I've been with Barclays for years and never had any problems with opening new accounts.

Is this the first time for you with Barclays, if so its probably a once off and would apply to any new customer at any bank. As has been said by other posters its a requirement to prevent money laundering. There was a time you could open an account in any name you chose but that doesn't apply any more. Its your real name or not at all.

That said once you have an account its quite easy to log on to On Line banking and to open further accounts On Line. Just last week I opened two new ISAs for me and my wife On Line. They already had all our details filled in on the applications and all I had to do was provide and confirm our NI numbers.

As you say, you have had a similar experience with your present bank with regards to not going into the branch, but there are certain things which they will not do remotely. For instance we had to go in when we changed our address.

Does this mean I dint exist .. can I stop paying tax then? They seem to think I am still alive.

Quizman/alan14,

I, obviously, don't know where you have been living lately, BUT santander have bought - I believe - all the RBS branches in England and this will be completed later this year. We are with RBS because we were with a wonderful bank, Williams & Glyns, which was taken over by RBS and we only stayed because we are both Scots who were brought South by our parents and, personally, I have no trust in Santander running the branches in anything like an efficient manner, as has been reported on many, many foruns where the problems they create just keep growing. If you call this a 'nationalistic rant' then that is your choice, but please get your fact correct before writing. Just to be accurate I believe RBS sold 700 to 800 branches for something like £2.3Billion last summer so unless you can show otherwise - and the staff in my local branch of RBS told me the completion was this summer- I will not be staying with Santander. Does anyone really trust them?