Urgent advice please

Savingmoney1_2

Hi everyone,

I wondered if I could ask you for help?

The following is quite long, but I would be very grateful for any help.

My Son works for a leading bank and has a couple of staff accounts with them. On Monday he tried to do a Faster Payment online from his account and it said there was a technical error. He called the online helpdesk and they advised him that there was a block on his account. They advised him to call the banks fraud department the next morning (it was evening when he called the helpdesk).

He called the fraud department, and they said that he needed to go to the branch urgently with his passport as ID. He was obviously very concerned and even though he is off sick with flu at the moment he went down to the branch. The receptionist at the branch then called through to the fraud helpline and confirmed that it was my son in the branch from checking his passport. The receptionist told him that the bank was closing all his accounts with two months notice and had put a stop on all his accounts.

They told him that there will be no standing orders or direct debits paid, and that any debit balance will have to be paid back within the next two months. Understandably, he was upset. He asked to speak to the fraud helpdesk who were very polite, and said that the bank is not accusing him of doing anything wrong, but the account could present a risk to the bank. She told him that transferring his account to another bank will not in anyway affect his credit rating. She said that legally that is all she could say.

He has sat through many courses at work regarding money laundering and knows that when a bank suspects money laundering they cannot tip off the person. So despite what they say, he suspects this maybe what they suspect him of doing.

He then received a letter from the bank today saying that following a risk assessment of his account they had a couple of areas of concern so had decided to close his accounts.

He has never undertaken any fraud or money laundering. He is sick with worry that when he recovers from the flu that the banks risk department will contact his manager and he will be dismissed.

It's very upsetting for him as they will not tell him what he has done wrong. He does transfer his salary back and forth once a month between his current accounts so he meets the minimum funding requirement on the accounts. He also has got some payday loans a few times but these have always been paid back. He also transfers from his debit card quite often small amounts to fund his prepay mastercard from AA which gives him Reward Points.

Could the bank view him as a risk because of any of the above?

Are any of the above things grounds for dismissal? That is what he is most worried about. He has worked for them for nearly 12 years and is sick with worry about going back once he recovers from the flu. I am quite worried about him as he is not eating much either.

He did contact the union and they told him that the bank cannot dismiss him without telling him what he has done wrong. The union rep had never heard of a staff members facilities been withdrawn like this.

He is in no way dishonest and can account for all the transactions.

I would very much appreciate any help or suggestions.

Kind Regards.

xylophone

I am not surprised that he is upset and deeply concerned. Are the following of assistance?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15794539
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3757509
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/48/banking-closing-accounts.htm

Is he a member of a union/staff association? It might help him to discuss the matter.http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/rights-of-workers/index.html
He must try to keep calm, remembering that he has done nothing wrong or dishonest and can account for all his transactions if asked.

In the meantime, it is important that he has banking facilities so perhaps he should get on with opening another bank account and switching his direct debits /standing orders etc?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

He should make sure that he has copies of all his old bank statements for reference.

meer53

When he gets back to work he will probably be called in for a meeting with his managers where he will be asked about his accounts. Where i work, there is usually a fact finding meeting first, followed by more detailed interviews about what has happened. If he is in the Union, he needs to let them know about this and ask them to accompany him to any meetings. If he's not, as far as i'm aware he can take someone else into the meetings with him.

If he can explain the activity on his accounts which has prompted them to look into this, and he can prove what he's saying, he shouldn't have anything to worry about if it's all above board. I work for a bank too and i've never heard of accounts being closed like this.

Are you sure he's telling you everything ? I'm not accusing anyone but sometimes people make mistakes and find it really hard to open up and admit them.

Savingmoney1_2

meer53 wrote: »

When he gets back to work he will probably be called in for a meeting with his managers where he will be asked about his accounts. Where i work, there is usually a fact finding meeting first, followed by more detailed interviews about what has happened. If he is in the Union, he needs to let them know about this and ask them to accompany him to any meetings. If he's not, as far as i'm aware he can take someone else into the meetings with him.

If he can explain the activity on his accounts which has prompted them to look into this, and he can prove what he's saying, he shouldn't have anything to worry about if it's all above board. I work for a bank too and i've never heard of accounts being closed like this.

Are you sure he's telling you everything ? I'm not accusing anyone but sometimes people make mistakes and find it really hard to open up and admit them.

Hi Meer,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, he has told me everything I am sure of it. He has nothing to hide. What upsets him the most is that the bank says they can't tell him what he has supposedly done. Surely if he was called into a meeting, the manager would have to state exactly what they are accusing him of? They can't just stay neautral can they?

Savingmoney1_2

xylophone wrote: »

I am not surprised that he is upset and deeply concerned. Are the following of assistance?


Is he a member of a union/staff association? It might help him to discuss the matter.
He must try to keep calm, remembering that he has done nothing wrong or dishonest and can account for all his transactions if asked.

In the meantime, it is important that he has banking facilities so perhaps he should get on with opening another bank account and switching his direct debits /standing orders etc?


He should make sure that he has copies of all his old bank statements for reference.

Thanks for your reply Xylophone. He is a member of the union. They have advised they will help him if he needs help. He will hopefully be back on Monday but he's quite worried about everything. Luckily, he already has a current account with another bank which he doesn't really use much, so he can transfer the direct debits to the other one. I will pass on your links to him. Thanks again.

meer53

Savingmoney1 wrote: »

Hi Meer,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, he has told me everything I am sure of it. He has nothing to hide. What upsets him the most is that the bank says they can't tell him what he has supposedly done. Surely if he was called into a meeting, the manager would have to state exactly what they are accusing him of? They can't just stay neautral can they?

They might be a bit vague at the fact finding meeting, but from the questions they ask he will probably realise whats happened.

I was once called into a fact finding meeting and although i wasn't told what it was about, it soon became apparent why.

One thing i will advise him though, is NOT to discuss anything with any of his colleagues before the meeting, especially outside work. Tell him to keep it to himself until it's sorted. I had a conversation with a work friend about what was happening to me and the conversation was brought up in a meeting. Even if he feels that what is being investigated is ridiculous, tell him to keep it under his hat. In my meetings i was told that under no circumstances should i talk about it to anyone.

Although i work for a bank, my meetings weren't about work, they were about something which happened in my personal life, it all blew over but i can remember how stressful it was for me and i can understand 100% how your son must feel. If he's done nothing wrong, he'll be fine, just tell him to be honest.

Savingmoney1_2

meer53 wrote: »

They might be a bit vague at the fact finding meeting, but from the questions they ask he will probably realise whats happened.

I was once called into a fact finding meeting and although i wasn't told what it was about, it soon became apparent why.

One thing i will advise him though, is NOT to discuss anything with any of his colleagues before the meeting, especially outside work. Tell him to keep it to himself until it's sorted. I had a conversation with a work friend about what was happening to me and the conversation was brought up in a meeting. Even if he feels that what is being investigated is ridiculous, tell him to keep it under his hat. In my meetings i was told that under no circumstances should i talk about it to anyone.

Although i work for a bank, my meetings weren't about work, they were about something which happened in my personal life, it all blew over but i can remember how stressful it was for me and i can understand 100% how your son must feel. If he's done nothing wrong, he'll be fine, just tell him to be honest.

Thanks again. He won't be discussing it with any colleagues when he goes back. In his phone call to the union, they told him that to consider sacking him, they would have to state exactly what they think he has done. He is just worried about the whole thing and I can see it is causing him great stress which being ill already, he does't need. He can account for every transaction. Do you think that they will 100% call him in when he goes back? Or could the closure of the accounts be the end of it?

meer53

Savingmoney1 wrote: »

Thanks again. He won't be discussing it with any colleagues when he goes back. In his phone call to the union, they told him that to consider sacking him, they would have to state exactly what they think he has done. He is just worried about the whole thing and I can see it is causing him great stress which being ill already, he does't need. He can account for every transaction. Do you think that they will 100% call him in when he goes back? Or could the closure of the accounts be the end of it?

I don't think they can't just dismiss him without following their procedures. He really needs to find out what these are. There might be something in them about instant dismissal but without knowing what these are it's difficult to say really. Has he got a copy of his contract ? They should be in there.

If SarEl sees your post they will be able to give better advice than i can. Mine is just based on my personal experience.

Saints2011

The only thing I would add is his salary being paid into the staff account at the moment? If it is he needs to get this re-directed if they allow him to..

meer53

Just re reading the OP's original post, it does sound like Anti Money Laundering procedures. He may, unknowingly, be involved with someone who is suspected of this.

Savingmoney1_2

meer53 wrote: »

Just re reading the OP's original post, it does sound like Anti Money Laundering procedures. He may, unknowingly, be involved with someone who is suspected of this.

Hi Again Meer,

He isn't involved with anyone else. He did have a few payday loans which were all paid back. The only things he thinks they might not like are transfers from his debit card to a Prepaid Mastercard in his name. He puts them on there as the card offers rewards points. These are usually small amounts but there are quite a few of them each week. He can account for all these. And once a month, he pays his salary in and out of his other current account so he can meet the minimum salary requirement on the account. Again you can see that this is what is happening on the account. If it were money laundering, would they not put a marker on his credit file? However, the woman on the phone assured him that it would not affect his credit record.