General terms and conditions
Table of contents:
- Our agreement
- Our accounts
- Eligibility & residence
- Alternative format
- Verifying your identity
- Tax responsibilities
- Protecting your data
- Accessing your data
- Keeping us informed
- Communications
- Opening an account
- Making payments
- Operating your account
- Protecting your account
- Getting in touch
- Got a complaint?
- Your right to cancel
- Changes to these T&Cs
- Our right to terminate
- Copyright & trademarks
- Liability
- Applicable law
Banking with Atom is straightforward, so we give you information when it’s relevant to you. At this point, our contract with you consists of our App T&Cs, our Registration T&Cs and these General T&Cs. Please ensure you read them so you understand the terms of our agreement with you. If there’s any conflicting information, these General T&Cs take priority.
These T&Cs detail the agreement between you and Atom (‘we’/‘us’) when you apply for an account with us.
Each condition of these T&Cs operates separately. If any court or competent authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the other conditions will remain in full force and effect.
Our accounts are designed to be accessed through the Atom App and managed from your smartphone or tablet. In some situations, you may need to do things by phone (e.g. accounts operated under a Power of Attorney).
You’ll need to download our App and register ‘Your ID’ (as described in our Registration T&Cs) before you can apply to open an account. The App will guide you and our support team is available 24/7 if you have any difficulties – you can get in touch via the Help button in the App.
To open an Atom account you’ll need to be at least 18 years old and a UK resident.
Once you’ve opened an account, you must let us know if you intend to live outside the UK. If your residence overseas will be for three years or less, you’ll be able to manage your account from outside the UK. If your residence overseas will be for more than three years, we’ll need you to close your account.
You won’t be able to manage your account from some countries. If you have any questions, please check with us before you travel.
Our digital format goes a long way towards achieving full accessibility for all, but if you need these T&Cs supplied in another format, or if we can help you to use our service in any other way, simply contact us via the Help button in the App, call us on 0333 399 0050 or email customersupport@atombank.co.uk.
When you apply to become an Atom customer, we’ll ask you for some personal data so we’re able to verify your identity. The nature of this data will vary depending on the type of product you apply for but will always include information like your full name, address and date of birth.
To complete the identification and verification (‘ID&V’) process, we will run an electronic search with a credit reference agency. If you apply for a savings product, this will leave a ‘soft footprint’ on your credit file, so won’t affect your credit history. If you apply for a mortgage, it will leave a ‘credit footprint’ on your file which means other providers will be able to see that we’ve run a search and may affect your credit history.
There are times when we may ask you to complete ID&V again (e.g. to keep our records up to date if you move house).
Our digital format goes a long way towards achieving full accessibility for all, but if you need these T&Cs supplied in another format, or if we can help you to use our service in any other way, simply contact us via the Help button in the App, call us on 0333 399 0050 or email customersupport@atombank.co.uk.
We hold your personal data in a secure environment and use security measures to protect it from unauthorised access and ensure it is accurate and is used appropriately.
We treat the information you give us with the greatest respect and will never share it with anyone else for marketing purposes.
We’ll only use your data:
- To administer your accounts and provide appropriate services.
- To verify your identity when you register as a customer (ID&V).
- To obtain and develop credit-scoring profiles.
- To suggest Atom products or services that may be of interest to you.
- To complete troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, and for statistical and survey purposes.
- To comply with regulatory, tax or audit obligations.
- To carry out fraud prevention checks when opening new accounts. If false or inaccurate information is identified, we’ll pass it on to the credit reference and fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement departments may access and use this information.
- To prevent fraud and money laundering – e.g. the information provided to fraud prevention agencies may be used when checking applications for credit, credit-related or other facilities or for managing these accounts; for recovering debt; for checking insurance proposals or claims; and for checking details of job applicants or employees. Other organisations may also use your information for these purposes.
- To carry out a credit reference agency search on you.
To complete these activities, we may need to share some or all of your data with our trusted partners, including fraud prevention, anti-money laundering and credit reference agencies (whose details we can share with you on request), law enforcement departments, regulators, government departments (e.g. HMRC) and the providers of our sales or servicing platforms.
Take a look at our Privacy Policy (https://www.atombank.co.uk/policies/terms-of-use#privacy) for more information about how we protect your data.
If you ever need to see details of any information we hold about you, you can submit a data subject access request by emailing customersupport@atombank.co.uk or calling us on 0333 399 0050. We’ll act on your request as quickly as possible (and always within 30 days).
It’s important that we have your correct contact details at all times. So if you change your name, address, mobile number or email address, please let us know via the Help button in the App.
If you don’t tell us that your details have changed we’ll continue to use the information we hold. We can’t be responsible if this results in confidential information being misdirected. If we lose contact with you and have to try and find you, we may charge you for any costs incurred, so please keep us up to date.
We’ll communicate with you through the App and other digital channels wherever possible, so it’s important that we always have your current mobile number and email address and that you have your App push notifications switched on. There are times when regulation means we have to communicate with you in a specific way and in exceptional circumstances, we may contact you by post.
If we suspect any fraud or security threats on your account, we’ll contact you in the way we think is most secure and in some circumstances we may ask you to call us back.
We’ll store important documents safely in your Vault for a reasonable period of time, so you can read them, print them or email them. If you need access to a document and can’t find it in your Vault, you can contact us via the Help button in the App and we’ll provide you with a copy of it.
We’ll only send you marketing communications if you give us permission to do so and you can change your preference at any time.
If you need someone else to operate your account, we may be able to register a Power of Attorney (POA) for you – please check the product T&Cs for confirmation. If we do this, your Attorney will be able to access information about your account and in some circumstances, we may restrict what you’re able to do.
At this time, we’re only able to register a POA if you’re an existing Atom customer - i.e. if you have downloaded the App, registered Your ID, verified your identity and opened an account. For security reasons, POA administration of an account is managed via our customer support team (rather than in the App) so please call us on 0333 399 0050 to discuss setting up a POA for your account.
If you need any support to operate your account due to a temporary or permanent change in your circumstances, get in touch and we’ll do all we can to help.
When you open an Atom account you’ll receive a sort code and account number which you can use to make electronic payments into it from other banks or building societies.
Most electronic transfers between banks and building societies are made by Faster Payments. We are a direct member of the Faster Payments Scheme and have set a limit of £110,000 for payments out of an Atom account. Other financial institutions may have different limits, so you need to check with them that they’ll make your requested payments into your Atom account.
For more information about making payments in and out of specific accounts, take a look in the product T&Cs.
You must tell us without undue delay (and within 13 months at the longest) if you think something’s wrong with a payment to or from your account. If you don’t tell us within this timescale, we may not be able to resolve the issue for you.
If a payment out of your account doesn’t complete correctly because of a bank error that we believe is genuine, we’ll return your account to the position it would have been in without the error and if relevant, contact the other bank to recover the payment.
It’s your responsibility to ensure the account details you give us are correct, so if a payment out of your account doesn’t complete correctly because you made a mistake we won’t refund you. We will make reasonable efforts to help you recover the payment, but this may not be possible.
If you tell us a payment out of your account was not made by you, you won’t usually be held responsible for any payments made while your account is compromised and we’ll return it to the position it would have been in if the payment hadn’t been made. We’ll do this by the next working day unless we have a regulatory obligation to investigate or act differently. If we find that you’ve acted fraudulently or with gross negligence, we won’t refund you.
If someone else tells us they’ve accidentally made a payment into your account and we reasonably believe this has happened, we may stop any withdrawals being made from your account while we discuss next steps with you. If you agree there has been an error or you don’t respond by the deadline we give you, we will return the payment. Where the payment was made over two months earlier, we’ll always ask for your consent before returning it.
If you ever need to see details of any information we hold about you, you can submit a data subject access request by emailing customersupport@atombank.co.uk or calling us on 0333 399 0050. We’ll act on your request as quickly as possible (and always within 30 days).
We may stop payments to and from any of your accounts and/or block access to them if we think it’s reasonably necessary because:
- We’re concerned about the security of your account;
- We suspect your account has been used fraudulently or in an unauthorised way; or
- We have to do so to meet any legal obligations.
If we do this, we’ll always try to give you advance notice, unless doing so is unlawful or would compromise our security measures; otherwise, we’ll tell you as soon as possible afterwards.
If you experience any technical difficulties with opening or operating the Atom App or your account, our customer support team is available to help 24/7.
If you need to tell us something or ask a question please contact us via the Help button in the App, call us on 0333 399 0050 or email customersupport@atombank.co.uk.
Our aim is to get everything right first time, all of the time, but sometimes we may miss the mark.
If you’re unhappy with any aspect of our service or want to complain, you can tell us via the Help button in the App, or go to https://www.atombank.co.uk/how-to-complain and we’ll guide you through our complaints procedure. We’ll do our best to resolve your concerns, but if we can’t, or if we don’t deal with your complaint satisfactorily within the stated timescales, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) may be able to help.
The FOS is an independent organisation, which helps to settle disputes. You can find out more on their website http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/.
Alternatively, you can contact the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution service at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.
Your right to cancel any arrangement you enter into with us will be based on the type of product you have. This is explained in detail in the product T&Cs.
We’ll give you 30 days’ notice to consider any changes to these T&Cs, unless they’re to your advantage, when we’ll make them straight away. In some circumstances, we may be required by regulation to give you more or less notice - in these cases, we’ll tell you how much time you have to review the changes. You can object to the changes before they take effect and depending on the circumstances, you may be able to close an impacted account; otherwise, you’ll be deemed to have accepted the changes from the date they take effect.
We’ll only make changes to these T&Cs:
- To reflect developments in our App or proposition (including our products / services);
- To respond proportionately to changes in the law or decisions of the Financial Ombudsman Service;
- To meet regulatory requirements;
- To reflect new industry guidance or codes of practice which raise standards of consumer protection;
- To proportionately reflect other legitimate cost increases or reductions associated with providing the particular product or service you use;
- To ensure we are being fair to all our customers; and/ or
- To respond to changes in general banking practice for the benefit of all consumers.
We’ll only do this if we reasonably expect to be affected by one of the above reasons.
We can end our agreement and close your account immediately if we reasonably believe you have:
- Seriously or persistently broken the terms of our agreement;
- Given us false information at any time;
- Put us in a position where we might break a law, regulation, code or other duty that applies to us if we continue to maintain your accounts;
- Committed or attempted fraud against us or anyone else;
- Used any account illegally or for criminal activity;
- Inappropriately allowed someone else to access your accounts; and/or
- Behaved in a threatening or abusive manner towards our staff.
All of our designs, logos and materials are owned by or licensed to us and protected by copyright laws, including Atom, Atom bank, Digital Mortgages by Atom bank and the eight ‘A’ marques which are registered trademarks of Atom bank plc, with all rights reserved.
We’re not responsible if we don’t comply with any of the T&Cs as a result of:
- Abnormal or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which would have been unavoidable despite all efforts to the contrary; and/or
- Our obligations under European or national law.
These T&Cs are governed by the laws of England and Wales and if there’s any disagreement about them, or between us about your account, we each agree that this’ll be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales.
General T&Cs (Personal)_v3.0. Effective from 19/02/20.