... to want my bank to recognise my married AND maiden names?

[jaype]

Surely it is not beyond the great computing capabilities of a national bank to be able to do this? I have just married at the grand old age of 38, and while I'll be using my married name 'socially', my professional name will remain as my maiden name as I have spent 15 years building up a profile and don't intend to have to start again. Therefore, I'll still be getting payments made in my maiden name.

I can't be the only person who does this, so why can't the bank cope with it? Grr.

YABU. In a computer-run world of modern banking where identitify fraud is a serious and mounting problem, it's best to pick one 'official' name for administration and stick to it. How you're known elsewhere is immaterial.

I don't understand the problem.

My bank account was in my maiden name until last year, I've been married for 111 years and used my married name.

Are you referring to cheques etc? I don't see it as the bank's responsibility. The name your bank account is in I see as more a Title of the Bank Account. I think fraud would escalate if you were allowed to access the account with many different variations on a name.

Can't you get them to make a note on your account? I went into a branch of mine and did that and now I pay cheques into my account in either name.

My wife has bank accounts in her maiden name and in her married name. Problem solved :)

Have different bank accounts? One for you as a business and a personal one?

As someone who works with computer systems for national banks let me assure you that recording 2 names - and more particularly 2 signatures against a single account would be a huge pain in the neck - none of the on-line screens would cope, the processes don't handle having to check 2 names etc. And whatever you may choose to be called by, a person can legally only have 1 "official" name so no bank is going to spend lot of money updating their systems to support this.

Sorry!

Why bother changing names at all?

Banks used to be able to cope with this perfectly well.

Unfortunately, the double whammy of centralising back-room functions and new legislation on identity (terrorism/money laundering related?) means that you can now only pay into an account with a matching name.

Keep a maiden name bank account, and have a second one in your married name (possibly joint with DH). There doesn't seem to be another option in the current regulatory framework.

I have one in my married name and one in my maiden name.

aldiwhore - 111 years of marriage? Wow

it is how the banks reduce the risk of identity fraud.
I say have 2 bank accounts - at different banks though.

I have a joint account with my DH since before we were married. The account name is still in my maiden name and his surname. My bank asked for a copy of our marriage cert and have kept it on file therefore I can have transactions in either maiden or marriage name. This was in ROI so not sure if this is possible elsewhere.

My understanding is that when you switch to your married name the banks do retain a note of your maiden name on the system and payments can be made in in that name too. So for instance my Paypal account is still in maiden name as is huge pain in arse to change it. Payments from there into my bank account (now married name) go through no problem.

Paypal is not the same as paying in a cheque.

Open a joint account - Mrs Jay Pe & Ms J Pea

To those suggesting separate accounts: HSBC would not let me do this when I got married. I could not retain a bank account in my maiden name (which my salary was paid into) and have a joint account in my married name. Computer said no. I thought it was quite ridiculous and moved my personal account. Their loss (albeit one I'm sure they didn't lose sleep over).

I only rarely get cheques in the 'wrong' name. I just pop in with my marriage certificate and it's never been a problem. Only as much hassle as paying in any cheque is.

I ought to ask if they can keep a copy on file, but it doesn't happen often enough for it to bother me.

I also use both names - and will continue to do so!!!! perfectly legal as long it's not used with the intention of fraud.

My bank are fine with this. I can still get payments in my maiden name although I have changed most things over to my married name now.

I use both. They once 'lost' a cheque in my married name and I created bloody hell with them. I pointed out that there were precisely three bloody people in the country with that surname, so it would not be too tricky to track down my cheque. They have been fine since then.

HSBC weren't too happy about me opening a joint account with my husband in my married name, while keeping my own account in my maiden name. But they worked out how to do it when we got up to leave and take our business elsewhere. They seem to have coped with it for the last four years no problems.

In my now ridiculously detailed experience of this one:

1. All banks lie and are inconsistent. If [insert bank name here] let me open an account with my married name as the official and 'nee Maiden Name' as a note, you can bet they will tell other people this is a total impossibility.

2. Many bank workers have no clue what the difference is between 'the law' and 'arbitrary rules I pulled out of my arse this morning because I am quite silly about this women's names nonsense'. Therefore you must expect them to speak a lot of rubbish about what they can and can't do. Walk out.

3. After going round all the big-name banks, at least one of them will, indeed, let you open an account with both married name and maiden name. You will wonder why this was so difficult, and they will assure you it is quite normal, and not a security or fraud risk. Do not tear your hair, and do not dash off to tell everyone else you've solved the problem. See point 1.

Good luck.

Practically, taking shedloads of documentation - marriage cert, proof of address in both names, pay slips, driving license, etc. etc., does seem to help. Sometimes.

It's actually not just women who have this problem, when I worked in a bank we had a male author come in to pay in a royalties cheque in his author name which was different from his real name that the account was in, as it was a crossed cheque it couldn't be done, he kicked off about it but the upshot was that it was his publishers' fault and he had to get them to reissue the cheque in his real name.

That is true - the bank that did let me have an account with both names said this is something they often do for people who have a stage name and a real name, which is a similar thing.

It's the inconsistency over rules that is so confusing. It must be just bad training, because different branches of the same bank will say different things.

I agree with the fact that there is sometimes inconsistency, but the problem is that there are some grey areas where the outcome is down to the manager's discretion so sometimes the rules may be bent in one branch but not in another that has a higher fraud level, or there is no manager immediately available to authorise it.

Yes, I think they said that to us once - that a manager needed to authorize it. I don't blame the staff at all if they are following a rule set down by someone else, that's not their fault. It's when they say something silly because they want to fob you off that I get annoyed - if it is sometimes possible to use both names they should say so and not tell you that it is illegal because that is lying.

YABU

Just pick a name, it's just a name.

I changed my name and added DH to my account because it was the only way we could cash cheques after our wedding addresses to Mr and Mrs PickleSarnie. Opening a new joint account with a different bank without a passport in my married name was pretty much impossible so only option was to change my current account.

Not changed my name at work though so my salary will be in my maiden name going into an account in my married name and its not been a problem.