NatWest closing my accounts without my approval

pupup

Hope this is the right place to post this (and sorry if it's not).

I used to study in UK for a while and had bank accounts opened with NatWest since 10 years ago. Still keep the accounts after I moved back to my home country as I do visit UK regularly and my sister is also there.

Last week I received a letter from NatWest saying they have closed all my accounts (!) and is holding the remaining funds for me for further instruction. They claimed an advance notice letter had been sent to me about the account closure but I have not received it (could be some error with either Royal Post or my country's). Sixty days had passed since that letter's date so my accounts are now officially closed, all activities cancelled

They have all my contact details - home address, mobile number, and email - but they did not try to contact me via other methods besides the traditional and sometimes unreliable post.

They have now forwarded a letter template for my reference, in it stated that

"NatWest has decided that, at the core of its personal banking strategy, it will aim to be a mass-market UK bank for personal customers. Accordingly, we have recently taken the decision to discontinue providing banking services to customers who do not use us as their main bank and reside in certain overseas countries. Given that our records indicate you reside in .... , and that you don't use us as your main bank, we are notifying you that we will no longer be able to offer you a bank account and will be closing your accounts"

Has anyone received the same absurd treatments? If I had known this, I would have just changed my address to be UK's one instead. Any advice on how I should take this? Thank you in advance.

NewUserHere

Speak to them?

Not sure what else you can do though

paddyrg

Maintaining accounts costs banks money. Most places in the world only have chargeable accounts, UK is unusual to have free banking, but some accounts may be all loss without upside, yours may be one of them if it's used occasionally?

pupup

@NewUserHere, that's my thought too. talk to them but cannot expect anything different.

@paddyrg, I completely understand the fees and charges and am willing to follow their conditions 'if' it's properly stated and informed. Even though I'm not in UK any more, I do buy things using this account and got the stuffs sent to my UK address for my sister, and use the accounts almost as the sole money source whenever I go to UK, which is quite often. What gutted me is that I'm forced to close the accounts whether I like it or not, with no alternatives, no attempt made to ensure I know this is happening

visidigi

Banks can choose who they do business with. Just one of those things - they don't owe you an obligation to an alternative - like they say, they don't want people with accounts linked to certain countries - be it due to money laundering etc etc.

You might not like it, but at the end of the day, they can choose who they do business with.

You might find it quite difficult to get an alternative now too, NatWest are certainly not alone in this 'strategic direction'.

Enterprise_1701C

You say "all" your accounts, just how many did you have?

They did write to you, you could inform them you did not receive the letter.

Of course, you could simply go into another bank when you come back and open another account, and you may discover they are reluctant to open a UK account for a non-resident.

Simply put, you do not live here, you only visit. It would be convenient to have an account here, but you do not need a UK account to have things delivered to the UK. I have relatives in three different countries, Europe and US, and they use their ordinary account to buy things to be sent here.

As for changing your address, they might start thinking you are into money laundering if you give what would be a false address.

You don't need a bank account to operate in a different country anymore, just use your cards and change some cash before you come over like anyone else does!

agrinnall

Any bank can accept whatever customers it likes, and as long as the correct notice is given (which can in some circumstances be no notice) can close accounts for any reason. They have explained why they are doing so, you have no complaint.

InsideInsurance

pupup wrote: »

no attempt made to ensure I know this is happening

They wrote to you.

Even in this day and age postal correspondence is still considered the most appropriate method for anything formal as the law says that if its posted then its received. Email you've got issues of junk/ spam filters blocking etc, phone calls are much harder to evidence and require both parties to be available at the same time etc.

If you have moved to a country with a less reliable or slower postal service you cannot blame Natwest for that.

All accounts give banks the right to cancel the account with written notice and as long as it isnt for an outlawed form of discrimination then it can be for whatever reason they want.

There are some accounts aimed at overseas residents and you may find these more appropriate to your needs now that you dont live here.

Rajesh

NatWest just did this to me for one of my accounts. This account is used a lot but does not hold much more than £1000. Perhaps it was not profitable for them?

Anyway read this article in the Telegraph:
Banks 'dump' thousands of loyal customers
and I'm contacting CIFAS as it suggests (just to make sure I won't have problems opening a new account)

DomRavioli

Natwest, along with most other banks, will close accounts of non UK residents who do not live in the UK - as has been said, they have no obligation to provide banking services to anyone, and especially if your home country is classed as high risk, then they have the right to close your account, and provide all monies within that account back when you contact them.

It is standard practice in the banking industry - my OH works for a national high street bank, and it happens every day (not just to non-UK residents!)

Ectophile

Banks are terrified of being fined by the regulators these days - not just in the UK but in any other country where they do business. In particular, they can receive massive fines if they allow their accounts to be used for fraud or money laundering.

So if they have any doubt as to what a customer is using their account for, they will simply close it and tell the customer to take their business elsewhere.

They will not mention fraud or money laundering. If the customer is using the account for illegal purposes, then that would tip them off that they are under investigation, and the bank is not allowed to do that. If the customer was totally innocent and the bank accused them of illegal activities, then that would be grounds for a complaint.

So they just close the account, giving vague reasons that can't be argued against.