Sunnypad wrote:mc2fool wrote:BTW, you probably have a method of sending them a secure copy of your bank statement by email....
If you have Microsoft Word then you can scan in the statement into Word and then password protect the document. In my version of Word 365 you click on File then Info and then Protect Document and then Encrypt with Password. Other versions may have it elsewhere (or not at all for earlier ones).
Choose a password that's something they'll know and then email them the document with the explanation that it's password protected and the password is (e.g.) your NI number, which they have on file for you.
Is that still easy enough to hack though, the password mechanism. I honestly don't know, hence the question.
If someone knows how to intercept the mail, it seems they'd also get round this easily?
It depends on the version of Microsoft Word you have. In earlier versions the passwords were easy to crack, and on a quick search you'll find plenty of tools online to do so, but the more modern versions use the same (or in some cases better!) level of encryption as used by banks online services and are all but impossible to crack, unless you have the resources of the CIA and lots of time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_password_protection
The weakness is in fact in that the password, rather than being a long string of random characters, must be something that AJBell have on record, and if you choose something like your NI number, your phone number, your date of birth, etc, it's possible that the interceptor already has or can obtain that information by other means. How paranoid are you?
I suppose you could get cleverer about it and make the password something that is less "public" data than the items mentioned above but something AJBell will still know ... e.g. the ISIN of the investment you bought on dd-mmm-yy.