To think a lot of businesses need to review their processes during lockdown?

SchrodingersImmigrant · 05/01/2021 21:44

I simply took my passport to post office to get the copy certified. ID requirements are there for a reason. It's actually not as difficult as people may think to buy a acan of an id...

I agree with the pdf/scan thing though.

BeansMeansWines · 05/01/2021 21:49

Yeah lots of businesses are remarkably backward.

However before you buy a scanner, try downloading CamScanner app or another scanner app. I’ve submitted various official things using CamScanner.

Plump82 · 05/01/2021 21:54

The KYC checks for the bank are FCA regulated. Its not the banks decision. And its for your protection as well as theirs.

Brogues · 05/01/2021 22:16

DH needed his driving license verifying at the start of lockdown 1 and went to a post office - well two in fact because the first didn’t provide that service.

Brighterthansunflowers · 05/01/2021 22:21

Don’t buy a printer, do what you suggested, take a good photo, crop it and PDF it. Chances are they’ll assume it’s a scanned copy and accept it.

The financial services company I work for has actually changed some of our processes in this way. Where we’ve relaxed some rules to make it easier for customers we’ve generally increased the security steps we take in the background of those processes to still reduce the overall risk.

LividLovely · 05/01/2021 22:27

Yep. We’re selling and buying a house.

Had three incidents of needing a paper signature witnessed at short notice by someone not related to us.

I’m on maternity, husband is WFH, nobody is supposed to have been within 2m since March. I’ve had to call on the good will of acquaintances which is a total faff.

Original poster

Plutocrats · 05/01/2021 23:05

I'd not heard of the scanner apps, good tip for me to look at. I have nothing to lose by trying it in future. Thanks!

I hadn't thought about buying a house, but I do remember grabbing a colleague randomly walking by the office at the end of the day to witness sigs. Same for some probate stuff I was doing a few years ago when I was the executor of a relative's estate. The idea of doing either of those things paperwork wise during lockdown makes my heart palpate with an immediate stress response slightly!!

Funnily enough I've realised I've not done passports or certified anyone else's docs during lockdown either, and I'd normally do one every few months... neighbours and colleagues etc..

OP posts:

nevernotstruggling · 05/01/2021 23:21

Yanbu. A lot of good work was done in lockdown 1 wrt becoming paper less it was great. It will progress I think

Bythemillpond · 05/01/2021 23:34

Not about ID.
I tried to become an Amazon Delivery Driver

Passed all the online “course” stuff. I just had to have insurance for my car.
I have been driving for 26 years. No accidents, No speeding tickets but the insurance has always been in dhs name. We had company cars for a long time and then he just insured himself as the main driver and me as secondary driver when he left his job and we had to buy cars for the very first time.

It never got changed.

Apparently I had to have insurance in my own name to get the car covered for business use.

I was quoted £4000 for a years cover and going to other insurance companies a lot wouldn’t even cover me on my own.

It was more than ds’s insurance when he was a new driver at the age of 18.

Byllis · 05/01/2021 23:50

Not quite the same thing, but I stopped using a TSB account after moving house when it transpired you couldn't update your address online. I think the options were to print out and post a document or visit a branch. Seemed archaic when I was able to change my other accounts in minutes.

Sinful8 · 06/01/2021 00:50

@Plutocrats

In the last few months:

I have had to cancel opening a junior isa at a well known, national Bank because I didn't pass their automatic ID check (no idea why, I have an excellent credit history and am on the electoral register, council tax, utility providers etc) because I couldn't pass their ID requirements. I am in a professional job, fairly middle class network, yet I couldn't actually meet the very old school certification process where someone listed (even more rigid than passports, which I've done for others in my job) has physically seen the ID and can sign a copy in person. I work with lawyers, accountants every day virtually yet I literally couldn't get them to sign the paperwork without sending my passport/birth certificate within the same area, a faff and expense I just couldn't muster the energy for. If I'm struggling, how are others doing, during lockdown, with fewer professionals limited in their network / meeting face to face?

Another organisation (an investment provider for a pension) insisted on a scanned copy of their application form, or to post it. We don't have a scanner. The library is closed. My offer to take a high Res pic with my new smartphone then crop and export to PDF was met with "does not compute" so I literally couldn't complete that process either! (Will buy a printer so I can print and post in a few weeks by snail mail)

I understand that some businesses have processes that are related to internal policies, regulations against money laundering etc... But this is such a faff, and surely someone in a less stable, affluent setup is going to end up being even more at risk of financial exclusion? (E.g. less access to online access etc due to schools and libraries shutting)

I cannot help but think that lockdown needs to prompt new processes at big companies, yet few seem to be planning for this long term lockdown situation... Why haven't they got their act together by now? How is your company doing it, if anything?

Am I the only one getting frustrated by these types of "computer says no" issues?

I think this is more your problem, my stoner nothing beyond high school education friend managed to open an isa last week.

Just for a sense of perspective

Sinful8 · 06/01/2021 00:51

@Bythemillpond

Not about ID. I tried to become an Amazon Delivery Driver

Passed all the online “course” stuff. I just had to have insurance for my car.
I have been driving for 26 years. No accidents, No speeding tickets but the insurance has always been in dhs name. We had company cars for a long time and then he just insured himself as the main driver and me as secondary driver when he left his job and we had to buy cars for the very first time.

It never got changed.

Apparently I had to have insurance in my own name to get the car covered for business use.

I was quoted £4000 for a years cover and going to other insurance companies a lot wouldn’t even cover me on my own.

It was more than ds’s insurance when he was a new driver at the age of 18.

You're surprised commercial insurnace is higher than commute/social?

More miles more risk

Bythemillpond · 06/01/2021 02:52

This wasn’t for commercial insurance it was just for me to be the main driver on a car.

The business use was just a formality with some places and maybe an extra £70 with others.

It was the basic insurance that was too much.

namechange7438 · 06/01/2021 07:01

Just in case anyone else is having the scanner problem - if you have a Huawei phone (I'm ot sure if other brands have it) there's an option within the camera to do a document scan. I have found it so good that I no longer use my scanner in the office at all! This includes submitting documents that specifically state a scanned copy not a picture - just make sure you take the picture straight and with good lighting 😊

LEELULUMPKIN · 06/01/2021 07:25

Do you have a Ryman's nearby OP? They do scan and send services and are currently open under essential services.

Presumably for stuff like this.

Hadjab · 06/01/2021 09:56

Adobe scan works brilliantly on iPads and iPhones.

PerfidiousAlbion · 06/01/2021 13:29

Opening an ISA isn't critical though is it, nor is investing.

The financial industry and individuals are being attacked on all fronts by criminals - I believe it's multiplied tenfold since March 2020 - so money laundering processes have to be strict and rigorous.

There's also an App called Scanner Pro which produces scanned images of documents.

Bythemillpond · 10/01/2021 04:24

I am having difficulty paying my mortgage at the moment
It isn’t that I can’t afford it. The money is sitting in the bank. But for some reason the mortgage company cancelled our direct debit towards the end of last year and then set it up again to be taken in January.

I was to call up and pay over the phone got the last 3 months.

October and November I had no problem.
December I have now been told they cut the staff numbers so when you ring up the announcement is that it can take at least 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours for the call to be answered.

I am stuck in not being able to pay the thing and setting up a payment I need to talk to someone. But there is only one phone number.
Did try a different number who did try to take my payment but apparently there was a problem with the postcode so couldn’t take it.
I am so frustrated. They have sent me a leaflet with information on what to do if I am having difficulty paying my mortgage but it doesn’t have anything about them answering their phone

Glittertwins · 10/01/2021 07:02

I have Adobe Scan on my iPhone. It's been acceptable to solicitors and financial advisors

ScaredOfDinosaurs · 10/01/2021 07:30

The technology exists- I work in the industry and have experience from the consumer side too.

To open a monzo account, you simply take a picture of your passport or driving license and record a video of yourself saying "my name is Joe Bloggs and I want to open a monzo account "

Facial recognition technology does the rest.

peak2021 · 10/01/2021 07:35

The issue that strikes me most about processes and things such as adequate/good customer service is that I think there are some companies trying very hard in the face of staff absence and different demands, and then those who have used Covid 19 to reduce their service and make excuses. I'm inclined to think banks especially with reduced opening hours are in the latter category.

billyt · 09/03/2021 10:16

You can also scan in an iPhone using Notes.

Either open a note, choose the circle with three dots top right and select scan. Or click the camera icon at the bottom select scan documents.

There are probably more methods.

GreenlandTheMovie · 09/03/2021 10:31

YANBU. I turned down work because I got fed up with the amount of unpaid hours I spent wrangling with their HR department over ID and other requirements. At one point, they had copies of my passport, driving license, a letter from. HMRC, a utility bill, a council tax statement and a bank statement, and it still wasn't enough because I lacked ID for an address I'd lived at 3 years ago. I'm a British national. It was only for 2 hours per week online teaching in a specialist subject at university level, but they very much needed me. Also HR were all working from home, so I couldn't even post what they required to them. So I just walked away.

Yet I'm going to be doing similar work for a Belgian University, and all I had to do was send my CV.

poppycat10 · 09/03/2021 10:54

I was quoted £4000 for a years cover and going to other insurance companies a lot wouldn’t even cover me on my own

That's just bizarre. I was in the same position as you, on DH's car as a secondary driver for years. We bought a "new" (second hand) car in 2017 and I insured it in my name with DH has secondary driver (and it includes business use, though only incidental, not as the main purpose of the vehicle). It cost £200. That was with Churchill.

poppycat10 · 09/03/2021 10:55

@ScaredOfDinosaurs

The technology exists- I work in the industry and have experience from the consumer side too.

To open a monzo account, you simply take a picture of your passport or driving license and record a video of yourself saying "my name is Joe Bloggs and I want to open a monzo account "

Facial recognition technology does the rest.

Yes I did this for a Starling account, and it also works for the NHS app - you just take a photo of yourself and your ID.