6 ms·

What I don't understand is: didn't you need to show them some sort of identification to open your account back then? If so, then why would they ask you to provi

by pera 8y ago

What I don't understand is: didn't you need to show them some sort of identification to open your account back then? If so, then why would they ask you to provide those sames documents again?

1024core 8y ago
Depends on how old the account is. 20 years ago the documentation requirements were quite lax. So if the account is really old, they may have to update the documentation.
- arethuza 8y ago
  I opened my first account with Bank of Scotland ~35 years ago - I don't think I provided any documentation (not sure I had any). However, this was in the days of personal bank managers who actually knew people - my parents had been banking with the same bank for a long time before that.
  - Angostura 8y ago
    Yeh, for context, back in 1990 I was planning to travel to Peru and wanted to work out how to get funds in an emergency. My bank manager (at a big Central London branch in Oxford St.) invited me in for a chat and a cup of tea, and we worked out how best to do things. I think I still have the letter from him that gives the the number I should telex too if needed, together with code name I should address the telex to. He was a avid bird watcher and was interested in talking about what I would be seeing in the rainforest. I rather miss those days. I was a 22 year old with moderate means. There was no reason for him to give me special treatment.
  - davchana 8y ago
    In 1993 I got an account in an indian nationalized bank Bank Of Baroda by depositing just the minimum amount Rs 100, & an introducer's signature on my particulars form (introducer needed to be somebody with a good running account at bank AND the one who knows me well.)
  - baybal2 8y ago
    In 2006, I had to open a bank account on behalf of my father in Ireland. To my amazement, even though I told them that I do it for a father back away somewhere in between Hongkong, Pakistan and Russia, they never asked for any form of ID...
harveynick 8y ago
I opened my first bank account 20 years ago. On my lunch break. At my school. In one of the classrooms, where the local branch of Midland Bank (which is now HSBC) was running an in school "office" with Business Studies students working as "tellers". They accepted the front cover of one of my school notebooks as ID.
tialaramex 8y ago
Times change. I would have opened that account in, let's say 1991 soon after the bank was founded. At that time I was a teenager living with my parents. I probably gave them: A working postal address An account name A purported signature An initial deposit From a banking point of view this is fine. They're not planning to lend me a lot of cash or anything out of the gate, there's no obvious reason to assume fraud, so why ask for more? And perhaps as importantly - why keep records, even if I gave them something else they've no reason to do more than glance at it and OK the account. But twenty five years later this same account now had a completely different postal address in another city. Large volumes of money moved through the account, and associated accounts had been created for the same customer, entitling them to a credit card, savings accounts and so on. For example about $200k was transferred through the account in one afternoon. What's that all about? By this point the KYC regulations say accounts need to trace back to actual government ID, a passport, a driving license, something. And definitely there shouldn't be accounts able to move six figures in an afternoon based on the fact that twenty five years ago some kid posted back a piece of paper...
- oxinabox 8y ago
  but for identity purposes that account is not verified to a human just by what some kid posted on a piece of paper. It is verified by 25 years of history. Tens of thousands of transactions. Bundles of other accumulated data from every linked account, and every change of address. It is a whole lot easier to fake most government ID, than it is to fake 25 years of history.

by pera 8y ago

What I don't understand is: didn't you need to show them some sort of identification to open your account back then? If so, then why would they ask you to provide those sames documents again?

1024core 8y ago

Depends on how old the account is. 20 years ago the documentation requirements were quite lax. So if the account is really old, they may have to update the documentation.

arethuza 8y ago
I opened my first account with Bank of Scotland ~35 years ago - I don't think I provided any documentation (not sure I had any). However, this was in the days of personal bank managers who actually knew people - my parents had been banking with the same bank for a long time before that.
- Angostura 8y ago
  Yeh, for context, back in 1990 I was planning to travel to Peru and wanted to work out how to get funds in an emergency. My bank manager (at a big Central London branch in Oxford St.) invited me in for a chat and a cup of tea, and we worked out how best to do things. I think I still have the letter from him that gives the the number I should telex too if needed, together with code name I should address the telex to. He was a avid bird watcher and was interested in talking about what I would be seeing in the rainforest. I rather miss those days. I was a 22 year old with moderate means. There was no reason for him to give me special treatment.
- davchana 8y ago
  In 1993 I got an account in an indian nationalized bank Bank Of Baroda by depositing just the minimum amount Rs 100, & an introducer's signature on my particulars form (introducer needed to be somebody with a good running account at bank AND the one who knows me well.)
- baybal2 8y ago
  In 2006, I had to open a bank account on behalf of my father in Ireland. To my amazement, even though I told them that I do it for a father back away somewhere in between Hongkong, Pakistan and Russia, they never asked for any form of ID...

harveynick 8y ago

I opened my first bank account 20 years ago. On my lunch break. At my school. In one of the classrooms, where the local branch of Midland Bank (which is now HSBC) was running an in school "office" with Business Studies students working as "tellers". They accepted the front cover of one of my school notebooks as ID.

tialaramex 8y ago

Times change. I would have opened that account in, let's say 1991 soon after the bank was founded. At that time I was a teenager living with my parents. I probably gave them: A working postal address An account name A purported signature An initial deposit From a banking point of view this is fine. They're not planning to lend me a lot of cash or anything out of the gate, there's no obvious reason to assume fraud, so why ask for more? And perhaps as importantly - why keep records, even if I gave them something else they've no reason to do more than glance at it and OK the account. But twenty five years later this same account now had a completely different postal address in another city. Large volumes of money moved through the account, and associated accounts had been created for the same customer, entitling them to a credit card, savings accounts and so on. For example about $200k was transferred through the account in one afternoon. What's that all about? By this point the KYC regulations say accounts need to trace back to actual government ID, a passport, a driving license, something. And definitely there shouldn't be accounts able to move six figures in an afternoon based on the fact that twenty five years ago some kid posted back a piece of paper...

oxinabox 8y ago
but for identity purposes that account is not verified to a human just by what some kid posted on a piece of paper. It is verified by 25 years of history. Tens of thousands of transactions. Bundles of other accumulated data from every linked account, and every change of address. It is a whole lot easier to fake most government ID, than it is to fake 25 years of history.