Does a bank assistant really need to know my employment status when requesting a postal bank statement ?

[Lardlizard]

So been in the bank this morning to request a postal statement as I want it for ID

Anyway she asked me if I’m still a homemaker?
I said well I’m doing voluntary work for a charity now but just keep it on there as homemaker incase of any changes

Then when she selected he time period to print off, so could obviously see my bank details, said oh you’ve got a lot of money for a home maker

Which was a bit cheeky and nosey

But really I can’t see why she asked what my employment status is just to post me a statement

Of course I could understand her asking that if I was apply for a mortgage or something

@hazell42 - Actually machine transactions tend to get reviewed quicker as most banks have vast Indian centres that operate specifically to do this. Regular deposits of cash can often be analysed against a person’s credit history (and other agencies) within days. Faster if automation is used.

1. They are required to keep your information up to date, as is any organisation who has your data
2. Money laundering, just because you are not paying in now does not mean they shouldn’t double check when undertaking another transaction and your account details are open.

3 yes the comment may have been a bit cheeky but get over it

It's just that we have a policy of checking out the accounts of housewives with over 20k.
Fine. I'll close my account. You nosey jobsworth.

@Sunlov Yes but when you take that £20K to deposit somewhere else prepare for a whole load more questions about where it has come from.

Maybe the cashier in this case was clumsy and it came out like a nosy query, but these questions have to be asked. It is their job.

I used to work in a financial institution and, even though I wasn't in a customer facing role, we still had to do the training courses on data protection, money laundering and treating customers fairly on an annual basis. For counter staff it was obviously much more important to be up-to-date with requirements.

@hazell42 there are thousands of calls to telephone banking every day.

Thousands of conversations........
Branch staff are a very small amount of bank staff

I had a call a few years ago from my potential personal bank contact/manager. He asked who much I earned. I refuse to tell him on the basis it is confidential. He said he could not be the personal account manager in that case. That's fine by me - i don't need one - I just need the bank to process the money. However clearly he wants to know what kind of products he could force on to me which I don't want.

I have some kind of special account anyway. I don't think there was a better one. I have the same one but without a named manager associated with it. As what I want most fro my bank is no human contact from them ever I think he had I reached a reasonable compromise - I never need to hear from him again!

What surprised me was he seemed to be surprised anyone would object to saying what they earn. If I were in a standard £20k a year job where anyone would know the salary fair enough but not otherwise.

@Xenia

Always amuses me when customers don't want to give that information. He could see your account - doesn't take a genius to work out salary 😂

Love that you probably shot yourself in the foot & lost out on extra benefits from premium account 😂😂😂

I took my adult child, SN, to the bank to deposit @ £1000 in coins and the teller asked me, in a very nice and chatty manner where it came from. I just told her that we always put coins in a box over a year then bank them. It didn’t really occur to me why she asked. 🤷‍♀️ She’s obviously very good at her job. 😁

I wonder if it's not an extra ID check? If it's someone's main current account then the bank will usually know what a customer's employment status is based on the payments into the account. (When my pay goes in, it has my employer and my job title as the payment reference on my bank statement.)

If the 'customer' says something totally different then they might not be who they're claiming to be.

I thought there were data protection restrictions on bank staff looking at all customers' accounts. I wonder what the access rights are then? Can any bank staff look at any customer's account?

Also I don't have a salary as I am self employed and get paid by loads of people every month so it would not be that easy to work out.

'You have a lot of money for a SAHM' is not a security check.

Lol @ person insisting xenia has missed out 😁this thread is v funny

For the millionth time 'oooh you've got a lot of money for a home maker' is not a question it is a statement. Unless person was columbo and skilled in reading microscopic changes in expression, which is unlikely to say the least as Peter falk sadly is dead, I am going with either nosey fucker or trying to flog stuff.

Christ some people are so lacking in, I don't know. It's obviously not a question for all the reasons stated. Mainly because it's not a question its an observation.

Other points.

This was not to do with income it was to do with balance. Could have been savings. Inheritance. Bonus from before she left work. Anything. Inheritance could be sensitive.
Money laundering is in /out. Having a high balance sitting there and asking for paper statements is not 'suspicious' as has been suggested.
Other point, as I said, and everyone has ignored. If this was done at the till there is possibility of someone dodgy hearing. I'm surprised people at bank tills are advised to announce which of their customers are worth robbing...

OP which bank is it? Having come back to this thread and read again I think you should consider moving.

@Xenia how are branch staff supposed to print statements from a customers account without accessing the account ? Maybe she should have closed her eyes 😂😂😂

Just completed this years AML training and it absolutely drummed in that all bank staff are responsible for spotting stuff that doesn't add up, and I'm not even customer facing. If someone who isn't employed has a lot of money going in and out they could be a money mule.
Counter staff frequently spot stuff that doesn't seem quite right that saves customers being the victim of fraud as well by asking those seemingly needless/nosey questions. If someone is withdrawing a substantial amount of money the staff member will be required to check in as discrete a manner as possible. You would be surprised how many scam victims are helped that way.

Menuplant body language is often a massive giveaway and often money laundering/attempted scams are picked up because the expression/body language doesn't match the explanation giving the bank stuff a gut feeling.

There have been some bank staff prosecuted fgor looking at customers' information they are not allowed to do under data protection law but I agree that plentyo f bank staff will have a right to look at your statements. Mine willn ot be like most people as I do nto have an employer which is preumably why the "relationship manager" with whom i did not want the "relationship" could not tell what i earned or may be he did not have access to all the accounts customers hold or something. Anyway he and I are quite happy - me very content never to have to speak to human bank staff and he avoiding a customer who doesn't want to be old products by him.

So why did he ask if he could have checked? Was he just trying to annoy me or could he not be bothered to check my account?