I’ve worked there for a long time and I can say for sure that this is not the case… 
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Both Monzo and N26 did pretty decent jobs at assigning relatively memorable account numerals too! My Barclays account number was easy to remember too! I know those ones by heart.
I think it was Halifax, but in the earlier days I think they just assigned them incrementally! I have a friend who’s account number is a string of 5 zeros followed by three other numbers.
It seems we’ve drifted a little off topic here, as fascinating as how these things work are! 
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I did think that’s was absolute wrong. I recall when I worked for Halifax HO, at the time we had to be paid using one of their own products. That soon changed a year or 2 later, bonus was we had our own branch in HO that was always fully staffed, so no queuing in the high street.
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I have an account like that at TSB, which isn’t that old.
I always thought someone must have switched away and, after a suitable time, I eventually got their recycled number!
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yeah, it changed about twenty years ago 
I think it was to pre-empt EU anti-competition regs from memory…
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Yes sounds about right timescale wise. I was 16 at the time and think by the time I was 18 we could use any account.
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To be fair to them, at that time (pre-Faster Payments) it probably would have been easier and cheaper for them to process payments as internal credits to their own accounts.
Otherwise, they would have had to use BACS Direct Credits, effectively paying their employees three days early to make sure the payment arrived on time.
That would have had cash-flow implications which, it is easy to see, would be best avoided.
It also meant that your employer had direct access to your financial records and sent monthly reports of your financial status to your line manager. If your account was overdrawn you would be invited to an interview to explain why!
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Yes, not so great - although you could always transfer your money straight out and use another bank on a daily basis.
At least then they would be unable to see your spending.
From what I recall it was a monthly one line report that stated whether you had become overdrawn and if so by how much. It didn’t show line by line transactions, but even so a gross invasion of privacy!
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Indeed!
Well, I can talk about my experience only 
I know this may be because your employer is also your bank, but it still seems a bit wrong to me.
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