Archie said the bank’s process was unfair. He said the bank had confiscated money in the trust account and had implied he had acted wrongly. He wanted the bank to reinstate the account, reimburse lost interest, and compensate him for stress and inconvenience.

Our investigation

The bank had asked for certified photo identification and information about the nature and purpose of the account. Its customer request form said photo identification had to be certified as a true likeness. The documents Archie supplied did not meet this requirement. Archie said getting documents certified was difficult because of where he lived.

We found the bank was entitled to close the account because Archie had not given it the information it had reasonably requested in order to meet its anti-money laundering obligations. The bank emailed Archie and gave him 21 days to supply the information. We found the notice period was reasonable in the circumstances.

However, the bank’s communication was unclear and inaccurate. It wrongly suggested Archie had given it a certified passport. It also wrongly told him an overseas driver licence was not acceptable identification. That said, these errors did not change the fact that the bank had justifiable grounds to close the account because it did not receive certified photo identification, along with information about his intended use of the account.

The bank held the money in the account while awaiting Archie’s instructions about where to transfer it. By late December 2025, it had told him what was needed to transfer the money overseas. Archie did not complete and return the transfer form until February 2026. The bank transferred the money the next day. We found the bank was not responsible for the delay.

Outcome

We upheld part of Archie’s complaint, and we recommended he accept the bank’s offer of $200 which he did do.