Do all banks share info internally?

G

gotsomenow

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I presume they do.

It's just that I would like to open an account with a particular bank (lets call it X Bank) and I would intend to open in the Cork branch. But will the Cork branch share info with the Dublin branch.

My predicament being, that a friend of my sisters works in the Dublin branch of X bank and she loves nothing better than to broadcast what people known to her lodge in their accounts, even going as far as telling my sister what people earn and then coming up with stories of why such and such person is putting that much in their accounts.

I don't want her to know any of my personal business, but would really like to avail of their services? Is there a way of marking it private from the Dublin branch?

Thanks

G
 
Banks systems record your info on a customer basis, not account basis. So, once you have your account open, your customer info is visible to anyone with access to the system.
 
Is this a serious enquiry? I can only speak for one of the banks where I laboured for a long number of years on designing the computer systems. Take it for a fact that any account can be accessed from any branch and from a customer's perspective it can't be any other way. What would I do for example if I walked into a branch in Cork to enquire about my account in Dublin or to make an online lodgement to be told they couldn't help me?

There's generally more than one way to solve a problem however. I'm appalled to hear that a bank employee behaves in that fashion and even more appalled that she is not being reported for it. There's your answer!
 
Yes Pat, it is a serious enquiry. I thought there may have been a method of marking the account as private from a certain branch.

As much as it disgusts me that she thinks it is okay to fire around peoples personal information, I certainly do not want to approach a bank that I am not a customer of to report something on hearsay.

Thanks

G
 
This Dublin branch employee is breaking enough rules to get herself fired on the spot, ten times over. Do the right thing and report her NOW!
Problem solved.
BTW, not only do banks share info amongst their own branches (in essence all info is kept centrally, and not in the individual branch) but they also share info with other banks. This is usually just for all the wrong reasons though, such as bad credit rating, unpaid debts, previous foreclosure on hse (not so common in IRL), etc etc
 
A word of clarification PaddyD if you don't mind me doing it. Banks share certain information only through the medium of the Irish Credit Bureau. Full details can be found on

Whether on not that's done for "the wrong reasons" is debatable!

Otherwise, customer information is considered by the Banks to be strategically important and is not shared. Although it's done in other countries Irish financial institutions involved in the ATM reciprocity arrangement do not allow Balance enquiries to be made from a competitor's ATM because of concerns that such information might inadvertently become available to the competitor.
 
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There is usually some way of restricting access to certain individuals. I remember from my banking days there was a staff member who had her info hid as her estranged husband's friend worked in same bank and was passing info to him. But it's not done under normal circumstances.

Agree with paddyd - report this matter.
 
Yeah, I know what your saying is the right thing to do. What would be the best method of reporting this. I do not want the bank telling her that it was me that reported her. I don't think an email would suffice. I am in a tizzy now, anyone else like to report on my behalf..haha
 
I don't think the bank would reveal your identity-but they may wish to verify the information-would it not be better to get someone who has been affected to make a complaint?
 
Yes dat's right. Your solution certainly should work as one bank cannot access info from another, except through the credit bureau as already stated.

Such girls give bankers a bad name & if this passing on of information became known she'd certainly lose her job. We sign a form on joining about confidentiality of information. It's a major priority in our business - that & honesty in handling funds - & I am sad to hear of someone so blatantly ignoring such rules.

Please believe me it is not widespread.

I do think the bank would not reveal your identity & in fact would be grateful for this information. You need to be very sure of your facts though & I guess getting someone who has been affected to report it is rather difficult. After all then you have to reveal that you know info about them that you shouldn't.

If someone can prove that there has been a breech of confidentiality with their business, the bank can be sued, in fact it would never get that far as the bank would immediately compensate to keep matters quiet & the staff member would be fired.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes it would be a solution to just not open the account, but I wanted to do so because of the certain offers they had on.

I actually know one of the particular people she was 'mouthing' about, but I have not seen/spoken to him in years.

I will have a think about what to do, but I certainly would not like to get mixed up in some massive dispute, afterall it was my sister who told me and if I said something she would have to get involved also, and I don't think that is something she is prepared to do unfortunately.

thanks again

G
 
Basic account information on a customer of Location X branch can be viewed by all other branches of the same bank. Detailed information is not accessible / made available unless formally requested by another branch who need to justify why they require same.

All bank employees sign a declaration of secrecy upon joining the organisation.

This declaration of secrecy continues to apply even if they leave the bank at a later stage.

What you have detailed above amounts to gross misconduct. Whether you wish to take it further is up to you. It certainly could lead to the employee's dismissal.
 
moneyhoney said:
There is usually some way of restricting access to certain individuals. I remember from my banking days there was a staff member who had her info hid as her estranged husband's friend worked in same bank and was passing info to him. But it's not done under normal circumstances.

Agree with paddyd - report this matter.
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Her estranged husbands friend was passing info on....... Surely the solution the bank should have come up with here was not to restrict access to one staff members (who was also a customer) account but to fire the staff member (husbands friend) who was extracting and passing info on illegally.........Am I missing something here???
 
gotsomenow said:
My predicament being, that a friend of my sisters works in the Dublin branch of X bank and she loves nothing better than to broadcast what people known to her lodge in their accounts, even going as far as telling my sister what people earn and then coming up with stories of why such and such person is putting that much in their accounts.

I don't want her to know any of my personal business, but would really like to avail of their services? Is there a way of marking it private from the Dublin branch?
Click to expand...

No way around this really. Its not an uncommon issue for banks. The sisters friend is actually a huge security risk for the bank and somebody should tell her this. If she goes on like this she eventually will end up in trouble and probably will end up losing her job over it.

My mother once closed an account in Irish Permanent because a nosey ex-classmate of my sister's was suddenly working behind the counter. I don't think she actually went around broadcasting people's financial business, but my mother was intimidated enough to change to First Active. People are very sensitive about this kind of thing.

I'd suggest to your sister that if you heard a single thing back about this account from the "friend" you'd complain straight to the bank!
 
Each of the banks have different systems, so while its possible to view another branches customers details, the systems operate differently. I have experience of 2 of the main banks - in both of them you need to know the branch before you can search by name - would she really be sitting typing names in of people she knows in every place ? And in one of the Banks, you get a warning flashing on the screen if you re searching in a branch that you dont work in. These are monitored for the above reasons (ie the nosey parkers). Either way, if she doesnt know where your account is, prob little chance she ll stumble across it.
 
If she looks hard enough and is savvy enough she will find the account details no matter what bank you are with. If you have any evidence of her doing this previously, you should alert her employers, you have no safeguard here.
 
panathon said:
If she looks hard enough and is savvy enough she will find the account details no matter what bank you are with. If you have any evidence of her doing this previously, you should alert her employers, you have no safeguard here.
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surely you mean not matter what branch you are with?

pretty impossible for, say an AIB employee to find out BOI/UB/NIB/PTSB account details from the comfort of her own workstation.....

....unless the employee has friends in other banks who are as bent as she is.
 
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