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Having recently applied for a Premier account with Barclays to go with my Avios Plus card to get the Avios bonuses, Barclays have now decided to halt my application pending a “fraud” investigation and have now placed a CIFAS marker against me..!!
I’m about done with this tin-pot company now – I don’t understand what they have found in my application to be fraudulent and why they have placed the CIFAS marker against me, which is now going to hinder any future financial applications for the next 6 years – although they haven’t stated what Category of CIFAS they’ve placed against me.
I had full intention of transferring my day-to-day banking to the Premier account, however I am seriously reconsidering my options now.
That sounds brutal. My guess is that something in your application doesn’t tally with data held by National Hunter or one of the credit reference agencies and Barclays have gone ape on you.
If you’re very sure that there is nothing questionable in the application then I’d be doing DSARs to National Hunter and CIFAS and get a copy of your credit report from the three main credit reference agencies. Make sure it is all accurate.
It is very unlikely that Barclays will discuss this with you why they are carrying out their investigation but if something is amiss then you will want to know about it ASAP.
Oft! Sorry to hear this froggee is right, this is brutal as this is a big thing on your report if they don’t remove it after the investigation.
I have no advice, froggee has responded above but im sure others will come along to help further.
Keep us updated though!
Based on the recent discussion around applying for a Premier Account without meeting the eligibility criteria, I am wondering if perhaps you have entered an higher income then the real one and/or If the income entered is considerably different from the one previously declared on a different credit application which all report this one data to National Hunter.
If that was the case, unfortunately it is indeed considered a form of fraud, but I hope to be wrong.
The bank is just doing its job and complying with its regulatory obligations if something doesn’t stack up.
I’m very surprised they told you they have placed a CIFAS marker though. In my time working in a similar sphere (insurance) we would never tell the customer anything beyond ‘account has been flagged by one of our internal team for some further investigation before we can proceed’.
As previously mentioned discrepancies in income can be a red flag.
I entered the same basic salary as I have done on any other application (excluding overtime and bonuses as 99% of applications tell you to not include those).
The only difference being the Premier Account as it also asks additional information for bonus and overtime payments as additional fields to the basic salary one.
The letter also specifically states they have added a CIFAS marker to “protect me” for future applications. I don’t want/need this marker so will be asking them to remove it.
You never know – there is a tiny chance that some fraudster has been applying for credit in your name hence me suggesting gathering what information you can for now.
If they say the marker is to protect you then this is weird as they are implying that they think you have been a victim rather than a perpetrator of fraud.
I’d be fascinated to know if Amex take part in National Hunter as Amex ask for all income whereas most other credit card issuers are much more prescriptive. I have reported massively different numbers over the years given there is basic salary, contractual bonus, discretionary profit share, and investment income in the mix.
I remember giving Barclays salary + bonus and wondering if it would be an issue almost immediately after a Creation application (basic salary only) but I had no issues. Maybe Creation don’t report.
I hope they sort it swiftly and once they have done their thing they actually let you talk to a human to understand what has happened.
They still want to proceed with the application as they want me to go to a branch with 2 forms of ID (photo and address) to confirm it was actually me etc. and it says the application may take longer because of these manual checks.
I’ll speak to them then and see what they can advise regards the marker etc. and what caused the fraud alert on their systems.
I opened the Avios Plus fine with no hassle and the card is still working so they’ve not put a blocker on anything else.
But I need confirmation from them that it will be up and running before the 30th so i can enable the Avios Rewards and switch my account etc.
Also yes, the letter says they believe someone else to have used my details to open an account in my name.. using my personal email and house address where I reside and am on the electoral roll registered at – go figure…
That is different though, much more a positive news and nothing you should held against Barclays..
It has happened to me in 2015 when someone else impersonating me successfully opened an account with Barclays (where I had already been a customer for close to 20 years) with a different address around Nottingham (I have only ever lived in London) and this same fraudster bought several iPhones from Vodafone as well as trying to order a sofa using my real address but different delivery address (for the sofa, phones were collected in store) all in the space of less then a week. A Protective Cifas marker was put on my name so I had indeed to always prove my indents and there would be extra checks for every credit application I did (caused some embarrassment initially as I was finalising a very good deal on PCP).
So, update for you all.
Working in London today so popped into the local Barclays on the Strand as it’s just up from my HQ. They couldn’t help in there as they have “no qualified personal bankers” and directed me to their “flagship branch” at Tottenham Court Road – “no appointment needed – just walk in”…
Couldn’t be dealing with the faff of getting the tube so had a nice brisk walk up there from Strand.
Arrived and was greeted by a man running the bookings desk who informed me that they are fully booked for the day (despite Strand telling me to just walk in), and no one could see me until “maybe” tomorrow.
I explained my situation to him and he managed to fit me in there and then as they had a cancellation/late arrival.
The lady I then sat with went through everything with me, but even she couldn’t see or explain why they deemed the application to be fraudulent. Regardless, she checked my ID (passport and utility bill), put it all through on the system, phoned the Fraud Team and got them to clear the blocker on my application then continued to process the application and set me up with the Barclays app – so now I can see both the Premier Account and the Avios Plus card in the app.
She also advised me that Barclays will contact CIFAS to get the marker removed – so lets see if that happens. The guy on the phone also said it would be removed, and I assume those calls are recorded, so if nothing comes of it I should have some ammo to go back to them with.
I’ve setup Avios Rewards (for £12 p/m) and setup a standing order to cover the charges until I know 100% the setup is complete and I have the new card and PIN before performing any Current Account Switches.
So despite the rather tedious and somewhat worrying application process, Barclays have now redeemed themselves by the in-branch service I received today.
Hats off to them!
Having just looked up the SAR process for National Hunter… they want people to send, via unencrypted email, a scanned form with name, date of birth, 6 years addresses along with scans of 2 personally identifying documents like passport/driving licence/birth certificate/hmrc document/bank statement…. it beggars beleif that a fraud focused organisation would operate this way.
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