This article is a compilation of the general FAQs regarding Consumer Bank Account Checker.
General FAQs
Q: What is Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: Consumer Bank Account Checker is an enhanced due diligence tool for a firm to check a consumer’s bank account details. This service allows you to check the personal bank account details of a client you are either sending funds to or receiving funds from.
You can use Consumer Bank Account Checker to verify that the bank account details you have been sent by a client are correct before transferring funds to them. You can also use this service to validate source of funds by checking who owns the bank account from which you received the funds.
Q: How is Consumer Bank Account Checker Different to the Account & Entity Screen?
Answer: Account & Entity Screen is a tool to check the details of a law firm before you send funds to them whereas Consumer Bank Account Checker is a tool for checking the account details of your consumer clients.
Q: Why Use Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: How do you know that you are sending funds to the correct bank account for your client? There is a huge and growing opportunity for criminals to hijack transactions and hack into personal systems such as email, Consumer Bank Account Checker allows you to check that the bank account details you have been given are correct.
This product compliments and adds protection to your existing Anti-Money Laundering procedures by evidencing that your client is the owner of the account that you are remitting funds to or receiving funds from.
Q: How Much Does Consumer Bank Account Checker Cost?
Answer: The current pay as you go price is £3.75 +VAT.
From 1st September 2018, a Minimum Usage Policy was introduced for all Lawyer Checker™ account holders which is £20 + VAT for months where less than this amount is charged in searches. More information on this policy can be found in the Terms and Conditions.
The minimum usage fee is for Lawyer Checker™ clients only, Unity clients can pay Adhoc with no minimum usage.
Q: How do I Pay for Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: All payments for Lawyer Checker searches are taken by direct debit which is set up on registration of your account. We invoice at the start of the month for any searches carried out in the previous month.
If you have a subscription, payment will be taken by direct debit and your schedule will show the equal monthly instalment for this.
If you have a Unity account, you can pay as usual, on your client account.
Q: What Details Do I Deed to Enter to Perform a Search on Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: All you need is your client’s First Name, Surname, Date of Birth, Full Address, Bank Account Number and Sort Code.
Results Queries
Q: How do I get my results for a Consumer Bank Account Checker search?
Answer: Your results will be sent via email with link to download from site. This will enable you to log in to a secure portal on the website and download your result via PDF.
Q: How Long Will It Take to Receive My Result When Using Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: Results are given in real-time subject to all correct information being received. We do have a 4 working hours SLA.
Q: What Result Will I Receive When Using Consumer Bank Account Checker?
Answer: You will receive a PDF result that contains four clear sections to show your result. For more information on the Consumer Bank Account Checker service, please click here.
Section 1: Account Check
This section shows if the account details you have searched match a valid bank account. You will receive one of three results:
RESULT |
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? |
| Match | The account details you provided match to an existing bank account. |
| No Match | The account details you provided do not match to an existing bank account. We suggest you exercise caution in these circumstances and fully review your file for any risk indicators. |
| Unable to Check |
Unable to Check means that the bank account exists but Experian do not hold the data and therefore cannot confirm the ownership. This means a definitive response cannot be given. It could be because Experian do not hold ownership data for this bank or that the account is on old terms with their bank and therefore we do not have consent on this particular account due to its age. We suggest you exercise caution in these circumstances and fully review your file for any risk indicators. You will not be charged if you receive this kind of result. |
Section 2: Account Ownership Check
If you have completed the joint/single ownership field on your order form, this section will show whether the account you are searching has matched to the type of ownership.
RESULT |
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? |
| Match | The ownership type you entered matches the account record. |
| No Match | The ownership type you entered does not match the account record. |
Section 3: Personal Details Check
This section of your result shows whether the name and Date of Birth (DOB) you entered match the personal details that are linked to the account you have searched. This provided as a score, out of 9.
Please note that a sophisticated fraudster may set up a bank account with the name of a legitimate individual and therefore you should consider this in conjunction with the Account sections of your result.
SCORE |
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? |
| 1 | No match (name and/or DOB are incorrect). Typically, you would reject this. |
| 3 | Possible match (name and/or DOB are partly wrong). We recommend you check the particulars searched. |
| 5 | Possible match (name and/or DOB are partly wrong). We recommend you check the particulars searched. |
| 7 | Highly probably match (name correct and DOB two digits out). We recommend you check the particulars searched. |
| 8 | Highly probable match (name correct and DOB one digit out). We recommend you check the particulars searched. |
| 9 | Exact match to name and DOB searched. |
Section 4: Address Details Check
This section of your result shows whether the address you entered match the address details that are linked to the account you have searched. This provided as a score, out of 9.
| A sophisticated fraudster may set up a bank account with the name of a legitimate individual and therefore you should consider this in conjunction with the Account sections of your result. |
SCORE |
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? |
| 1 | No match. Typically you would reject this and we recommend you check the details searched. |
| 2 | Possible match. Typically you would reject this and we recommend you check the details searched. |
| 5/6 | Probable match (some details missing/partly wrong). We recommend you check the details searched. |
| 7/8 | Highly probably match (minor details missing/partly wrong). We recommend you check the details searched. |
| 9 | Highly probably match (minor details missing/partly wrong). We recommend you check the details searched. |
Troubleshooting Queries
Q: What Does It Mean If a CBAC Is Unable to Check?
Answer: There are several reasons why a search may return Unable to Check. However, all are reasons based around account type and legislation. In cases where you are unsure it is always worth contacting the support team for advice.
The account may be a savings account which would not allow the check to proceed, this is because the CBAC search is only available for UK current accounts.
Any account that predates to 1993 may not have updated their terms and conditions which gives permission for Experian to share the data. If they haven't added internet banking or swapped banks since then they will be on their original T&C's which don't give permission to share their data. Anything after 1993, unless they have read through their T&C's (not many people do) and actively opted out of sharing their information, they will automatically give permission to disclose this to third-parties.
Besides the reasons listed above any bank or specific account with unusual rules or limitations on data sharing are unlikely to produce a conclusive result.
Q: Will I Be charged if I Receive an Unable to Check result?
Answer: No, if you receive an Unable to Check Result you will not be charged for the search.
If you have a subscription for Consumer Bank Account Checker and you receive an Unable to Check result, the search will not be counted as one of your annual search amount.
Other Queries
Q: Where Does Our Data Come From?
Answer: Our data comes from Experian, a leading global informational services company, who have been working directly with banks to gain access to their client data form verification purposes. After extensive research we have carefully chosen to partner with Experian and we are confident that they offer the very best data and service available.
Q: Are There Any Restrictions on Bank Accounts That I Can Check?
Answer: This service only works on personal Current Accounts within the United Kingdom.
As a provider of credit check services, Experian have access to a large majority of information relating to bank accounts in the UK. They work with the majority of banks on all tiers and are limited only where they do not have consent to release information on certain accounts (Unable to Check results).