HSBC “safeguarding”

[Johnnyboxer]

It annoys me when someone calls me and then asks "security questions" to establish who I am. They sometimes get really stroppy when I ask them, as an unknown caller, to prove who they are. They don't seem to have thought these issues through.

I had that this week with Nationwide paying the car tax online
Used my Nationwide Credit Card and DVLA said declined
Used another card & straight through
Next minute Nationwide on the phone asking me to prove it was me
Went through the rigmarole of me saying who were they and why should I answer their security questions to an unverified call[emoji85]
Rang back number on back of card and went through loads of ‘press 1, press 2’ options
Finally spoke to a lass and she confirmed they declined it because they thought it was suspect and couldn’t lift the stop
I said what was the point of having their card - she couldn’t think of an answer [emoji85][emoji35]

 

[BredRedHfd]

Yup, had all that.
Went to co-op. Breath of fresh air. Actually talk to someone from UK. Manchester actually, just over hill. No problems.

 

[DrWazzock]

Did you not have to do a similar safeguarding nonsense with whoever you went to tho ?

Went to Lloyds. All done face to face in the branch rather than via a useless call centre.

 

[serf]

Went to Lloyds. All done face to face in the branch rather than via a useless call centre.

Its as if hsbc are going out there way to get rid of customers at min

 

[Mickstup]

We've just finished going through this with HSBC, had our accounts stopped, we've been with the bank over 60 yrs, the frustration of not been able to talk to the same person twice, we've now switched to Barclays where we have a relationship manager we can actually talk to.

 

[JJT]

Mum does the church accounts and is having to go through all this safeguarding stuff with hsbc. Had a form to fill, one question being when was the business started. Apparently 1191 isn't an acceptable answer! (I did suggest she should put down year 0)

Thankfully we moved the farm from hsbc (after 68 years) to handlesbanken so we don't have any of that rubbish to put up with.

 

[Lazy Sod]

One of my neighbours happened to mention, in conversation, that he had changed to Handlesbanken and was very pleased with them.

 

[jed]

Mum does the church accounts and is having to go through all this safeguarding stuff with hsbc. Had a form to fill, one question being when was the business started. Apparently 1191 isn't an acceptable answer! (I did suggest she should put down year 0)

Thankfully we moved the farm from hsbc (after 68 years) to handlesbanken so we don't have any of that rubbish to put up with.

We too are about to switch from Hsbc to Handelsbanken have been tearing our hair out with hsbc the last 2 to 3 years nothing but a shower of sh1t outfit .Good riddance.
Ever since we reduced borrowings and got down graded nothing but headaches with them.

 

[Steevo]

How do you Handelsbanken people deal with cheques?

 

[kiwi pom]

does anyone still use cheques ?

Depending on your bank, you've got until July this year here, then they stop taking them.

 

[feilding]

does anyone still use cheques ?

Nearly all of my customers pay with a cheque, I've now got 3 customers who pay by Bacs, I don't do internet banking either, and don't intend to . As my customers will not. It's a more personal touch to hand a bill over and receive a cheque in return, I very rarely post a bill. Works for me ,and usually get another job before leaving. Even my younger customers are paying by cheque, not just the older generation.

 

[AnyOldName]

It annoys me when someone calls me and then asks "security questions" to establish who I am. They sometimes get really stroppy when I ask them, as an unknown caller, to prove who they are. They don't seem to have thought these issues through.

Yep, I’ve had calls where they ask me to run through my full name, address, DoB, account number etc, they don’t seem to understand when I ask them to tell me something that proves that they are genuine, just blurting all that info out down the phone seems like a definite way to get scammed.

A new one recently has been my internet supplier calling about “free upgrades” but they need to verify who I am. To do that, they say they’ll send me a text message to my mobile with a confirmation code. “So let’s get this straight, you’re going to send a text message to my mobile, the same number that you’re currently talking to me on, to verify who I am?” I can’t figure out how that proves anything and they can’t explain it, so they get told to beat it.

 

[JJT]

How do you Handelsbanken people deal with cheques?

Post them in pre paid envelopes. Not that we get a lot of cheques now.

 

[Kidds]

I like being paid by cheque now my phone app can process them. I prefer a cheque there and then rather than BACS some random time maybe 6 weeks later. The cheque can be showing in my bank pretty much before the ink is dry.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Nearly all of my customers pay with a cheque, I've now got 3 customers who pay by Bacs, I don't do internet banking either, and don't intend to . As my customers will not. It's a more personal touch to hand a bill over and receive a cheque in return, I very rarely post a bill. Works for me ,and usually get another job before leaving. Even my younger customers are paying by cheque, not just the older generation.

err, its considered a bit rude here ( for agricultural contracting anyway ) to hand out a bill as you are driving out the gate
bills are generally sent out at the end of the week, or month, with the expectation that there is a month to pay . . .

i hate writing or getting cheques, especially when i was contracting, as youd have to wait till you collected the mail ( that might only be once a week ), then found a chance to get into town to deposit them, then wait another 5 - 7 days for them to clear.
Internet banking is SO quick & easy & after something like 20 years of online banking, I have NEVER had any security problems. The money is in your account the next day.

Online receivals of funds is much safer & more secure than cheques being sent through the mail, sitting in mailboxes, getting misplaced or lost . . .
Book keeping is SO much easier as well.

I rember back in the day we used to get those double chequebooks, that held 100 or 200 & were far too big to carry easily. You used to see farmers in town for the day doing business, carrying a briefcase, to hold their cheque book Or that would be the "office" chequebook & a smaller, single row one that would fit in your shirt or back jeans pocket would be used in town or when you were out n about.

PS, we have very tight regulations including a 100 point identity check, for anyone holding a bank account - have for a long time now. There seems to be a lot of security & notifications to customers of any new / unusual activity or payees, but we dont have the "safeguarding" hassles you seem to have.

My business banking is with Rabobank, a Dutch firm. I have my own "relationship manager" based in Tamworth ( next major town, about an hour away ), who is my point of contact & all communication both ways goes through him. He is the one who does my annual reviews & can authorise lendings up to a certain limit on his own. Prior to Covid, most meetings were on farm or around kitchen table, unless I happened to be in Tamworth for the day doing other business anyway. Even if he is not available, the handful of other staff ( they dont have branches or counter staff as such, just regional "relationship managers" & head office in Sydney ) in Tamworth are familiar with me & my business, even if they dont personally know me.
Their online banking seems very secure, i have a digital RSA SecurID token that generates random passcode numbers.


my personal banking ( Rabo ONLY deal with agricultural business banking ) is with a local Credit Union, I can ring the local branch & talk to them, they send a txt when I add a new payee or if an eftpos payment over a certain amount happens - NOT for verification before paying, but just to let me know in case something fraudulent IS happening. I do all my banking with them through a phone app, which I have also found to be very secure

tbh, modern online banking is SO much safer than the old days of wads of cash under the bed, or when you could just "cash" a cheque anywhere ( with someones stolen chequebook )

 

[Tarw Coch]

does anyone still use cheques ?

Yes

 

[Farmer Roy]

about the only people i know who still use cheques are the sort of people who have trouble making a call on a mobile

literally . . .

 

[Chopsy Varmint]

about the only people i know who still use cheques are the sort of people who have trouble making a call on a mobile

literally . . .

I deal with 5 to 10 clients in a work day and I prefer cash or cheques because I drive away with the money in my hand instead of having to check every week that people have transferred their payments and chasing up late or non-payers. It's a waste of time on a day off.

For some of my clients there are only cheques for me, the hay man and the window cleaner that come out of their cheque book but it's a pretty foolproof system. I've had very few problems with cheques bouncing but every month there's usually a few people I have to remind/chase for an online/BACS payment. Twice I've had to go to the small claims court to get a customer to settle their bill which was due to be paid by online transfer, having spent a few months trying to cajole them into paying me directly which was hassle I didn't need.

I still use the odd cheque myself and coincidentally I've recently been thinking of using them more often as a symbolic 'eff you' to the banks for pushing us towards a cashless online transaction society (with all the tortuous 'security' procedures already mentioned) whether we the customers want it or not.

Thanks to the people upthread who have recommended Handelsbanken. I am fecked off with my local Lloyds branch but having just checked their website, Handelsbanken might be a better alternative.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

How do you Handelsbanken people deal with cheques?

You can pay in at any HSBC branch for free (although sometimes you have to push a bit). I think you can do it at the post office as well. Then there's posting them in as @JJT says.

My only real negative to being with Handelsbanken is that Xero STILL haven't set up their direct bank feed again after last March

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

err, its considered a bit rude here ( for agricultural contracting anyway ) to hand out a bill as you are driving out the gate
bills are generally sent out at the end of the week, or month, with the expectation that there is a month to pay . . .

i hate writing or getting cheques, especially when i was contracting, as youd have to wait till you collected the mail ( that might only be once a week ), then found a chance to get into town to deposit them, then wait another 5 - 7 days for them to clear.
Internet banking is SO quick & easy & after something like 20 years of online banking, I have NEVER had any security problems. The money is in your account the next day.

Online receivals of funds is much safer & more secure than cheques being sent through the mail, sitting in mailboxes, getting misplaced or lost . . .
Book keeping is SO much easier as well.

I rember back in the day we used to get those double chequebooks, that held 100 or 200 & were far too big to carry easily. You used to see farmers in town for the day doing business, carrying a briefcase, to hold their cheque book Or that would be the "office" chequebook & a smaller, single row one that would fit in your shirt or back jeans pocket would be used in town or when you were out n about.

PS, we have very tight regulations including a 100 point identity check, for anyone holding a bank account - have for a long time now. There seems to be a lot of security & notifications to customers of any new / unusual activity or payees, but we dont have the "safeguarding" hassles you seem to have.

My business banking is with Rabobank, a Dutch firm. I have my own "relationship manager" based in Tamworth ( next major town, about an hour away ), who is my point of contact & all communication both ways goes through him. He is the one who does my annual reviews & can authorise lendings up to a certain limit on his own. Prior to Covid, most meetings were on farm or around kitchen table, unless I happened to be in Tamworth for the day doing other business anyway. Even if he is not available, the handful of other staff ( they dont have branches or counter staff as such, just regional "relationship managers" & head office in Sydney ) in Tamworth are familiar with me & my business, even if they dont personally know me.
Their online banking seems very secure, i have a digital RSA SecurID token that generates random passcode numbers.


my personal banking ( Rabo ONLY deal with agricultural business banking ) is with a local Credit Union, I can ring the local branch & talk to them, they send a txt when I add a new payee or if an eftpos payment over a certain amount happens - NOT for verification before paying, but just to let me know in case something fraudulent IS happening. I do all my banking with them through a phone app, which I have also found to be very secure

tbh, modern online banking is SO much safer than the old days of wads of cash under the bed, or when you could just "cash" a cheque anywhere ( with someones stolen chequebook )

It always makes me laugh when folk say they won't give out their account number and sort code for me to pay them online but they're happy to write a cheque to a stranger....