The Lemon Fool

My wife and I have finally decided to switch our joint and sole current accounts to another bank. In an email confirming the date/time of the consultation to arrange the switch we've have of course been asked by our new bank for full information regarding our finances, including all ISAs. We both have stocks and shares ISAs with two stockbrokers, and cash ISAs elsewhere. Is the new bank likely to ask for not just the names of these firms (and cash ISA providers) and [probably] sums involved, but also details such as account numbers?

Apologies for an elementary question, but being elderly and still shielding I'd really appreciate some guidance as to how much detailed how much detailed info I should expect to have to produce.

TIA for any replies.
Jon

It's a long time since I have opened a personal bank account
but what you have been asked to do sounds a bit OTT
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/curren ... k-account/

See the section on opening an account

If you don't mind which bank is asking for this?

pje16 wrote:It's a long time since I have opened a personal bank account but what you have been asked to do sounds a bit OTT

I agree, and would not normally consider my ISA holdings to be any business of a bank I want to hold a current account with.

The bank is asking for this much information about your finances in order to meet "know your customer" legal requirements. And in theory that makes sense to ensure that they offer you "appropriate" financial products and services.

But that said, if all you want is a current account or credit card, then such information is overkill. And there is a danger that if they know you are worth a lot, then they will hound you to buy their expensive but useless "wealth management services".

So my inclination would be to duck questions about ISAs and related assets. There might be an exception where the criterion for holding a particular kind of account is a minimum net worth, such as some high-end private banking accounts.

Jonetc15 wrote:we've have of course been asked by our new bank for full information regarding our finances, including all ISAs.

I agree with the other poster. There's no "of course" about asking for this information, it's irrelevant for opening something as simple as a current account.

I suspect they're trawling for opportunities to sell you stuff.

Scott.

I'm with Scott's take on this - its a way to find out how much you've got stashed away that they can try and get hold of.

If you didn't tell them what ISAs you have, how could they find out anyway?

Jonetc15 wrote:My wife and I have finally decided to switch our joint and sole current accounts to another bank. In an email confirming the date/time of the consultation to arrange the switch

Consultation? They're kidding you surely?

I've opened new current accounts with two of the 'challenger' banks recently without even needing to get out of bed (literally), let alone traipsing into a branch for a 'consultation'.

Both done using my phone and nothing else. The first took (with Starling Bank) took about half an hour and involved some personal data along with me sending them a video of myself saying something trivial. The second (with Monzo) took barely ten minutes as the process mirrored that of Starling so I was familiar with the requirements.

All my DDs, standing orders etc transferred across seamlessly and perfectly, a complete contrast to the previous time I changed banks 30 years ago, an utter fiasco!

Edit to add:
And neither of them had the impertinence to demand info about my assets, savings or investments.

Mike4 wrote:All my DDs, standing orders etc transferred across seamlessly and peerfectly, a complete contrast to the previous time I changed banks 30 years ago, an utter fiasco!

I'm with First Direct (since 1989) and have never had to go an see them to open the account or anything else (they don't have branches so you can't)
and they have ALWAYS been very efficient

pje16 wrote:

Mike4 wrote:All my DDs, standing orders etc transferred across seamlessly and peerfectly, a complete contrast to the previous time I changed banks 30 years ago, an utter fiasco!

I'm with First Direct (since 1989) and have never had to go an see them to open the account or anything else (they don't have branches so you can't)
and they have ALWAYS been very efficient

Interestingly at the 30 year previous change, I applied to FD for an account. I was amazed they turned me down! I guess it was because back in them days, "self-employed" was often regarded as a euphemism for unemployed.

Yes I vaguely recall that
Self-employed was seen as being risky
Oh how times change

Lootman wrote:

pje16 wrote:It's a long time since I have opened a personal bank account but what you have been asked to do sounds a bit OTT

I agree, and would not normally consider my ISA holdings to be any business of a bank I want to hold a current account with.

The bank is asking for this much information about your finances in order to meet "know your customer" legal requirements. And in theory that makes sense to ensure that they offer you "appropriate" financial products and services.

But that said, if all you want is a current account or credit card, then such information is overkill. And there is a danger that if they know you are worth a lot, then they will hound you to buy their expensive but useless "wealth management services".

So my inclination would be to duck questions about ISAs and related assets. There might be an exception where the criterion for holding a particular kind of account is a minimum net worth, such as some high-end private banking accounts.

Thank you all very much indeed for your comments. Forgive me if I'm coy about the name of the new bank... I thought that the info required was OTT, and I'm really grateful to have this confirmed. The new bank is far more convenient and the staff very helpful. I've been sent what I see as a standard/pro forma email. I just needed a bit of encouragement from this board, and I'm really grateful for the very swift series of replies.

ATB
Jon

Jonetc15 wrote: In an email confirming the date/time of the consultation to arrange the switch we've have of course been asked by our new bank for full information regarding our finances...

There's no "of course" about that. I agree with previous posters that "the consultation" along with the "full information regarding our finance" is simply a fishing expedition so they can try to sell you other services.

All they need for you to open a current account is your personal info (name, address, DoB, nationality and the like) and ID & address verification, which, if you're on the electoral register at your current address and have been for more than three years, they can do electronically, although may require you to turn up at a branch with your passport etc so that the teller can compare you and the mugshot, or, as others have said, some online equivalent exercise. (As it's a current a/c they'll also do a credit check).

Personally, at the mention of a "consultation" I'd just cancel the application and take my business elsewhere ... certainly so if it's a big and old high street bank. If it's a smaller and newer bank I might reply and tell them that that's all over the top and all they need is the info and verification above, if they want my custom ... and of course be prepared to walk if they insist.

I would just offer the information relevant to their providing a current account service. The ‘know your client’ excuse is often used by firms who ‘gold plate’ it completely unnecessarily. I would tell them that you do not wish to discuss your finances with them but simply to have a current account and you will only discuss information relevant to that (eg expected monthly credits and payments).

Reminds me of when I was opening a cash ISA with Lloyds many years ago (when there was a point to cash ISAs).

They had insisted that the account could only be opened in person and not online, over the phone, or by post, presumably so they could try to sell me other products.

Then they started to ask intrusive questions which were not relevant to the cash ISA, insisting that I needed to provide answers.

They got most huffy when I pointed out that they were the ones who were borrowing money from me, and should I ask similar questions in return to ensure they were ‘good for the money’.

AF62 wrote:They got most huffy when I pointed out that they were the ones who were borrowing money from me, and should I ask similar questions in return to ensure they were ‘good for the money’.

That's the spirit.
We need more of this when being asked things that aren't relevant

I hope the year concerned wasn't 2008

AF62 wrote:Reminds me of when I was opening a cash ISA with Lloyds many years ago (when there was a point to cash ISAs).

They had insisted that the account could only be opened in person and not online, over the phone, or by post, presumably so they could try to sell me other products.

Then they started to ask intrusive questions which were not relevant to the cash ISA, insisting that I needed to provide answers.

They got most huffy when I pointed out that they were the ones who were borrowing money from me, and should I ask similar questions in return to ensure they were ‘good for the money’.

Actually, I think that your questions were not only valid, but very necessary.

Do an internet search for banks-corruption-court-complaints-money laundering etc and you soon realise that the golden rule is KYB (Know your bank) and AML as applied to banks!!

Unless you intend to move investments to your new bank, your ISAs, offshore accounts etc are no business of theirs and you can simply claim 'Privacy laws' when telling them where to go.

Re. Huffy, well, I had the same reaction once when moving my savings to another bank and the sweet lady said how sad she was that I was doing this. I agreed with her and asked if they could match the better rate? No? So I said how sad I was that they do not value their customers.

Steve

PS There are too many banks. They need you more than you need them.

Would you like some insurance to go with that, sir?

pje16 wrote:I'm with First Direct (since 1989) and have never had to go an see them to open the account or anything else (they don't have branches so you can't)
and they have ALWAYS been very efficient

1989? I can easily beat that! I had a National Giro account from... sometime in the late 1960s I guess.

Mrs. Thatcher took it away from me and gave it to A&L building Soc. (You know the rest...)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girobank

XFool wrote:

pje16 wrote:I'm with First Direct (since 1989) and have never had to go an see them to open the account or anything else (they don't have branches so you can't)
and they have ALWAYS been very efficient

1989? I can easily beat that! I had a National Giro account from... sometime in the late 1960s I guess.

Mrs. Thatcher took it away from me and gave it to A&L building Soc. (You know the rest...)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girobank

I'm still with First Direct who have stood the test of time
and have not been forced to change through takeovers etc

pje16 wrote:I'm still with First Direct who have stood the test of time

FD didn’t stand up to the test of the pandemic, with call answering times changing from the ‘answer by a person in three rings’ that they achieved for the first 30 years of their experience, to ‘hopefully getting to speak to someone after half an hour of hold music’.

And that might have been understandable in the first six months of the pandemic but it was still the case a year later.

AF62 wrote:Reminds me of when I was opening a cash ISA with Lloyds many years ago (when there was a point to cash ISAs).

They had insisted that the account could only be opened in person and not online, over the phone, or by post, presumably so they could try to sell me other products.

Then they started to ask intrusive questions which were not relevant to the cash ISA, insisting that I needed to provide answers.

They got most huffy when I pointed out that they were the ones who were borrowing money from me, and should I ask similar questions in return to ensure they were ‘good for the money’.

Reminds me of opening a cash ISA years ago in person at a local Halifax branch. As I remember I attended the branch in person a total of seven times trying to open it and prove to their satisfaction who I was. Things got silly when they even turned their noses up at my original birth certificate - not a copy or replacement. It was the "wrong kind" of birth certificate... Beyond having my parents exhumed for DNA tests it was not clear what would satisfy them.

Apparently it was having somebody 'notify' a document certifying I was who I said. So I went across the road to a local Woolwich BS (remember them?) as I once had an account with them. I shoved the paper in front of the entirely uninterested guy at the counter - they were being closed down, so what did he care? - he hardly even looked at me, let alone ask who I was, before scribbling his signature on the paper and returning it to me. I went back across the road to the Halifax, this was accepted immediately!

About a week after it was opened I got a letter from HBOS: "Regarding your recently opened ISA, we are not completely satisfied about your identity".

As Halifax had by then dropped their originally attractive interest rate I immediately put in an ISA transfer request with somebody else.