Opening an account as a DWP appointee on the Monika platform is super simple.
Firstly, contact our friendly banking team, who can assist you with any questions you may have. After this, we will send an online application link to your email address for you to complete.
Contact Us here to open a bank account as a DWP appointee
We will need confirmation of your appointeeship with the DWP, and typically, this can be either a copy of the BF57 document that you should have received from them when you were authorised to act as the appointee for the vulnerable person you support or an up-to-date welfare benefit entitlement letter from the DWP which details your name as the legal appointee.
We also need your identification documents for the required Know Your Customer (KYC) check. These can include a certified copy of a passport or driving licence and a utility bill or council tax letter, for example. Our banking team will discuss all of the ID options when you chat with them.
As the Appointee Bank Account will be opened in the name of the vulnerable person you support, we will perform an online KYC check using their details. If their identification can be validated via the online check, then the account will be opened in a matter of seconds and will be ready to use. If their identification is not verified via the online check, then we will ask you to provide us with supporting documents to confirm their identification.
Don’t worry, though; we completely understand that it is very common for vulnerable people not to have standard identifications to confirm a person’s ID. If this is the case, then we have our own identification and address confirmation statement letter that can be completed by a professional person to confirm the ID and address of the vulnerable person in the absence of standard supporting documents.
Professionals who can complete and sign our letter of ID and Address verification are social workers, CQC Registered Managers of care homes or supported living accommodations, Doctors, probation Officers, Police Officers, Solicitors, FCA regulated Financial Advisors, DWP Jobcentre employees and professional from other, recognised bodies.
With this information, we can go ahead and open the bank account, although it will then take about 4 days as our banking partner (Zempler Bank) needs to process the verification manually.
Your Appointee Bank Account will then be opened free of charge, and you can start to enjoy and benefit from all of Monikas financial tools and features listed below:
Some Features of the Appointee Account
- Free of Charge and simple to open
- Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protected
- Buil-in welfare benefit check and entitlement calculator
- Store, view and share DWP letters and other documents
- Prepaid spending cards for loved ones /carers/support workers
- Biometric fingerprint activated debit cards – No PIN required
- Set up automated balance limits on accounts for safeguarding
- Get personalised suspicious payment alerts for fraud monitoring
- Use or Current Account Switch Service to transfer old account
- Instant bank statements online or from smartphone app
- Entry onto the Vulnerability Registration Service database
- Access to expert support from the Money Carer Foundation
