Those who have had their accounts closed by UK banks

[foreverlomsak]

1 hour ago, Brickleberry said:

If the bank closes your account, then just open a Wise account. Problem solved.

Both my private pension companies (one monthly and one annual) refused to deposit my pensions  payments into my Wise account, only one gave a reason which was "Wise are a financial institution not a bank". 

[Eff1n2ret]

I don't believe there is any law that says that if you are not a UK resident you can not keep a UK bank account - it is the banks who seem to be rejecting customers for whatever reason.

 

How UK banks deal with their customers is set out in the Banking Conduct of Business Sourcebook - BCOBS.pdf (fca.org.uk) . I think you will not find in there anything which says that customers no longer resident in the UK must have their accounts closed. On the contrary, on Page 84 you will find this:-

"This chapter does not apply in relation to: (a) an account held by a banking customer in respect of whom the main correspondence address held by the [bank] is outside the United Kingdom" i.e. the clear inference is that banks may have customers who are not living in the UK.

 

I bank with First Direct, having done so for more than 10 years before I came to Thailand. They've not shown any sign of wanting to shut me down, but a few years back they stopped me from rolling over an annual savings product, because I'm not a UK resident. I looked through their terms and conditions, and there is a line which says your account may be closed "If you're no longer legally resident in the UK" - Now, you can argue that two ways, but I would say that's there to protect themselves against foreigners who overstay or otherwise infringe the Immigration Rules. As British citizens we have the Right of Abode in the UK and it should not be interpreted to apply to us. Perhaps some banks are doing so, and I sympathise with anyone who has lost out - there but for the Grace of God, etc.

[scubascuba3]

38 minutes ago, CharlieKo said:

If it was a fake address they would have closed the account. It has nothing to do with reassuring myself. If at some stage the bank changes policy, then I will deal with it at that time. 

 

I've lived here in Thailand for 15 years. The bank have had plenty of time to discover I live in Thailand. They finally decided to ask me questions a couple years ago. I answered their questions. They did not close down the account. I have no reason to think they will close the account out of the blue. Maybe my situation is different from others. That they have not closed the account. 

 

I also think that the bank is not above bending the rules to keep accounts open. London still being the money laundering capitol of the world! 

 

To qualify that. Requirements for holding a UK bank account is being a resident of the UK! Banks determine that with a UK address. Using online banking I have changed my address a number of times. I have not been required to go to a branch to provide any documentation of proof of address. 

As far as the bank is concerned, I provided a UK address so they accept me as a client of the bank. 

You've probably missed the threads where people have their address as Thailand i.e. receiving debit card in Thailand and suddenly they get notice their account is being closed, it depends on the banks, i think i recall posts for HSBC, NatWest and Barclays closing accounts, but it could be any bank if they decide they want them closed, hence the reason for the thread

[CharlieKo]

16 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You've probably missed the threads where people have their address as Thailand i.e. receiving debit card in Thailand and suddenly they get notice their account is being closed, it depends on the banks, i think i recall posts for HSBC, NatWest and Barclays closing accounts, but it could be any bank if they decide they want them closed, hence the reason for the thread

I am aware of all of that.

 

Ironically, when I first moved to Thailand and wanting to be above board, I used my Thai address, even received a debit card from the bank. But when that card was due for renewal, I received notice that the bank do not send cards to Thailand. 

 

I needed the card to set up new payments online. That is when I changed address to a UK address. The card would be sent to that address and then forwarded to me. It was my accountants home address.

 

having a guess, but if the bank knew the address was that of an accountant. Would that make them think twice about closing the account. As it was he who notified me that the bank needed some answers. He also forwarded my reply and proofs to the Bank. 

[simon43]

Wise pays 4% interest - it's clearly displayed on their home page.

[CharlieKo]

5 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Wise pays 4% interest - it's clearly displayed on their home page.

From Wise;

 

"To protect your money while offering you a good return, we’ve partnered with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. When you switch to Wise Interest, your money’s in a fund holding government-backed assets. This fund is low risk because its assets are guaranteed by the government. There are fund fees — 0.29% annually, which is £2.90 for every £1,000 you hold in Interest. To make things clearer, our fees are already factored into our rates."

 

Current rates

 

4.54% on GBP

4.81% on USD

3.06% on EUR

 

Not sure I trust government bonds though!

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, CharlieKo said:

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Why on earth not?

Because it's irrelevant. Any UK bank can close your account if you don't meet their requirements.  

It's not irrelevant; your post, that I responded to seemed to suggest that your bank did not close your account when you provided the requested details.  That is very relevant.

[CharlieKo]

9 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

It's not irrelevant; your post, that I responded to seemed to suggest that your bank did not close your account when you provided the requested details.  That is very relevant.

I know the same bank has closed down accounts of other forum members and expats around the world. 

 

Basically the bank asked if I pay taxes in Thailand and wanted proof of that. I provided them with a Thai Tax number which satisfied them. They never explicitly said they would close the account if I did not provide the info. But it was pretty obvious they would have if I was not able to give them that info.  

 

I don't think others were given a chance to keep their accounts open. Some may have been able to if they could provide a UK address. Barclay's stopped sending me a C/C because I didn't give them a UK address. As an example.   

[alien365]

My bank (natwest) know I live in Thailand, but I still use my family UK address. Every couple of years that I go back I pop into the bank and make a deposit and they've never said anything. The only issue I have is buying Christmas presents when they block payments and require me to call them. They then sometimes get arsey saying the transactions were blocked as I've been away from the UK too long. 

[OJAS]

16 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i recall posts for HSBC, NatWest and Barclays closing accounts

Plus TSB:

 

 

[Regyai]

21 hours ago, Brickleberry said:

If the bank closes your account, then just open a Wise account. Problem solved.

Until Wise pulls the rug from under you - which they can and will do if it suits them...with NO explanation or means of appeal/redress.

[Andrew Dwyer]

6 minutes ago, Regyai said:

Until Wise pulls the rug from under you - which they can and will do if it suits them...with NO explanation or means of appeal/redress.

Yes, that happened to me, I tried to get some explanation but none was given. Resorted to a new email address and used the wife’s phone number to open another account.

[Red Forever]

On 7/27/2023 at 1:06 PM, scubascuba3 said:

should consider getting on Nigel Farages database, the time is right

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/26/my-war-on-woke-banks-is-just-getting-started/

Anyone taking advice from that snake oil salesman deserve all they get.

[Davejf2017]

Barclays Bank have sent me emails texts and a letter stating that due to "Brexit" .I am required to have a UK address to keep my accounts open with them.I have had a current account with them for over 20 years past 7 years overseas.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

On 7/27/2023 at 2:01 PM, JonnyF said:

Farage is doing a great job. The banks clients political views are none of their business. Alison Rose's virtue signalling has backfired bigtime. Her career is in tatters, the liar. 

 

And people wonder why others don't want to go to a cashless society. So they take away cash first and then arbitrarily close your account if you don't adhere to the "correct" political viewpoint. Essentially unpersoning you for wrongthink.

 

I hope Farage sues the lot of them.

 

 

Agreed, especially the guy in charge of Coutts bank, Peter Flavel, who has now stepped down!

Edited July 28, 2023 by Smokey and the Bandit

[scubascuba3]

15 minutes ago, Davejf2017 said:

Barclays Bank have sent me emails texts and a letter stating that due to "Brexit" .I am required to have a UK address to keep my accounts open with them.I have had a current account with them for over 20 years past 7 years overseas.

I wonder if they will reconsider that approach following the Farage kerfuffle

[doctormann]

1 hour ago, Davejf2017 said:

Barclays Bank have sent me emails texts and a letter stating that due to "Brexit" .I am required to have a UK address to keep my accounts open with them.I have had a current account with them for over 20 years past 7 years overseas.

BB are closing my current and savings accounts at the end of August, because I don't maintain a UK address, and I have banked with them for 60 years!  This, apparently, counts for nothing.  Neither does the fact that I am a UK citizen, paying UK income tax on my pensions.  I am fortunate in that I do also have an International Account which, apparently, I am allowed to keep - for now.

 

It just seems very wrong to me that a UK tax-paying pensioner should be denied access to the on-shore banking network.  What do they expect us to do?  Some pension providers will only pay into an on-shore account.  It is possible to get the UK state pension, for what it's worth, paid into a Thailand account, but this may not be the case for occupational pension providers.

 

Some people here use Wise but Wise is not actually a bank, as has been pointed out previously in this topic, and seems to come with its own problems - such as currency transfers from the UK not appearing as international transactions.

 

I am getting too old for all this cr*p!

 

[Drumbuie]

Coutts has always had various financial thresholds for its accounts. I once had a current account with them (a *long* time ago!)  but closed it when my income dropped below the threshold, their charges kicked in and it was too expensive to keep banking there. 

Mr Farrago is a hypocritical publicity-seeking little windbag (imho) who's managed to deflect attention from the fact that he's either moved his money out of the UK (he and his family rushed to apply for EU passports the day after the Brexit vote, remember) or he's not as rich as he wants people to think. Or both. Nothing to do with politics; he breached the terms of the account. End of story. 

Rose's mistake was not to keep silent on the matter: such a breach of confidentiality is purely unprofessional. 

 

 

[Baht Simpson]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:15 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Yes you can get interest on cash with Wise, they were sending out emails about it recently. Balances moved to cash Funds or something like that

What's the interest tax position on that, Scuba, say if you hold sterling funds with them?

[sammieuk1]

I will get out my golden rules once again maintain a bank account don't use any cards issued by it here, a phone number, a trusted address for mail and a "doctors"

but alas this part has just failed for me along with my meds ordering that has worked and sent here for the last 8 years due to phishing letter sent to my previous address.

 

No bank or government organizations tells you their business don't tell them yours and note it only ever says temporary stay on my visa not resident ????

[vinny41]

30 minutes ago, Drumbuie said:

Coutts has always had various financial thresholds for its accounts. I once had a current account with them (a *long* time ago!)  but closed it when my income dropped below the threshold, their charges kicked in and it was too expensive to keep banking there. 

Mr Farrago is a hypocritical publicity-seeking little windbag (imho) who's managed to deflect attention from the fact that he's either moved his money out of the UK (he and his family rushed to apply for EU passports the day after the Brexit vote, remember) or he's not as rich as he wants people to think. Or both. Nothing to do with politics; he breached the terms of the account. End of story. 

Rose's mistake was not to keep silent on the matter: such a breach of confidentiality is purely unprofessional. 

 

 

Coutts relaxes £1m threshold to cater for Adam clients

The private bank has eased its deposit rules after being left with a number of lower net worth clients following Canaccord's acquisition of Adam & Co's investment arm.

The spokesperson added that the private bank has a 'broad spectrum' of customers that have significantly less than the £1m minimum, such as the ..

https://citywire.com/wealth-manager/news/coutts-relaxes-1m-threshold-to-cater-for-adam-clients/a2400689

[jesimps]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:14 PM, CharlieKo said:

If you read my first comment after your OP. I stated that I use a UK address. That fact that I don't live at that address and never have seems to be irrelevant to the bank. 

Me too, but it seems a shame that expats who don't have family or friends in the UK whose address they can use are beggared. In my opinion, everyone with a UK passport and pays tax to the UK should be entitled to a bank account. I've never had enough cash in the bank to go into the ins and outs of money laundering, so I'm willing to conceded that that could be a somewhat naive view.

[The Fugitive]

51 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

I will get out my golden rules once again maintain a bank account don't use any cards issued by it here, a phone number, a trusted address for mail and a "doctors"

but alas this part has just failed for me along with my meds ordering that has worked and sent here for the last 8 years due to phishing letter sent to my previous address.

 

No bank or government organizations tells you their business don't tell them yours and note it only ever says temporary stay on my visa not resident ????

Is it too late for you to save the bank account referred to? Santander UK wrote to my UK address and, as I wasn't there to respond, suspended my on-line access. The next stage, so I'm told, would have been to close my account. I explained by telephone that I was only temporarily abroad, albeit for an extended period. They asked for my future intentions of how I would use the account and then agreed to reinstate my on-line access.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Baht Simpson said:

What's the interest tax position on that, Scuba, say if you hold sterling funds with them?

Probably taxable as UK interest, subject to allowances

[placnx]

On 7/27/2023 at 3:17 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

I'm going to state the obvious again...the political aspect of UK banks closing accounts of UK residents who are entitled to have those accounts is not comparable, in any way, to the closing of accounts for non-UK residents who are definitely not entitled to UK bank accounts.   They'd be jumping on the wrong bandwagon.

I've had a UK bank account for many years and never been resident in the UK.

[Liverpool Lou]

4 minutes ago, placnx said:

I've had a UK bank account for many years and never been resident in the UK.

Good for you.  You couldn't do that now though for a new account.

[kiwikeith]

On 7/27/2023 at 9:30 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Of course it does, the person who processed it accepted it was basically a fake address you never lived at, that could easy change in the future, but reassure yourself it wont happen you'll feel better that way. Banks can close accounts when they know you live abroad, it happens can take years, maybe just a policy change or more strictly applied

Just a query, don't you need a UK bank account to receive your pension, I know that NZ transfers your pension to your Thai bank and you can nominate to pay your own tax overseas, but I never heard of banks closing your account if you live overseas, but since the pandemic and what Treudeu did in Canada to truck drivers, Banks have gained more power. 

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, kiwikeith said:

Just a query, don't you need a UK bank account to receive your pension

Apparently not, you can receive a pension direct to a foreign bank account, but some people like to consolidate income before transferring it, plus there's the potential tax liability if income earned is transferred to Thailand the same year, but no-one seems to care about that currently 

[Andycoops]

I informed Nationwide that I was retiring to Thailand and gave them my official address here, along with HMRC etc.

That was 15 years ago and I never had a problem.

 

However with the news that expats with some UK bank accounts being given notice of closure due to non resident status.

I have opened a Wise GBP account in addition to my other Wise accounts, just in case Nationwide do decide the time is up.

[Liverpool Lou]

20 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

That was 15 years ago and I never had a problem.

That is the point, exactly, that was fifteen years ago. Banking regulations have changed since then. 

So many people have blinkered themselves into not seeing that current banking protocol can be applied retrospectively to expat customers who no longer fit the requirement that to have a UK bank account the holder must be UK resident. 

 

I do not wish account closure on anyone but those non-UK residents in that position must not be surprised, nor indignant, when their turn comes around.