Proof of Address

Hello

I have been trying, for over a week, to transfer my ISA from HL to FT.

The process is at hault because for some reason they are not accepting my bank statement as a proof of address.

Even before that, this whole system of ā€œemailingā€ a CS person and waiting for it to be read only for the answer to be just some pointless ā€œadditionā€ to the conversation is very frustrating.

I moved from place A to B back in Jan.
Iā€™ve updated all kinds of accounts I have - wasnā€™t able to update FT becauseā€¦ See previous paragraph.
Now the account with HL has the correct address, the ISA transfer form has the correct address, the bank account statement has the correct addressā€¦ but because FT still has address A they are refusing the transfer.

Wtf?!

Over a week in these little ā€œemailsā€ back and forth.
I had a feeling I shouldā€™ve gone to Vanguard but I thought the intuitiveness of FTs app would be better, but keep forgetting how other stuff like CS and ā€œease of solutionā€ are.

Anyone else struggling with mere paperwork?

Freetrade takes UKā€™s money laundering regulations seriously. You made it clear what the issue is - you need to sort out your address issue. Provide evidence of the change that is acceptable to Freetrade. It is not unusual for companies to not accept Internet downloaded bank statements as proof of address. You would have exactly the same problem with many Financial companies in the UK (and probably EU).

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Increasingly internet only bank statements are the only choice for many bank accounts and places seem to be waking up to that.

If other brokers and banks can manage the change of address then it seems odd that FT canā€™t.

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What has worked for me on several occasions is running the bank statement through a ā€˜scan filterā€™ that adds fold marks and grain to an internet bank statement. Although it would be very dissapointing if FT didnā€™t accept them as is. Itā€™s a step I usually reserve for dinosaur corporations.

FT does allow changes based on ā€˜onlineā€™ account statements. I successfully used them more than once. It canā€™t be that.

It seems that my comment

needs a clarification.

To be clear, an Internet downloaded bank statement is typically acceptable provided it is certified by a bank. If for some reason a certification is not required it is because there have been other ways that the address has been certified (whether or not you know this). But there are some nuances and complications in all this - I donā€™t think that anyone other than Freetrade and the OP knows the full circumstances of what is unusual here and why there is an issue. There are KYC provisions that the law requires money businesses to adhere too: often little odd things will trigger closer inspections. I am saying these things as someone who had to go obligatory money laundering prevention and detection training.

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