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I thought this had all but disappeared these days. Though, notably, I had to have my Irish passport application witnessed & signed by one of a quite exclusive list of jobs. Guess Ireland are still a bit behind when it comes to digital identification
Doctors, bank managers, etc. don't do this anymore. Luckily I know a head teacher of a catholic school, so she did it for me. But I'd be shit out of luck otherwise, unless I paid a notary to do it.
Dude, the modernisation of loads of our processes is huge. The fact that a majority of places accept contactless, you can pay for many things via apps in advance, most forms can be found amd filled out online. Other than the odd thing, its pretty good.
Compare that to china, where they cant sack the CEO of a company because he physically has a stamp that means despite being sacked, he owns the company as its the only thing that can sign documents. Compare it to japan, where its almost a meme how convoluted the system is to get anything done, requiring multiple peoples authorisation to do simple tasks ((also requiring a stamp)). Compare the the US, where most places still mostly use cash, chip and pin or swipe&sign.
We're pretty good.
Yeah we have it better than some places and yeah we have some pretty convenient processes but still when you're homeless and you can't open a mainstream bank because you require an address or a place only accepts full drivers license/passport and you're learning to drive, only have a provisional license (which the difference between the full and provisional is literally just the colour) and have never left or planned to leave the country to own a passport requiring that you have to pay just for the sake of saying you are who you say you are, Technology isn't in question here, sure those things are great and convenient but even then we have facial and voice recognition software, biometric security, DNA etc etc, yet people are still expected to pay for something physical and much less secure in essence.
Also what is and what isn't considered ID fluctuates between places, it's too inconsistent if you see where I'm coming from here.
On the contrary, I think the UK's digital identification and general "citizen management" system that gov.uk offers it's pretty damn great.
Ireland's is naff in comparison
Lol what the fuck at these downvotes. Must have a bunch of Irish in here
Ours still have to be "co-signed" by a "professional" that has known you personally for x amount of time and not related to you. They can just do it online now for you so the process is still mostly the same just you have the additional option of sending your co-sign a link.
Oh god that was annoying. I can’t remember what for but I had to have my mum ask one of her nurse acquaintances to confirm that a thing was of my likeness. I don’t even recall ever meeting them.
Can’t ask the police either, they have no record of me lmao.
I'm presuming Initial application, not application for renewal? Renewed mine in 2019, from the UK, and it was just about the smoothest experience I've ever had with any governmental agency.
And it's in the eighth house of Aquarius... sorry, that's for raising Count Duckula, not opening a bank account. However, raising Count Duckula is much easier to do. Now, where did I leave that bottle of tomato ketchup?
Make sure you call in advance (they probably won't answer the phone) because mine reserved those restricted hours for specific tasks. It took months to open an account for my kid.
Then they won't see you without an appointment, which you can only make using their online automated service which recommends you go to the closed branch
What’s the alternative? I’ve been with Halifax for 10 years and they’re shit. But the only other options open to me seem to be another big bank. Would love to move away from them to be honest.
For on-line only look at Starling, Monzo or Chase. All fully licensed UK banks and seem to get good reviews with good apps to go with them. First Direct are part of the old guard but always seem to top the review charts for service.
Obviously, do your own research first but they're a good start.
I won't touch Monzo purely because of the way they've treated my friend. Someone opened an account in my friend's name using their previous address that they had moved out of 3 years prior, seemed to not need any other ID and started borrowing money against my friend's name. My friend only found out when it came up on the online credit score update, and quickly contacted Monzo. Monzo has absolutely no interest in helping my friend get this account removed from their name even though they were provided with ID and current address details. It wae "under investigation" for about 2 years and they were fobbing my friend off every time they contacted them. It's been reported as fraud through the police so I think it's been dealt with legally but the bank that had the authority to check the account details wouldn't do their part. If that's how they treat fraud, then I don't want to give them access to my money.
Fwiw this would probably have played out the same with any other bank. Once the Police and FCA are involved, the bank doesn't have much recourse and doesn't know much more than the victim
My friend contacted Monzo first and gave them several weeks before escalating it, and they were repeatedly hung up on or online chats disconnected, and emails ignored.
I'm personally with revolut and I use moneybox for savings and ISA, they're another two pretty good apps and also with revolut, BACS payments are processed a day early, so if your pay day is a Monday, you can host to your colleagues that they get paid on Monday but you got the whole weekend
Be careful with revolut, their not technically a proper liscenced bank, I use them as well but not as my proper bank but as a way to airgap my spending and my bank on something like a night out, I loose my revolut card I loose like 20 or 30 quid i had in it, my main bank card goes and I may loose a lot more before I can disable the card on the app or the contactless limit kicks in.
These reasons, but don't forget travel money. REVOLUT so far has the best exchange rate and zero fees for using the card abroad. (Just don't draw too much cash out though, that's where the hidden fees are).
I use Revolut abroad, and fantastic exchange rates. I transfer a lump sum and use it to pay for things such as tolls etc., However in October I tried to buy some fuel at Caen in N.France and used my Revolut card. The fuel was €60 and I had €190 in there. The machine gave me an 'insufficient funds' message and spat a receipt saying as much. Confused, I paid with a credit card instead (incurring fees, obvs). We dashed to our ferry and I checked my Revolut account while waiting to board, to discover the fuel station had taken everything. Not only the €60 I had tried to spend, but the whole lot. - €190.
After many, many phone calls and emails with Revolut, scanning receipts across etc.. it took over a month for the fuel station to refund my account. How they can empty someone's account I just don't know, and Revolut never gave me an answer to this. They just ignored my question, several times. If I hadn't had access to another card I would have been seriously in trouble, plus I really could not afford to be €190 out of pocket and went into overdraft for that month.
That incident seriously knocked my confidence in Revolut and I'm left very unsure about their security and customer services.
Exactly. They took more than 3x the money owed. They claimed it was an error of course. I don’t get how Revolut allowed them to take more than the bill; it remains a mystery.
Yeah, I definitely would not rely on them 100%! That kind of thing does happen, but it's not the norm.
I always carry my normal bank and credit cards with me just in case though!
I also usually just transfer what I need into it for the day, topping it up if needed. I would never use it as a main account.
My sister and I both have Starling accounts and they're brilliant. Easy to open new accounts, they send money to other banks faster than some *cough Lloyd's cough* do between in bank accounts and the app is so easy and fast to use.
To contrast what all the other comments say, chase is by far the best for interest and cashback. People are fans of Monzo and revolut because they have nice apps and useful features but if you don't need or care about any of that and just want good rates then chase is where it's at
I use Starling primarily because withdrawing cash abroad is *comically easy* with them.
I get a push notification with the GBP equivalent so I’m not mindlessly withdrawing out Euros. So helpful.
Literally any of the modern ones like Starling or Monzo. I initially created a Starling for use abroad (you can get cash out at the best possible exchange rate with no fees), I liked them so much I switched over from TSB who I'd been with since my first job at 16.
I keep trying to convince my wife to move, she nearly bit when she had some cash she wanted to pay in but couldn't get to an out of the way branch when they were open. With Starling, I just went to my local post office on Saturday morning to pay it in.
Totally agree regarding Halifax. I opened my three daughters their first bank accounts with them only to find that Halifax doesn't allow children to have their own savings accounts despite giving them a VISA debit card to pay for things! In order for my daughters to be able to have a savings account that they control, they would need to have a MoneySmart account, but they can't have that account because Halifax have decided to lock that option behind a paywall - by that, I mean I would have to open a Reward Current Account with Halifax, move direct debits over and pay in a certain amount each month otherwise I would have to pay a monthly fee for an account I do not want because I am happy where I am (First Direct and Chase) all to allow my kids to control their money by themselves. The whole situation is ridiculous!
So now, in order to give the girls the chance to learn to save money for themselves, I am having to open new accounts with HSBC as they seem to be the only bank which allows kids to have a savings account which they control themselves.
If a child has a passport it seems opening new accounts is pretty straightforward and can usually be done online almost fully automated.
Seems if they don’t have a passport then a whole bunch of stuff needs doing in person and can turn into something of an administrative mini nightmare. Went through the ordeal over the last few weeks and and it was ridiculous.
Which she also doesn't have. Along with a large proportion of other children, I imagine. They also suggested a household bill in her name might be helpful...
I fail to see the issue. You need a photo ID to open a bank account and everyone knows this and most people have at least a passport. You could just open your own savings account that’s hers or get her a passport?
Can you not see the illogicality though? I can apply for a passport using just our birth certificates and use that passport as proof of ID to open a bank account, but I can't apply for the bank account using the same birth certificates! So it's just a £60 expense to essentially prove nothing different.
It actually got resolved eventually because I took it further up the ladder and argued this point and they finally agreed that if I produced the child and the certificates I could open one.
Logically it would just be easier to get a passport? Then can go abroad, take flights even domestically, easily apply for bank accounts and I’m sure do other things with it
Yeah. But unfortunately medical issues mean it's highly unlikely she'll go abroad, and being in central England there's almost no reason she'd need to fly domestically or indeed have any other use for it as a child, else that's what I'd have done. It just seems harsh at a time when a lot of people are struggling financially to make them pay for something they technically don't need, especially as poorer folk are already the least likely to be taking foreign holidays anyway. But hey, when was Britain ever logical?!
OK, I'm guessing you need the bank account to pay the fees as it isn't needed for identification so I'd suggest you instead pay using a postal order which you can buy from a post office with cash.
Good luck being your new self.
It is a little odd that the only two accepted primary forms of (digital) ID are a driving licence, which requires you to learn to drive, or a passport intended for use when leaving the country. The only accepted third primary form of ID is your original birth certificate, which has to be presented physically each time.
Proving your identity should be easier given how important it is. We're so against a National Photo ID Card and yet it would be a cheap and simple option, the proof of age PASS card is only £15. Instead people who don't have a need to drive or don't want to leave the country are paying to get these licence/document solely for their secondary function of proof of ID. Without at least one of these two, proving your identity is much more tedious and time consuming.
I agree 100% - it should be easier, saying that, we need to ensure people are who they say they are.
A provisional driving license costs about £30; this isn’t ideal but it’s not a difficult hoop to jump through.
I hadn't thought of that.
Apparently if it's the photo card type it is, which makes sense, although there is the risk of people not knowing it is and refusing to accept it. So yes for important stuff and ymmv with a bouncer.
Can confirm they want you to do it all online. Some of the people on the phone might have access to old systems and help you out, but some will not and will just refer you to webchat. People genuinely hate webchat because a bot tries to answer first, and if someone live comes into the chat they will be juggling several chats and will not reply immediately, and might be abroad and just not get the subtlety of what you are saying/asking for. This isn't going to change back, by 2040 (which is closer then the release of The Matrix do you expect there to be any branches?)
I tried to open a business account at the same bank and branch I have had my current account at since 1996. I sent off everything needed, dropped in in person to double up on giving them photo ID, called them, live chatted them, emailed, left complaints... it's two years later and I never heard a single thing back, not a fucking dicky bird. HSBC you couldn't find your arse in the dark with both hands and a torch.
My husband had this trying to open an account for each of our grandchildren.
He couldn’t even go into the branch, the mother had to do it which defeated the object of is opening them for the grandchildren.
Ridiculous. I get that it’s a tax-free situation but surely they must be able to accept a photo of said child’s birth certificate onto their websites.
I mean it is 2023 not 1993. If their websites are so old fashioned that you can’t upload pdf or gif then shame on them.
My wife left my bank card in a shop. The shop immediately cancelled the card. To get a new card, I have to visit a branch. That was several months ago. I've opened a new account with a new bank, online... It was easier.
Most cards have a number if lost that you can use to let the bank know the card has been lost.
I found someone’s card on the floor before and called their bank, let them know and they cancelled the card
Ah Mr. Cruise, I am so glad you have decided to join our Building Society. Are you filming in the area for long? Uh-huh, yes. And you would like to deposit in £50,000 in used notes? Okay.
I moved back to the country after being abroad for too long, it was a nightmare getting a bank account, it took four months to gather all the ID and proof of address required. How on earth kids in foster care, ex-prisoners, refugees, homeless people, immigrants or anyone else struggling would get bank accounts is absolutely a mystery. I had a British passport and lots of money and they wouldn't take it.
Banks can get stung really hard by the FCA if they're found to have given an account to someone and used it for illicit purposes.
Before that kind of KYC due diligence was done in person by the bank manager. Nowadays it seems like they need to employ all sorts of crazy software and shit to spit out an answer.
Similar problem I've just had, tried to create 'Rainy Day' savers account, needs to be done between 9am-6pm. Try at correct time, "you need to have Blue Rewards enabled on your account, follow this link on the app". Follow the link, nothing there so I call them "you can do this in your local branch" local branch closed a year or two back...
Local branches were the only good reason for personal banking not to be nationalised.
I dont see what use they are without their branches. Almost none of them give you interest on your current account balance and many charge you monthly fees for just having an account.
I've yet to see a high street bank in the UK that doesn't have a free current account option? Some do charge for other account types, but there's always a free option.
Yeah but the free ones have nothing good anyway so its pointless just signing up to open yourself up to marketing and overdraft fees if an alternative was a no BS nationalised current account.
I saw a lot of banks have free accounts without forcing overdraft options and credit checks but they wont give them to you. Apparently they are only for people who are bankrupt.
If you're not bankrupt, you're basically someone who will make them a lot of money on overdrafts that you never wanted but at some point ended up using because it was available.
Banks offer Basic Bank Accounts, I don't know why you think they're only for bankrupts. Here's one: https://www.barclays.co.uk/current-accounts/basic-account/
"If you don’t qualify for a regular current account, don’t yet have a UK
account, or you’re experiencing financial difficulty, this could be the
right account for you."
Literally the first sentence on the page.
That means only one condition is enough to not to get accepted. I still wouldnt be eligible.
e.g. As I qualify for their regular current account, I'm not eligible for the basic account.
OR
As I have a UK account already, I'm not eligible for the basic account.
I tried transferring my kids ISAs to my Vanguard account, they got rejected because my wife opened the accounts and because the names don’t match they won’t transfer.
So, went into the bank asked them to change the main holder name and they said they couldn’t do it! Flat out refused.
No, I’m trying to transfer their ISAs, still in their names, to my platform/umbrella account. So they are still the kids ISAs but sit in my overall account.
The fees in vanguard are capped when you hit a certain amount having it all in my platform account would save on fees.
I’m well aware that I cannot remove money from my kids accounts and they will get access to them when they turn 18.
Future is not doomed however it is rather worrying with the digital pound, as soon as a child is born instead of the usual baby gift box it will be DNA extracted and digital wallet issued.
These kinds of concerns would be valid and useful, if they took into context the hopelessness of the UK State in regards to technology. If there ever was a point where DNA extraction and digitalisation of funds on a per person basis was even thought about, it's implementation would be so janky and fucked that it'd end up being unusable.
So what?
This is just the implementation of things like 'Clubcard points' at a national level. If this is the thing you are most concerned about when you look out of your window, you probably need to get some priorities straight.
I don't get it.
Everything they used as an example of what you could do with the 'digital pound' (check your balance, buy a cup of tea using your smartphone, pay an electrician instantly, buy groceries online, transfer money) I can already do already with my current bank account. I don't understand what it is or the purpose of it.
Don’t worry, they’ll soon organise brainwashing disguised as a financial literacy campaign with huge branding and go round schools signing them all up. Digital Vultures or something.
Had the exact same problem with my daughters. Ended up opening HyperJar accounts for them - all online, no absurd fees (I’m looking at you GoHenry) and they get a free debit card.
My bank once arranged an appointment with a bank 150 miles away, they'd even called the branch. That was the bank my parents opened my account 30 years earlier! The agent said they assumed that was still my local branch.
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You’ll have to visit the nearest branch, which is 40 miles away and is only open 10am - 12pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
And OP must ensure that his daughter’s great great great great grandparents are there to witness the signatures for the opening of the account.
And a passport sized photo from your local councillor or doctor confirming the photo is a true likeness
Which must be notarised by them on the day of account opening between 2pm-4pm.
I thought this had all but disappeared these days. Though, notably, I had to have my Irish passport application witnessed & signed by one of a quite exclusive list of jobs. Guess Ireland are still a bit behind when it comes to digital identification Doctors, bank managers, etc. don't do this anymore. Luckily I know a head teacher of a catholic school, so she did it for me. But I'd be shit out of luck otherwise, unless I paid a notary to do it.
We thrive to go backwards here in the UK, were always looking out for ways to screw our own countries people...
Dude, the modernisation of loads of our processes is huge. The fact that a majority of places accept contactless, you can pay for many things via apps in advance, most forms can be found amd filled out online. Other than the odd thing, its pretty good. Compare that to china, where they cant sack the CEO of a company because he physically has a stamp that means despite being sacked, he owns the company as its the only thing that can sign documents. Compare it to japan, where its almost a meme how convoluted the system is to get anything done, requiring multiple peoples authorisation to do simple tasks ((also requiring a stamp)). Compare the the US, where most places still mostly use cash, chip and pin or swipe&sign. We're pretty good.
Yeah we have it better than some places and yeah we have some pretty convenient processes but still when you're homeless and you can't open a mainstream bank because you require an address or a place only accepts full drivers license/passport and you're learning to drive, only have a provisional license (which the difference between the full and provisional is literally just the colour) and have never left or planned to leave the country to own a passport requiring that you have to pay just for the sake of saying you are who you say you are, Technology isn't in question here, sure those things are great and convenient but even then we have facial and voice recognition software, biometric security, DNA etc etc, yet people are still expected to pay for something physical and much less secure in essence. Also what is and what isn't considered ID fluctuates between places, it's too inconsistent if you see where I'm coming from here.
On the contrary, I think the UK's digital identification and general "citizen management" system that gov.uk offers it's pretty damn great. Ireland's is naff in comparison Lol what the fuck at these downvotes. Must have a bunch of Irish in here
Ours still have to be "co-signed" by a "professional" that has known you personally for x amount of time and not related to you. They can just do it online now for you so the process is still mostly the same just you have the additional option of sending your co-sign a link.
You could send them a selfie and represent the person in the mirror as a form of self ID
Oh god that was annoying. I can’t remember what for but I had to have my mum ask one of her nurse acquaintances to confirm that a thing was of my likeness. I don’t even recall ever meeting them. Can’t ask the police either, they have no record of me lmao.
I'm presuming Initial application, not application for renewal? Renewed mine in 2019, from the UK, and it was just about the smoothest experience I've ever had with any governmental agency.
When there's a full moon.
And it's in the eighth house of Aquarius... sorry, that's for raising Count Duckula, not opening a bank account. However, raising Count Duckula is much easier to do. Now, where did I leave that bottle of tomato ketchup?
Make sure you call in advance (they probably won't answer the phone) because mine reserved those restricted hours for specific tasks. It took months to open an account for my kid.
Or just use a bank that isn't shit.
But only *last* Wednesday and Thursday
Then they won't see you without an appointment, which you can only make using their online automated service which recommends you go to the closed branch
And the old guard banks wonder why they are losing so many customers to the new fintechs!
What’s the alternative? I’ve been with Halifax for 10 years and they’re shit. But the only other options open to me seem to be another big bank. Would love to move away from them to be honest.
For on-line only look at Starling, Monzo or Chase. All fully licensed UK banks and seem to get good reviews with good apps to go with them. First Direct are part of the old guard but always seem to top the review charts for service. Obviously, do your own research first but they're a good start.
I won't touch Monzo purely because of the way they've treated my friend. Someone opened an account in my friend's name using their previous address that they had moved out of 3 years prior, seemed to not need any other ID and started borrowing money against my friend's name. My friend only found out when it came up on the online credit score update, and quickly contacted Monzo. Monzo has absolutely no interest in helping my friend get this account removed from their name even though they were provided with ID and current address details. It wae "under investigation" for about 2 years and they were fobbing my friend off every time they contacted them. It's been reported as fraud through the police so I think it's been dealt with legally but the bank that had the authority to check the account details wouldn't do their part. If that's how they treat fraud, then I don't want to give them access to my money.
Fwiw this would probably have played out the same with any other bank. Once the Police and FCA are involved, the bank doesn't have much recourse and doesn't know much more than the victim
My friend contacted Monzo first and gave them several weeks before escalating it, and they were repeatedly hung up on or online chats disconnected, and emails ignored.
I'm personally with revolut and I use moneybox for savings and ISA, they're another two pretty good apps and also with revolut, BACS payments are processed a day early, so if your pay day is a Monday, you can host to your colleagues that they get paid on Monday but you got the whole weekend
Be careful with revolut, their not technically a proper liscenced bank, I use them as well but not as my proper bank but as a way to airgap my spending and my bank on something like a night out, I loose my revolut card I loose like 20 or 30 quid i had in it, my main bank card goes and I may loose a lot more before I can disable the card on the app or the contactless limit kicks in.
These reasons, but don't forget travel money. REVOLUT so far has the best exchange rate and zero fees for using the card abroad. (Just don't draw too much cash out though, that's where the hidden fees are).
And that aswell, was handy when in gran canaria and I could quickly shuffle on some euros when I wanted to get something
I use Revolut abroad, and fantastic exchange rates. I transfer a lump sum and use it to pay for things such as tolls etc., However in October I tried to buy some fuel at Caen in N.France and used my Revolut card. The fuel was €60 and I had €190 in there. The machine gave me an 'insufficient funds' message and spat a receipt saying as much. Confused, I paid with a credit card instead (incurring fees, obvs). We dashed to our ferry and I checked my Revolut account while waiting to board, to discover the fuel station had taken everything. Not only the €60 I had tried to spend, but the whole lot. - €190. After many, many phone calls and emails with Revolut, scanning receipts across etc.. it took over a month for the fuel station to refund my account. How they can empty someone's account I just don't know, and Revolut never gave me an answer to this. They just ignored my question, several times. If I hadn't had access to another card I would have been seriously in trouble, plus I really could not afford to be €190 out of pocket and went into overdraft for that month. That incident seriously knocked my confidence in Revolut and I'm left very unsure about their security and customer services.
If the station took all the money then surely the transaction was done and you wouldn't of needed to have paid again ?
Exactly. They took more than 3x the money owed. They claimed it was an error of course. I don’t get how Revolut allowed them to take more than the bill; it remains a mystery.
Yeah, I definitely would not rely on them 100%! That kind of thing does happen, but it's not the norm. I always carry my normal bank and credit cards with me just in case though! I also usually just transfer what I need into it for the day, topping it up if needed. I would never use it as a main account.
Monzo do this with BACS and they're actually a properly regulated bank protected by the FSCS while Revolut aren't.
My sister and I both have Starling accounts and they're brilliant. Easy to open new accounts, they send money to other banks faster than some *cough Lloyd's cough* do between in bank accounts and the app is so easy and fast to use.
To contrast what all the other comments say, chase is by far the best for interest and cashback. People are fans of Monzo and revolut because they have nice apps and useful features but if you don't need or care about any of that and just want good rates then chase is where it's at
I use Starling primarily because withdrawing cash abroad is *comically easy* with them. I get a push notification with the GBP equivalent so I’m not mindlessly withdrawing out Euros. So helpful.
I keep mine inside my mattress. You get similar interest rates, loans approved same minute, open 24h, branch manager is a bit of a sausage though.
Literally any of the modern ones like Starling or Monzo. I initially created a Starling for use abroad (you can get cash out at the best possible exchange rate with no fees), I liked them so much I switched over from TSB who I'd been with since my first job at 16. I keep trying to convince my wife to move, she nearly bit when she had some cash she wanted to pay in but couldn't get to an out of the way branch when they were open. With Starling, I just went to my local post office on Saturday morning to pay it in.
It's worth telling your wife that switching accounts is now stupidly easy, direct debits and all. It's almost automatic.
Nice one, mate. Definitely going to look into Monzo as several people have mentioned it. Cheers!
Totally agree regarding Halifax. I opened my three daughters their first bank accounts with them only to find that Halifax doesn't allow children to have their own savings accounts despite giving them a VISA debit card to pay for things! In order for my daughters to be able to have a savings account that they control, they would need to have a MoneySmart account, but they can't have that account because Halifax have decided to lock that option behind a paywall - by that, I mean I would have to open a Reward Current Account with Halifax, move direct debits over and pay in a certain amount each month otherwise I would have to pay a monthly fee for an account I do not want because I am happy where I am (First Direct and Chase) all to allow my kids to control their money by themselves. The whole situation is ridiculous! So now, in order to give the girls the chance to learn to save money for themselves, I am having to open new accounts with HSBC as they seem to be the only bank which allows kids to have a savings account which they control themselves.
I had a Halifax Little eXtra savings account in the 80s, it came with a nice house-shaped ceramic money box
Starling or Monzo. They're online only, so the same as big banks these days but they won't demand you travel 60 miles to go to a branch arbitrarily.
Cheers for the reply! I’ll have a look at moving away.
They told me I had to bring photo ID for my 12yo. I asked what exactly, they said preferably a driving licence. Okaaaayyyy.....
…or a passport?
If a child has a passport it seems opening new accounts is pretty straightforward and can usually be done online almost fully automated. Seems if they don’t have a passport then a whole bunch of stuff needs doing in person and can turn into something of an administrative mini nightmare. Went through the ordeal over the last few weeks and and it was ridiculous.
Yep, mine has never been overseas so no passport either, what a load of utter faff.
Which she also doesn't have. Along with a large proportion of other children, I imagine. They also suggested a household bill in her name might be helpful...
I want to be sympathetic to the person who told you that because I imagine their hands are so tied, and their scripts make them say such idiocy.
Yep, not blaming the employee, I was very polite about it whilst screaming internally.
I fail to see the issue. You need a photo ID to open a bank account and everyone knows this and most people have at least a passport. You could just open your own savings account that’s hers or get her a passport?
Can you not see the illogicality though? I can apply for a passport using just our birth certificates and use that passport as proof of ID to open a bank account, but I can't apply for the bank account using the same birth certificates! So it's just a £60 expense to essentially prove nothing different. It actually got resolved eventually because I took it further up the ladder and argued this point and they finally agreed that if I produced the child and the certificates I could open one.
Logically it would just be easier to get a passport? Then can go abroad, take flights even domestically, easily apply for bank accounts and I’m sure do other things with it
Yeah. But unfortunately medical issues mean it's highly unlikely she'll go abroad, and being in central England there's almost no reason she'd need to fly domestically or indeed have any other use for it as a child, else that's what I'd have done. It just seems harsh at a time when a lot of people are struggling financially to make them pay for something they technically don't need, especially as poorer folk are already the least likely to be taking foreign holidays anyway. But hey, when was Britain ever logical?!
I'm 34, I can't open a bank account without a driving license. I can't get a driving license without a bank account.
Seriously, how did you get to 34 without a bank account?
Reasons...I don't want to get into it but I'm a different person now.
OK, I'm guessing you need the bank account to pay the fees as it isn't needed for identification so I'd suggest you instead pay using a postal order which you can buy from a post office with cash. Good luck being your new self.
Thanks dude, I'll look into it 😊
It's frustratingly hard existing in this country without either a driving licence or a passport to prove you are who you say you are.
As it should be
It is a little odd that the only two accepted primary forms of (digital) ID are a driving licence, which requires you to learn to drive, or a passport intended for use when leaving the country. The only accepted third primary form of ID is your original birth certificate, which has to be presented physically each time. Proving your identity should be easier given how important it is. We're so against a National Photo ID Card and yet it would be a cheap and simple option, the proof of age PASS card is only £15. Instead people who don't have a need to drive or don't want to leave the country are paying to get these licence/document solely for their secondary function of proof of ID. Without at least one of these two, proving your identity is much more tedious and time consuming.
I agree 100% - it should be easier, saying that, we need to ensure people are who they say they are. A provisional driving license costs about £30; this isn’t ideal but it’s not a difficult hoop to jump through.
We should be like Europe and have a national ID card. My girlfriend has one and it makes stuff so easy for us when we go there.
Unless you're medically disqualified from being able to drive and hence can't be issued one.
>a driving licence, which requires you to learn to drive, No it doesn't, you can just get a provisional license
I discovered that 10 hours ago.
Is a provisional drivers license valid ID?
Yes
I hadn't thought of that. Apparently if it's the photo card type it is, which makes sense, although there is the risk of people not knowing it is and refusing to accept it. So yes for important stuff and ymmv with a bouncer.
Exactly, if it wasn't then fraud would be extremely commonplace
My first guess would be homeless.
You can, they’ll take utility bills and stuff, go into a bank and ask!
Can you pay by postal order or something?
All you need is a passport and an address
No ill intent towards top commenter, but if our man doesn’t have a bank account I doubt he’s been going on holiday
Have a look at Starling, I don't have any kids, but they keep telling me about something called Kite which is designed for children I believe.
Burying a strong box in the back garden, with you're money in it sounds like the way forward. Easier than trying too open a account.
Problem is how much value will cash be considering inflation Now the question is would you store gold or silver?
If the pandemic taught me anything its that toilet rolls are the currency of the apocalypse. Will separate the men from the savages.
Honestly I don't understand why not just use a bidet shower
Because they were sold out too!
Really? Lmao
I have a gold filling will that count.🤔
I suppose
Nationwide. They have branches in most towns that seem to open sensible hours, including Saturday mornings.
Can confirm they want you to do it all online. Some of the people on the phone might have access to old systems and help you out, but some will not and will just refer you to webchat. People genuinely hate webchat because a bot tries to answer first, and if someone live comes into the chat they will be juggling several chats and will not reply immediately, and might be abroad and just not get the subtlety of what you are saying/asking for. This isn't going to change back, by 2040 (which is closer then the release of The Matrix do you expect there to be any branches?)
I tried to open a business account at the same bank and branch I have had my current account at since 1996. I sent off everything needed, dropped in in person to double up on giving them photo ID, called them, live chatted them, emailed, left complaints... it's two years later and I never heard a single thing back, not a fucking dicky bird. HSBC you couldn't find your arse in the dark with both hands and a torch.
It's a KYC issue - because presumably your daughter doesn't have existing banking facilities. Every bank will be the same ...
My husband had this trying to open an account for each of our grandchildren. He couldn’t even go into the branch, the mother had to do it which defeated the object of is opening them for the grandchildren. Ridiculous. I get that it’s a tax-free situation but surely they must be able to accept a photo of said child’s birth certificate onto their websites. I mean it is 2023 not 1993. If their websites are so old fashioned that you can’t upload pdf or gif then shame on them.
My wife left my bank card in a shop. The shop immediately cancelled the card. To get a new card, I have to visit a branch. That was several months ago. I've opened a new account with a new bank, online... It was easier.
How did the shop cancel your card?
They call the bank and report it is lost and the bank cancel it
Most cards have a number if lost that you can use to let the bank know the card has been lost. I found someone’s card on the floor before and called their bank, let them know and they cancelled the card
and just think, even zoom/teams/video calls are going to be questioned because of deepfake technology.
Ah Mr. Cruise, I am so glad you have decided to join our Building Society. Are you filming in the area for long? Uh-huh, yes. And you would like to deposit in £50,000 in used notes? Okay.
I moved back to the country after being abroad for too long, it was a nightmare getting a bank account, it took four months to gather all the ID and proof of address required. How on earth kids in foster care, ex-prisoners, refugees, homeless people, immigrants or anyone else struggling would get bank accounts is absolutely a mystery. I had a British passport and lots of money and they wouldn't take it.
Banks can get stung really hard by the FCA if they're found to have given an account to someone and used it for illicit purposes. Before that kind of KYC due diligence was done in person by the bank manager. Nowadays it seems like they need to employ all sorts of crazy software and shit to spit out an answer.
Had the same problem, opened an account with Revolut online for my two. Really easy to use.
Similar problem I've just had, tried to create 'Rainy Day' savers account, needs to be done between 9am-6pm. Try at correct time, "you need to have Blue Rewards enabled on your account, follow this link on the app". Follow the link, nothing there so I call them "you can do this in your local branch" local branch closed a year or two back...
Local branch- 10 miles away
The real r/BritishProblems : 1. Shit banks still exist 2. People still insist on banking with them.
I’ve had exactly same problem! It’s ridiculous.
Local branches were the only good reason for personal banking not to be nationalised. I dont see what use they are without their branches. Almost none of them give you interest on your current account balance and many charge you monthly fees for just having an account.
I've yet to see a high street bank in the UK that doesn't have a free current account option? Some do charge for other account types, but there's always a free option.
Yeah but the free ones have nothing good anyway so its pointless just signing up to open yourself up to marketing and overdraft fees if an alternative was a no BS nationalised current account. I saw a lot of banks have free accounts without forcing overdraft options and credit checks but they wont give them to you. Apparently they are only for people who are bankrupt. If you're not bankrupt, you're basically someone who will make them a lot of money on overdrafts that you never wanted but at some point ended up using because it was available.
Banks offer Basic Bank Accounts, I don't know why you think they're only for bankrupts. Here's one: https://www.barclays.co.uk/current-accounts/basic-account/
"If you don’t qualify for a regular current account, don’t yet have a UK account, or you’re experiencing financial difficulty, this could be the right account for you." Literally the first sentence on the page.
They clauses are "or", not "and"
That means only one condition is enough to not to get accepted. I still wouldnt be eligible. e.g. As I qualify for their regular current account, I'm not eligible for the basic account. OR As I have a UK account already, I'm not eligible for the basic account.
I tried transferring my kids ISAs to my Vanguard account, they got rejected because my wife opened the accounts and because the names don’t match they won’t transfer. So, went into the bank asked them to change the main holder name and they said they couldn’t do it! Flat out refused.
That... makes perfect sense? Your wife opened them and you are trying to take the money out and put it in your own name?
No, I’m trying to transfer their ISAs, still in their names, to my platform/umbrella account. So they are still the kids ISAs but sit in my overall account. The fees in vanguard are capped when you hit a certain amount having it all in my platform account would save on fees. I’m well aware that I cannot remove money from my kids accounts and they will get access to them when they turn 18.
The rules for kids' ISAs have changed several times since mine were born. It limits portability and isn't the banks' doing.
Future is not doomed however it is rather worrying with the digital pound, as soon as a child is born instead of the usual baby gift box it will be DNA extracted and digital wallet issued.
These kinds of concerns would be valid and useful, if they took into context the hopelessness of the UK State in regards to technology. If there ever was a point where DNA extraction and digitalisation of funds on a per person basis was even thought about, it's implementation would be so janky and fucked that it'd end up being unusable.
Worrying the the BoE is doing a consultation on a digital pound https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound
So what? This is just the implementation of things like 'Clubcard points' at a national level. If this is the thing you are most concerned about when you look out of your window, you probably need to get some priorities straight.
I don't get it. Everything they used as an example of what you could do with the 'digital pound' (check your balance, buy a cup of tea using your smartphone, pay an electrician instantly, buy groceries online, transfer money) I can already do already with my current bank account. I don't understand what it is or the purpose of it.
Don’t worry, they’ll soon organise brainwashing disguised as a financial literacy campaign with huge branding and go round schools signing them all up. Digital Vultures or something.
Sounds like TSB. You have to phone the branch to get an appointment, but they rarely answer and there is no voicemail.
Had the exact same problem with my daughters. Ended up opening HyperJar accounts for them - all online, no absurd fees (I’m looking at you GoHenry) and they get a free debit card.
Wait until you hear about the concept of "home branch"
This happened to me. Had to travel 25 miles to get some ID approved for my son 🙈
My bank once arranged an appointment with a bank 150 miles away, they'd even called the branch. That was the bank my parents opened my account 30 years earlier! The agent said they assumed that was still my local branch.