TSB business bank account closed following a review!

Opinion

Looking for some advice;

I am Company Director of a small business. We opened up a business bank account with TSB November 2013. Since when we've banked £180,000 with them and currently have give or take £10,000 sitting in our accounts with them. We're currently banking on average £9,300 per week, receive all funds in said account, and use said account to pay all funds out (staff wages/salaries, invoices etc.)

I've tried to log in to my internet banking today and had no luck- spent an hour on the phone to them, went in to my branch, then another half an hour on the phone to them to be told that my "account has been closed after a review." They won't tell me why, they won't let me talk to anyone about it and they have said the decision won't be reversed!!!

I've banked with them personally for circa 10 years and have never had any problems; I hold three current/savings accounts that are all positive and a credit card that's currently sitting at £850.00 (of £5,500, which is being increased after having a review!!)

I think I'm looking for advice, or just someone to tell me that I have good reason to be really pi**ed off.

Anyone?

Savvy_Sue

You have good reason ...

What line of business are you in, roughly? Is it anything which might look like money laundering?

I'd start by making a formal complaint (must be something on their website).

Presumably all your funds are frozen atm?

Opinion

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

You have good reason ...

What line of business are you in, roughly? Is it anything which might look like money laundering?

I'd start by making a formal complaint (must be something on their website).

Presumably all your funds are frozen atm?

Licensed trade... we are a bar/club. I'm the sole Company Director and our accountant (reputed, been around 50+ years) Company Secretary. Nothing that I can think of that looks like money laundering, everything is pretty routine- I bank the weeks takings on a Monday, in branch, and staff wages/salaries get paid on a Monday afternoon (PAYE handled by accountant), invoices for our four suppliers paid on a Tuesday, various other direct debits and payments made on a Wednesday. There are payments that are clearly noted down as going out to HMRC (PAYE liability etc.) and the four accounts that we had open were all clearly named on the online banking (One current account, then savings accounts named "VAT 20%", "PAYE Liability March" and "Business Rates"), which added together totaled around £10471.01.

I only found out today as I was trying to log in to my internet banking using the authentication keypad and I couldn't get in, then tried to make a purchase online with the company debit card and it was declined. I haven't had a phone call, haven't had a letter- I did all the chasing today, only to be told what I stated in my message: account has been closed, can't talk to anyone about it, can't appeal it, won't be given a reason and that I should receive a cheque in 3-4 days for the balance we had in the accounts.

I've emailed my accountant whom has said that it is strange, asked if there was anything unusual going through the account ("No.") and confirmed that I'm the only signatory on the account ("Yes.") He says the issue we may have now is that A. I can't print off any statements from the online banking to show money flowing in and out of the business and B. When I try and set up a new account with another bank they're going to ask why our account was closed, and I'll have to either lie or tell them that I simply haven't been given a reason.

patman99

OP, first thing. Do you have an alternative account elsewhere that you can switch to using until you have sorted this out?.

poggles

Opinion wrote: »

Looking for some advice;

I am Company Director of a small business. We opened up a business bank account with TSB November 2013. Since when we've banked £180,000 with them and currently have give or take £10,000 sitting in our accounts with them. We're currently banking on average £9,300 per week, receive all funds in said account, and use said account to pay all funds out (staff wages/salaries, invoices etc.)

I've tried to log in to my internet banking today and had no luck- spent an hour on the phone to them, went in to my branch, then another half an hour on the phone to them to be told that my "account has been closed after a review." They won't tell me why, they won't let me talk to anyone about it and they have said the decision won't be reversed!!!

I've banked with them personally for circa 10 years and have never had any problems; I hold three current/savings accounts that are all positive and a credit card that's currently sitting at £850.00 (of £5,500, which is being increased after having a review!!)

I think I'm looking for advice, or just someone to tell me that I have good reason to be really pi**ed off.

Anyone?

So am I correct to say they closed your account yesterday after you spending over an hour on the phone to them and then visiting the local branch?

Was it perhaps something you said? I know a lot of businesses are taking a very strong stand against customers who abuse their employees, even verbally.

Otherwise I'm not clear why you had to call them twice and visit the branch in between for?

Opinion

patman99 wrote: »

OP, first thing. Do you have an alternative account elsewhere that you can switch to using until you have sorted this out?.

I have my personal accounts which I will use, which my accountant has said is fine as a short term solution.

poggles wrote: »

So am I correct to say they closed your account yesterday after you spending over an hour on the phone to them and then visiting the local branch?

Was it perhaps something you said? I know a lot of businesses are taking a very strong stand against customers who abuse their employees, even verbally.

Otherwise I'm not clear why you had to call them twice and visit the branch in between for?

No. I tried to log in to my online banking but kept getting an error code. I then tried to make a purchase online using the company debit card and that got declined. I called the business banking team to find out why and they passed me on to the online banking team, who then passed me back to the business banking team, who then passed me back to the business banking team, being put on hold in between... this went on for an hour with neither of them being able to give me any information. I then walked to my local branch, the branch that I always use and spoke to the staff who had trouble finding the account on their system. When they did they told me that the debit card and authentication card had both been cancelled but that there was no reason nor any note on the system to explain why. They told me to phone the business banking team, so I went home and did so. After another hour on the phone being passed back and forth I managed to speak to a supervisor:

Me: "I can't log in to my internet banking or use my debit card. I went in to my branch and they've said the cards have been cancelled?"
Supervisor: "That's correct. After being reviewed we have decided to close your account."
Me: "Why?"
Supervisor: "We have reviewed the account and decided to close it."
Me: "What about the £10,000~ I have in the account?"
Supervisor: "You will receive a cheque in 3-4 days for the balance of your account."
Me: "Is there anyone that I can speak to about this?"
Supervisor: "No."
Me: "Can I appeal the decision?"
Supervisor: "No."
Me: "Why not?"
Supervisor: "We have reviewed the account and decided to close it."

So no, it's nothing that I've said. I've banked with TSB for going on 10 years and usually the people on the end of the phone are very helpful so I am very polite and I get on very well with the women in my branch and we have a good chat and giggle whenever I'm in there.

teabelly

That's disgusting behaviour from TSB. Send a complaint to financial services ombudsman or whoever oversees it now. It's not anywhere remotely near 'the treating customers fairly' they are supposed to adhere to with consumer accounts. I'd assume business accounts have some basic minimum standard of operation.

Suarez

There must be more to this story?!?

If not, that's disgusting and I would follow all the procedures as Teabelly says.

Opinion

Suarez wrote: »

There must be more to this story?!?

If not, that's disgusting and I would follow all the procedures as Teabelly says.

I wish there was more to the story but sadly there isn't. Trying to talk to someone on the phone seems to be a fruitless task so I'm going to head in to my local branch on Monday and refuse to leave until I've had some sort of dialogue.

I really cannot believe it. No phone call, no letter- just suddenly no access to my account and the debit card cancelled.

If this was something to do with money laundering regulations then surely there would be some sort of knock on affect with my personal accounts? The money trail is clearly there- money in to the business account in the form of a directors loan and a weekly payment from the business account to my personal account in the form of my salary, so if they suspected something dodgy was going on then surely they would have to act on both?

I'm stuck in a horrible position- every bank is going to ask why I want to open an account with them and I'm certain that TSB closing my account is going to be big red flag, especially when I can't explain it, have no access to statements and so on.

Thank you for all the advice so far guys, it's very much appreciated.

teabelly

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18540832

Interesting article above.

I'd be threatening the bank with consequential losses as well. It says normal closure is at least 30 days for a consumer and longer for a business so they must think something fraudulent has gone on.

I'd just tell another bank that the standard of customer service in your old bank became well below the standard you'd expect so you are moving to one that doesn't treat their customer like an inconvenience (TSB & Lloyds are right at the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys)

Opinion

teabelly wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18540832

Interesting article above.

I'd be threatening the bank with consequential losses as well. It says normal closure is at least 30 days for a consumer and longer for a business so they must think something fraudulent has gone on.

I'd just tell another bank that the standard of customer service in your old bank became well below the standard you'd expect so you are moving to one that doesn't treat their customer like an inconvenience (TSB & Lloyds are right at the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys)

Thanks for the link. My mum pointed it out to me yesterday; makes interesting reading.

The whole situation just amazes me. If they suspected fraud, surely common sense dictates that I've been banking with them personally for around a decade, they, oh I don't know... approach me! As I said I'm going to head to my local branch on Monday and speak to my solicitor. I've only ever had positive experiences with both Lloyds TSB and TSB, which is why this has caught me out completely.