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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think the HSBC homeless banking scheme is dangerous?

93 replies

OneRuleForThem · 13/12/2021 16:40

I have just seen an advert for this. obviously I don’t think it’s a bad idea for homeless people. But do you also think that for everyone else overall this is a poorly thought out idea and will most likely attract nefarious types, who will take advantage of not needing to provide an address to store cash (for example - something like drug dealing)??

OP posts:
Newpandrawer · 13/12/2021 18:46

I really don't know everyone is having a go at the OP, there is nothing wrong with her post.

(Except she seems to know fuck all about homelessness, banking or drug dealing Grin).

SW1amp · 13/12/2021 18:46

@OneRuleForThem

I did not say anything remotely close to that AT ALL.
I just didn’t think that someone who was homeless would have a form of ID

Here you go, OP. Fixed it for you.

OneRuleForThem · 13/12/2021 18:47

@Flowers500

What the actual fuck. I work in public policy BTW, if you’re going to comment on articles you should at least actually read them. I’m all for having an opinion, but how about making it an informed one???
Reach an informed opinion? I didn’t read an article, nor mentioned reading one in this whole thread, so I’m thinking you should be taking your own advice on this if you can’t even read an OP, let alone an entire article clearly, without making things up.
OP posts:
OneRuleForThem · 13/12/2021 18:49

@Flowers500
OneRuleForThem trying to act like the queen of poverty and self-awareness 🤣🤣🤣

What? How?

OP posts:
NeedsCharging · 13/12/2021 18:50

I didn’t read an article, nor mentioned reading one in this whole thread,

Maybe you should have done before posting?

MrsFin · 13/12/2021 18:53

Nationwide have been offering accounts to homeless people for years. No issues as far as I'm aware.

caketiger · 13/12/2021 18:54

You are in the minority. Any deposit over a certain size has to be proven. Most homeless people will have a typical profile of income and costs. E. G. Uc and other benefits.

YABU

You think drug dealers will a) manipulate referrers and b) somehow launder their ill gotten gains trust me there are easier ways.

caketiger · 13/12/2021 18:55

@Newpandrawer

I really don't know everyone is having a go at the OP, there is nothing wrong with her post.

(Except she seems to know fuck all about homelessness, banking or drug dealing Grin).

Best reply ever...
CactusFlowers · 13/12/2021 19:03

Not allowing homeless people accounts means they are likely to use someone else’s account which is far more risky. If someone else spends their benefit money they are left with nothing.

Sally872 · 13/12/2021 19:09

I would take the risk to give homeless people access to bank accounts as this is such a barrier when seeking employment and to more and more of every day life.

If the odd drug dealer takes advantage then the bank look to stop that.

I am fairly confident HSBC are happy with the process or they wouldn't be offering it.

DreamerSeven · 13/12/2021 19:13

You might want to do your research before judging, maybe starting with the FCA Handbook and money laundering regulations which all banks have to abide by, even for these types of accounts.

Sparklesocks · 13/12/2021 19:18

Like others I trust that they’ve done their due diligence etc.

I think it’s a great idea to help homeless people, not having a bank account is such a huge obstacle when you’re trying to break out of the cycle of poverty etc.

From what I understand drug dealers/dodgy types will still use ‘normal’ bank accounts anyway, or if they’re trying to stay off grid they’ll use crypto or other unregulated methods.

strivingtosucceed · 13/12/2021 19:23

In addition, banks have access to your credit report and would know your previous addresses (and other banks you have accounts with). So if in fact you do have a fixed address and are pretending not to, i'm pretty sure they'd find out real quick.

I understand the reasoning behind your thinking OP but it seems you became hysterical thinking about a scenario that sounds bad but isn't really realistic when you think about the logistics.

Blahdyblahbla · 13/12/2021 19:38

OP you're coming across as an absolute twat, just leave it there would be for the best.

sqirrelfriends · 13/12/2021 19:49

They would have thought I through, I would imagine that large amounts of money going through a homeless persons bank account would bring up a few red flags.

OutrageousFlavourLikeFreesias · 13/12/2021 19:59

The main problem for people wanting to launder money is having an acceptable explanation for where the money's come from. If you tip up with a unexplained half a million, alarm bells will ring whether you're homeless or living in a mansion. Not having to provide an address won't make it easier to get bricks of cash into the system. Also, most money launderers apparently use casinos and offshore accounts, so I doubt they'll be too bothered about the new HSBC account

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 13/12/2021 20:06

Anti money laundering is not a one time check in banking but a process of continuous monitoring. Banks will look at the expected pattern of transactions going through an account as part of the process of assessing if an account is being used for nefarious purposes. If a homeless person starts depositing large amounts of cash or arranging large scale international money transfers the bank isn't going to sit back and do nothing.

There are already reporting requirements on large cash deposits which is why many criminals launder their funds through businesses that can justify having large amounts of cash e.g. takeaway businesses, taxi firms etc.

The scale of money laundering is so huge that even in the unlikely event a dodgy individual managed to open and maintain an account it would be meaningless in the overall scheme of things (estimates are that in excess of USD1 trillion is laundered every year - see FATF for info). I would prefer homeless people to have access to bank accounts than worry about the miniscule risk that someone vaguely questionable gets a small advantage.

Burgerqueenbee · 13/12/2021 20:25

Clutch on to your pearls OP but Nationwide have been providing bank accounts to prisoners who on the outside have no fixed address/are street homeless, and Yorkshire Bank would set up appointments for post release for those dreadful criminals in bail hostels 😱😱😱
I think you will find that nefarious ne'er do wells already have bank accounts, and are money laundering etc just fine without using a homeless person's bank account set up to help them with their UC payments. Many/most homeless people are just unfortunate not criminals, and many of those who end up in prison commit minor crime on purpose to get themselves a few weeks in the warm and fed, infact it ramps up about now so they don't have to be on the streets at Christmas. (I work in this sector) A little compassion would go a long way.

OneRuleForThem · 13/12/2021 21:37

@OutrageousFlavourLikeFreesias
If you tip up with a unexplained half a million, alarm bells will ring whether you're homeless or living in a mansion. Not having to provide an address won't make it easier to get bricks of cash into the system

No, because if the bank refused or froze money into an account because there was no address then it would render this entire scheme pointless as it would be money down the drain surely?

OP posts:
middleofthelittle · 13/12/2021 21:41

@OneRuleForThem

Not having ID does not mean they are not verified in other ways. They often know their National Insurance number off by heart as it is used for benefits. Plus those leaving prison have a prisoner number that is allocated based on finger prints at arrest/admission to custody. Both are secure methods of identity.

Without outing my profession some of the people I work with are homeless and this is how we verify them.

malificent7 · 13/12/2021 21:48
Biscuit
Athenajm80 · 13/12/2021 22:25

In defence of the OP, I used to work on n benefits. A lot of our homeless or sofa surfing customers didn't have sufficient ID to open a bank account which meant they were reliant on the voucher system where they could have codes texted to their phones (problematic as they often lost phones or had them stolen), emailed to them, or had to come to the job centre to pick them up. They then had a load of cash on them, even if they only cashed one voucher, it was often £100, which may have made them vulnerable.

The post office accounts we used to open with them are all being closed, so we used to try to work with banks to help vulnerable customers open accounts. Some banks would come in on our staff meetings, tell us they'd accept a proof of benefit letter from us, but then our customers were still getting turned away.

Yes, some homeless people may still have their documents, but IME those who had been on the streets for any length of time, or in and out of prison, often had nothing except maybe a letter from DWP and/or something from probation.

To a previous poster, as I have said, homeless people do have access to benefits. Not having a bank account would not prevent that, it just makes more hassle for the person involved.

OneRuleForThem · 14/12/2021 17:11

@Darkpheonix

There's loads of rules around banking, money laundering etc.

There will be something they have in place to be able to do this.

Well, wel, well, it seems NatWest has been fined 264 million pounds today for failing to prevent money laundering, so this comment hasn’t aged well for you.
OP posts:
jetadore · 14/12/2021 17:35

Well, wel, well, it seems NatWest has been fined 264 million pounds today for failing to prevent money laundering, so this comment hasn’t aged well for you.

Well, wel, well, it seems your main argument against the homeless account scheme - that drug dealers might use it - is flawed then, since money laundering is already rife under the existing system.

Flowers500 · 14/12/2021 17:42

Christ I can't believe @OneRuleForThem is still at this...