Online banking for mum

[LMS51]

Hi Everyone, my mam has been diagnosed with vascular dementia for 2 years now,is still ok-ish, and we have just gone through the process of myself becoming POA. For convenience sake we are trying to set up online banking. Sounds a stupid question but do I have to contact the bank first, and will she need to be with me . Although shes not too bad, she does get distressed about financial matters or anything not totally straightforward. Would she need an e mail address? She has no internet acccess herself. Thanks Lynda S x

[Dazmum]

Once the POA for my mum and dad was registered and I had a certified copy, I had to go to the bank to let them know officially and there was more form filling. Mum and dad had both signed the agreement to my having power of attorney and therefore the bank said they had to sign their form, even though their form said this was not required if the POA had been registered!! I had already arranged online banking in both their names before the POA, and was told that this could continue, but the bank didn't even know then that I was managing their banking online for them ( with their consent of course!)

When I went in to the branch to amalgamate two savings accounts into one, they arranged for me to have statements with my name sent to me and also my own registration number and user code for online banking to include the saving account, which was just mum's. I didn't need to take either parent to do this, but every bank is different, it seems, so I would suggest that you go into a branch and ask, taking your POA with you, but you may have to make an appointment as I did. I use mum's bank card and her cheque book, just signing my name with POA after it, but i know that other banks issue different cheque books too. Mum's is San****er.

[sue38]

Do be careful if you bank with the same bank.

I have a personal account which I operate through digital banking. I was amazed one day to see the accounts of a client (for whom I have EPA) appear alongside my accounts on my digital banking, simply because we use the same bank. My sister is a trustee of a trust which has funds with the same bank, and this account turned up on her digital banking. The EPA is in fact joint and several, but the trust requires the signature of all trustees to withdraw money. My sister could transfer all the trust money into her current account with a few clicks.

And you can't remove them from your digital banking. We have tried and tried, and ended up speaking with the head techie at the bank who just said 'Ooh we didn't think about that '.

Not all banks will be the same.

[nmintueo]

Hi Everyone, my mam has been diagnosed with vascular dementia for 2 years now,is still ok-ish, and we have just gone through the process of myself becoming POA. For convenience sake we are trying to set up online banking. Sounds a stupid question but do I have to contact the bank first, and will she need to be with me . Although shes not too bad, she does get distressed about financial matters or anything not totally straightforward. Would she need an e mail address? She has no internet acccess herself.

So ... are you saying you want your mum to use internet banking, or you want to use internet banking on her behalf? (Or do you mean you want to operate it but let the bank think it's her? Possible, but I'm a bit dubious about that approach.)

She's ok-ish, but doesn't have internet access and gets distressed about financial matters or anything not totally straightforward: for her, surely, internet banking is out. And, insofar as she gets distressed trying to deal with financial matters, would it be fair to infer that she has lost capacity to deal with them?

I would suggest you go about it this way:

• Register the power of attorney, if you haven't already.
• Then contact the bank. Be clear that you will be the only user. Make sure they send correspondence to your address, not your mother's.

You don't need to have your mother with you (we didn't). If the donor (your mum) has lost capacity, and the power of attorney has been registered, that's it; you're empowered to act.

Banks can be funny about attorneys having online access, and it's not always clear why.

One problem can be if there are joint attorneys; the bank can take the view that one of them using online banking is acting 'severally', so won't allow online banking.

Or, they may have a problem insofar as they can't tell who's using the service - you, or a co-attorney, or the donor (your mother).

Read more on this thread:

Online Banking
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showt...Online-Banking

[frazzled1]

Hi Everyone, my mam has been diagnosed with vascular dementia for 2 years now,is still ok-ish, and we have just gone through the process of myself becoming POA. For convenience sake we are trying to set up online banking. Sounds a stupid question but do I have to contact the bank first, and will she need to be with me . Although shes not too bad, she does get distressed about financial matters or anything not totally straightforward. Would she need an e mail address? She has no internet acccess herself. Thanks Lynda S x

i would initially set everything up by getting an appointment with the bank staff first by doing a walk-in. There are many awful scams whereby people telephone you at home pretending to be from the Bank and asking for everything from personal details to "pin" numbers saying they are calling from the bank to help you, but then they may call at a later date saying there has been some trouble with your account and that they need some details from you to prevent fraud. They themselve being the crooks. I just opened a Neighbourhood Watch pamphlet today in actual fact, all about this written by the police. So to sum up.....for online banking make sure you deal only directly with the bank, in person, in the bank building to set it up, and then when its set up, make sure you have tip top anti virus on your computer. A friend of mine was fleeced of a large sum which was eventually returned to her but it was very stressful for her and countless others, and could have been avoided had she not answered that bogus phone call OR the bogus e mails she also received. Hope this helps

[greenwoodpecker]

The facility for online banking re my mothers account was taken away from me about 4 years ago when the Halifax realised I had a registered enduring power of attorney. I still cannot understand why, but they would not allow online banking where the POA was registered with the court of protection. It was a terrible inconvenience and I very nearly changed banks as a result. (This is still true as it was mentioned at the bank last week).

[greenwoodpecker]

I have just read the link above - apparently lots of people have challenged the Halifax. Does anyone know the current situation? Have they conceded they were wrong? The staff member I spoke to last week did not mention a change of heart.
There is absolutely no reason why a registered EPO should not entitle you to use online banking. We are talking about people with no capability of running their own affairs at all.What difference does it make?

[FifiMo]

Greenwoodpecker,

I have just sent you a private message with information about the Halifax which you might find useful in getting online banking sorted out.

Fiona