There is near panic over the loss of 25 million sets of personal details - NI numbers and bank details, as well as addresses. I really don't understand how this is a big problem. When I sign up a new tenant (a credit operation, for sure) then I always get sight of some photo ID - usually a passport. It simply would not be possible to rent a property from Herts Lettings as someone else just by having the data that was possibly stolen from the NAO.
I have bought things on eBay and been stunned that people will still insist on being paid by cheque rather than by BACS on the grounds that they are unwilling to reveal their sort code and account number, even though they do so every time they write a cheque (and require me to by virtue of asking to be paid by cheque).
Banks vary a great deal in their interpretation of money laundering regulations. I find that a fax to Cater Allen with a SWIFT Code and an account number is more than enough to get money to (for example) China, but if I try to make an international funds transfer using Intelligent Finance I have to provide name and address details not only of the beneficiary but also of the beneficiary's bank. This can be very tiresome over the phone and has resulted in my giving up on IF as a way of sending money abroad.
I have just signed up with OzForex. This was fairly tedious 'compliance-wise', but now promises to get me much more competitive exchange rates than any high street bank is ever going to give me, and, I hope, be rather quicker at transferring money to overseas beneficiaries. Frankly if the rates were the same I'd still choose to go with OzForex as it allow beneficiary details to be entered online, rather than via phone or fax. I am slightly amazed that Cater Allen doesn't require international TTs to be requested via a letter written on vellum and delivered by a courier riding on horseback, such is their aversion to all things modern.
