But in April this year, the Prudential Regulation Authority issued new policy guidance to banks on dormant accounts in an effort to help reduce the risk of fraud, ID theft and money laundering.
While detected savings fraud is not a huge growth area hovering around 24 per 10,000 applications currently deemed to be fraudulent, customers are urged to be vigilant and take pro-active steps to protect their nest eggs.
Despite many also enjoying the safeguards of compensation under the FSCS initiative, a deposit holder or any ‘beneficial account owner’ – as strictly defined by Regulation 6 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 – who have not had their identity verified by their bank since 2007, may soon not be eligible for compensation under the FSCS.
Getting ID’s validated is simple and straightforward – just call your bank to find out the best way to do it, because many institutions can now very quickly complete checks via online channels. It’s also a timely reminder encouraging savers to ensure their bank has up-to-date details, while institutions have an opportunity to carry out a fraud and AML review of all accounts. ID checking and verification is a fast and straightforward process. To find out more simply click here.
Experian works closely with National Hunter and Insurance Hunter. The fraud prevention systems are operated by Experian on behalf of members. They enable financial institutions to cross-match applications against more than 100 million previous application records in order to spot commonalities and anomalies that are potentially indicative of fraud for further investigation.