HSBC Closing my account for no reason

Wildturkey_2

Last friday i received a letter from HSBC saying that they will be closing my account and i have 30 days to find another bank and transfer all my money.

I have been with HSBC for about 10+ years and a premier bank customer.

It was totally out of the blue and no reason stated at all. I called up HSBC's telephone banking to find out the reason for this. After being on hold for someone to clarify this situation, they told me that it was a decision by the local branch where i opened the account that made the decision and they couldn't tell my why they were closing my account. (you would have thought it would have been on the system)
So i got them to get someone from the branch to call me back.

Next day, i got a call back from the branch manager, she said that it wasn't a decision from the branch but all she can say is that it might be the way i use my account and they can't do anything and the decision is final and i would have to write in to the complaint department.

I play on the casino on the internet so there was alot of activity on my account of withdrawing and depositing but I am not in debt.
The decision to close my account without discussing with me or giving me a reason in the first place is just outragious.

Is there anything i can do to contest this.

BruceyBonus

Wildturkey wrote: »

Is there anything i can do to contest this.

Short answer = no.

A business can choose who it wants to do business with, if they want to end the contract you have with them then they can (if they give notice, which they have).

Rose123

Most probably the large unidentified deposits and withdrawals

I know its your account and you should be able to do as you please with your money but for money laundering reasons they try and protect themselves

But as you're a premier customer, I would talk to your Premier Manager as its most probably your relationship manager than made the decision and not the branch manager as he most probably said its not his decision.

If a premier manager is happy with your justification, he can decide to over ride the decision but if anything happens, it will be on him so its up to him to make that decision. Most of the time you cant stop it but you sound innocent so if you state your case, he most probably will keep it open for you

I know it can be done, question is, will they do it for you?

PaulW922

Rose123 is probably right about that. Banks do have to abide by the money laundering regulations, and as a consequence frequently use these as an excuse for so many things. In practice if it is the online casino that has worried them, it should of course be clear from your statement what the transactions relate to.

If you do see your relationship manager I'd be vary wary of accepting 'money laundering' as a reason without further explanation.

Andy_Ches

Wouldn't the first point if call be the relationship manager? rather than telephone banking or the branch?

Innocent_Guy

I would always contact my RM regarding my account

staffie1

I would consult the terms & conditions of the account to see what it says about using the account for gambling. You may find you're in breach..?

Andy_Ches

There is nothing regarding gambling in the terms and conditions from what I can see.

Inactive

It would be a bit strong for any bank to impose a penalty for gambling on a customer, the banks have the worst track record on the planet for gambling, it is what got us all in to this mess in the first place.

BruceyBonus

Inactive wrote: »

It would be a bit strong for any bank to impose a penalty for gambling on a customer, the banks have the worst track record on the planet for gambling, it is what got us all in to this mess in the first place.

Gambling services are commonly used by money launderers so they need to be careful when it comes to large transactions.