

This kind of info is usually more standard when applying for savings accounts due to the current ML regulations.

If you don't want to supply the details I'd suggest you find another card.

Rafter

You could probably do a credit card application in branch at nationwide maybe?

As others have said, you are probably just unluckly to be selected at random for additional checks.

R.

itsnever2lateisit?

Had the same request when I applied for their card. Given that I have no previous relationship with them (Bank of Ireland) I personally was comfortable with the request. Last year I had to produce a passport and prove of address just to get a swisscom mobile SIM

I would be interested to find out if this is routine for every application, or just random