I’d be interested to know how signature verification takes place for cheques nowadays. Presumably the depositing bank checks with the issuing bank’s database (or is there a centralised one?) and verifies the signatures (sort of) match using some kind of image recognition software?
I didn’t slowly phase in the new signature at all, just used a different one when applying for new accounts (basically all the financial products I have that aren’t with HSBC were signed up to using a proper signature). Can this cause issues? Do banks crosscheck customers’ signatures with each other?
Not surprisingly, some, better informed than me, are saying that there is a threshold below which banks don’t check signatures. Above the threshold, software checks the signature and sufficient discrepancies are flagged for manual review.
It doesn’t. In fact, it never did. As Graham says, they only check signatures if the cheque is for a very high amount, or in case of any complaints of fraud etc. Even these days there are too many cheques going through the system for all the signatures to be verified.
For pre-printed paying-in slips, the signature box is just a hang-over from the old days of manual processing. Possession of the paying-in slip in itself would be enough to show that you’re the account holder (otherwise you wouldn’t have the slip), and nobody would check the signature. They might check your signature or ask for ID when you use the blank paying-in slips that you complete yourself, but most banks no longer provide these.
It is the responsibility of the issuing bank to check all cheques, the depositing bank just “presents” them to the issuing bank and collects the funds if they are valid (the issuing bank always decides whether or not they are valid, but sometimes a depositing bank can decide to refuse to present a cheque if it’s very old, or they are suspicious that it might be being used in money laundering, etc).
It did come out of the blue, yes. They did indeed want a signature, which they require me to go to branch for. (I called them up.) Told them that’s not gonna happen
Just wondering since this is obviously a forwarded email what led to them requesting it. Have they discussed other details of my application internally?
They didn’t specify a specific branch, no. I asked them what happened if I didn’t provide my signature, and the worst she could come up with was that I wouldn’t be able to get a cheque book, until I did.
Very weird that they asked in the first place, though…
Didn’t @anon62610374 actually get a cheque book without providing a signature?
I didn’t, but I did provide my passport, which contained my signature. @seb said they’ll have captured my signature from that which is why I wasn’t asked to provide it.
Your choice obviously, but if you do want to provide one then you could do it at any RBS branch (and probably even NatWest branches, as they could forward it on).
If I were you I’d probably keep the account open, wait for Covid to be over in about a year, and just go and do it one day - then once it’s done you can order a chequebook.
I have no idea why they won’t send out letters to capture signatures any more, that’s what they always seemed to do in the past?
As I said above: opened with dl which also contains signature. They specifically told me they still wanted my signature (and I didn’t even ask for a cheque book)
It’s very bizarre. I suspect it may be antiquated systems just rearing their ugly head and could just come down to whoever it is that reviews your application.
I don’t have a drivers license, but this could also explain why you were asked and I wasn’t too:
So, I did raise a complaint about that email. Not because I felt particularly aggrieved, but just because it’s not a way you communicate with your customers, particularly in the age of scamming and phishing…
Got a call from them today, and was told that they agreed that the email was indeed totally unacceptable.
More interestingly: Apparently the reason to ask for a signature is because they didn’t collect a signature on account opening. And should I ever write a letter to them, or write a high value cheque (not sure how I’d do that without a cheque book ) they’d have nothing to compare my signature to.
However, she also said they wouldn’t currently recommend going into branch, due to the pandemic (frontline person I spoke to yesterday insisted going to branch was the only option). I could just photograph the signature speciman and send it to her via email.
She said there was no particular requirement to send in the signature, but she’d recommend doing it anyway, if I wouldn’t mind.
And given the extra time I’d spent in dealing with that email, and the lack of professionality, and knowing I never asked for compenation, would I accept £100 as a gesture of how sorry they are? "yeah, if you ask so nicely, I’ll gratefully accept the money "
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