Why verifying bank accounts is SO important
Verifying bank account details with clients serves several important purposes outlined below:
Accuracy: Ensuring correct that bank account information provided by our clients is accurate helps prevent errors in financial transactions.
Security: Verifying bank account details helps protect against fraud and unauthorised access. By confirming the account details directly you, we can minimize the risk of scammers or unauthorised individuals attempting to divert funds.
Compliance: Lawyers are subject to various financial regulations and anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Verifying your bank account details helps us comply with these regulations by ensuring that transactions are being conducted with legitimate parties. If any funds are coming from a third party source e.g a family member, then whoever deposits the money will also need AML completed on them as an individual.
Client Protection: Verifying bank account details is also a way to protect your interests. If we are handling settlements or other financial transactions on behalf of you, confirming your account details is paramount.
Ethical Obligations: Lawyers have ethical responsibilities to act in the best interests of their clients. Verifying bank account information helps fulfill this duty by providing a careful accurate service.
Record Keeping: Lawyers need to maintain precise records of financial transactions. Verifying bank account details helps in maintaining a clear and a meticulous record of payments made and received.
To carry out this verification process, we will request that clients provide official documents such as bank statements, and often we request that you visit the office in person to make these arrangements directly.