If you've had to verify your ID using a bank statement recently ...

[nuvvername]

... did they allow you to use a statement downloaded from a 'paperless' account?

I needed to verify my ID and nominated current account details for opening a savings account at a building society. They wouldn't let me use a downloaded bank statement for this. Instead they said they wanted an "original" statement, meaning the same statement but printed by my bank, not by me. However, they also said they would accept a post-office certified copy of the bank statement. So, I took 2 printed copies of my downloaded statement to the post office, had one certified as a copy of the other (costing £12.75 ), then sent the certified copy to the building society. They accepted that ok, which just seems bonkers! 🤷

My bank has a printer inside and the DWP accepted a printout from this machine as proof. This was about 10 years ago

You can order a paper statement from most banks. It's a pain though isn't it? A downloaded statement is very rarely accepted, and I'm not sure how anyone at the Post Office could possibly verify you have a true copy without watching you log on, download it and print it there and then.

Lots of building societies can verify your nominated account electronically, so this won't be a requirement for much longer I don't imagine.

I’ve been asked twice in the last two weeks and a pdf of bank statement was fine as long as it had my address

oddly it got rejected before because it didn’t have a date - but they were happy to accept a photo of a blank cheque - it’s all a bit of a mess.

I needed one for something, a print out was fine but it had to be printed and stamped by the bank. I just popped in branch and they sorted it for me.

I had to do it for work last week , a downloaded and printed one was fine , it had to have the date on it and be less than 2 months old, be printed in colour, have my full name and address & account number and sort code

Starling allows you to download a regular version or a verified version, I presume this is why.
I've never had any trouble using a regular download (from a different bank). Mind you, I've recently had to request a statement from elsewhere & I'm still waiting nearly 2 weeks later - apart from anything we don't get post very often these days. 😡

UC accepted the pdf statements as part of my in depth claim review, though these were literally gone through line by line, so more to make sure I'm not hiding income than ID but I guess shows they can't be doctored?

Also accepted as ID by land registry when setting up a trust

Did u print these or did they accept them as a pdf sent via computer ?

PDFs uploaded to my UC account

NHS often wants 'proper' statements - for my current job I had to go into branch and ask for a stamped printout.

It's ridiculous in our online world that ID verification hasn't caught up.

Thanks for the reply x

The issue (I work in mortgage underwriting) is that anyone can change an address on a bank statement without providing evidence to the bank of the new address. So if you want to pretend you live somewhere, change the address, download a copy from the Internet bank, and present it as proof you live there. That's why lots of places won't accept downloaded copies. Ideally they want to see that it has been posted to the declared address, proving that you have received it at said address.

However most places accept certified copies, or printed at branch copies, which is nonsensical as it still doesn't prove you live there.

It is ridiculous OP.

"That's why lots of places won't accept downloaded copies. Ideally they want to see that it has been posted to the declared address, proving that you have received it at said address. ... However most places accept certified copies, or printed at branch copies, which is nonsensical as it still doesn't prove you live there."

When my son opened an account at the same building society he used a bank statement printed at his branch, but it was identical to the one printed at home (except the branch version was on cheaper, thinner paper). The branch stamped it with their branch name and address, but anyone who was motivated to forge a bank statement could easily forge that too. It's just hoop jumping for the sake of it.

I had to recently provide one, it didn't occur to me that a downloaded one wouldn't be ok, as it had my address on it!

The bank is only open about 5 minutes hours a week and the nearest ones are pretty inconveniently located!

Ive had to do some legal stuff for someone at work and the solicitors said a bank statement within last 3 months showing address, can be shown on the app at the appointment. If they accept it why dont others?

Different places, different rules. The two solicitors I've had dealing with lately have had 2 completely different sets of procedures & rules for anti money laundering.