Privacy statement and your identity

How we use the information you give us

Bank of Scotland is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The Lloyds Banking Group includes us and a number of other companies using brands including Lloyds TSB, Halifax and their associated companies. More information on the Lloyds Banking Group can be found at the Lloyds Banking Group website or by visiting one of our branches.

Your personal information will not be used by us or other companies within the Lloyds Banking Group to send you marketing material unless we have your consent. However your personal information may be shared across the Lloyds Banking Group for the purposes of providing you with services, administering your accounts, updating records, responding to your enquiries and complaints, internal analysis and training, assessing lending and insurance risks, for crime detection, prevention and prosecution, or where there is any other legal or regulatory obligation to do so.

Our privacy statement will give you all the information you need about:

• Why we need your information and where we obtain it
• How we use your information
• Credit referencing and fraud prevention
• Your right of access to your information and how to contact us

Download the full Privacy Statement (PDF opens in new a window)

To view PDF documents you will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader.

To read the PDF document with a screen reader please link to the Access Adobe website.

How to help us to prevent crime

When you take out certain products with us, to help us prevent crime, we will need to confirm your identity, this means proving who you are and where you live.

We need to verify the identity of all of our customers.  In the first instance we use a system of electronic identification and if this is successful, that's all we need to do. The search is performed with a credit reference agency. This is not a credit search and will only record the fact that we have done an ID check.

As part of our security checks we'll usually ask you for some personal details. When more than one person is applying, we may need to confirm the name and address of each of you. If we are unable to verify your identity electronically, we will ask you to provide some original documents containing your name and address if you're applying in branch or by post. This may happen whether you are applying to be a new customer or you have been one for some time. When applying online you will be told during the application process which options are available to you.

Further verification may also be requested in other circumstances such as if correspondence has been returned to us by the post office. This is to comply with money laundering regulations which help to stop criminals using financial products or services to hide money made from their illegal activities from the authorities.

Asking you for evidence of your identity also protects you from criminals who might falsely use your name, without you ever knowing.

For more information on proving your identity, anti-money laundering and the documents we will ask you to provide when opening an account, please see the personal information and your identity leaflet. (PDF opens in a new window)

To view PDF documents you will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader (new window).