Account frozen - can't get wages!

embob74

OH recently opened a new current account with Halifax. Last week he received two cheques as PPI refunds and we deposited them. It takes 5 days to clear a cheque at Halifax which was bad enough but now they have cleared he can't use his account.
His wages go in by BACS and clear by Monday but yesterday didn't clear until the afternoon.
He tried transferring money via online transaction to my account but it just kept saying it hasn't gone through.
He tried to pay for shopping yesterday (only £20) and that didn't work.
He then tried to pay the PPI company their 30% share of the PPI refund but it bounced. They put him through to Halifax who said the payment numbers had been inputted wrong. Went back to PPI company and it still wouldn't work so I paid on my card.
Tries again transferring money but it doesn't work and so OH called telephone banking who have now noticed there is a restriction on the account. OH has to take a day off work to sort it out.
Luckily I have some money to keep us ticking over but if this had happened a month ago we wouldn't have had anything to live on. He can't even access his wages :mad:

Anybody know the rules on what they can and can't do with restrictions on his account? I assume it will all be sorted tomorrow but I'm worried in case they decide it's a possible money laundering issue even though we can prove where the cheques came from. Anybody know why OH has to go in to branch to sort it out? So confused at the situation.....

DevCoder

If it's AML then they can restrict the account for both inward and outward payments.

If it's AML then I wouldn't count on it being sorted same day as normally it will go to their compliance department (specifically AML Officers, MLRO's and MLCO's) for their review and sanction of the release of the block.

embob74

OH was told it would get sorted in branch and then he has to speak to telephone banking again.
I am worried it isn't going to be as easy as speaking to them in branch
I guess we will have more info tomorrow. I'm shocked the bank can withhold his wages though, it is only by chance that I have money in my account - normally we live off OH's wages for all bills and food and petrol.
Will direct debits still be honoured?

Ed-1

embob74 wrote: »

OH was told it would get sorted in branch and then he has to speak to telephone banking again.
I am worried it isn't going to be as easy as speaking to them in branch
I guess we will have more info tomorrow. I'm shocked the bank can withhold his wages though, it is only by chance that I have money in my account - normally we live off OH's wages for all bills and food and petrol.
Will direct debits still be honoured?

How recent was OH's account opened?

There's 2 possible reasons for the 646 indicator (i.e. a block preventing transactions on the account although direct debits seem to still work) which is what will be on the account. It's either ID that needs verifying relating to the account opening or concerns about any transactions on the account. If the debit card hasn't been blocked it suggests the former rather than the latter. Credit Decisioning are the department within the bank that will have placed the indicator on the account. Within that department is APAF. It's them the branch will need to ring through to.

DevCoder

I couldn't see where the OP says whether the debit card for that particular account is blocked or not.

They might well "hurry" a block removal through if they are fully satisfied with the explanation of the funds, you can prompt them to do this rather than them taking the information and saying theyll revert back to you.

embob74

The debit card doesn't work - tried it yesterday and it just said card error. No notification has been given and when OH spoke to telephone banking about a payment not going through they told him it was a keyed-in number error and it was only when he called back after to query why nothing is working that they noticed a block.
Account was opened about 6 weeks ago as part of the faster switching scheme. He has been with previous bank for years with no problems. I persuaded him to change banks for the £100 switching incentive but so not worth the hassle or the loss of wages from having to go in and sort this fiasco out.

gunsandbanjos

Ed-1 wrote: »

How recent was OH's account opened?

There's 2 possible reasons for the 646 indicator (i.e. a block preventing transactions on the account although direct debits seem to still work) which is what will be on the account. It's either ID that needs verifying relating to the account opening or concerns about any transactions on the account. If the debit card hasn't been blocked it suggests the former rather than the latter. Credit Decisioning are the department within the bank that will have placed the indicator on the account. Within that department is APAF. It's them the branch will need to ring through to.

Love how you're suddenly an expert on all things bank related! Couple months back you were the one asking all the questions.

It might not be APAF, do you even know what that stands for?

It might be community banking or if they suspect AML then that sits more with a financial crime team usually.

Anthorn

krisdorey wrote: »

If it's AML then they can restrict the account for both inward and outward payments.

If it's AML then I wouldn't count on it being sorted same day as normally it will go to their compliance department (specifically AML Officers, MLRO's and MLCO's) for their review and sanction of the release of the block.

Don't you just love abbreviations.


AML: Anti Money Laundering

MLRO: Money Laundering Reporting Officer


MLCO: Money Laundering Compliance Officer


Block: Hey you got me there

Ed-1

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Love how you're suddenly an expert on all things bank related! Couple months back you were the one asking all the questions.

It might not be APAF, do you even know what that stands for?

It might be community banking or if they suspect AML then that sits more with a financial crime team usually.

In my experience it's nearly always Credit Decisioning that place 646 indicators on accounts in LBG and within that department sits the Application and Post Application Fraud team - the post-application team deals with monitoring activity on accounts including risk assessments and anti-money laundering.

I've found a lot out about this this year!

Anthorn

Ed-1 wrote: »

In my experience it's nearly always Credit Decisioning that place 646 indicators on accounts in LBG and within that department sits the Application and Post Application Fraud team - the post-application team deals with monitoring activity on accounts including risk assessments and anti-money laundering.

I've found a lot out about this this year!

Wow 646 is going a bit overboard isn't it? Just one would be enough.

Ed-1

Anthorn wrote: »

Wow 646 is going a bit overboard isn't it? Just one would be enough.

That's the code of the account indicator that blocks transactions.

e.g. scroll down to account maintenance on this form: http://www.lloydsbank.com/assets/media/pdfs/sole_joint_account_form.pdf

Some other indicator codes are here: http://www.poemhunter.com/sammy-s-notes/comments/

011 - deceased
015 - dormant account
020 - check address
038 - refer to customer notes
040 - no marketing
041 - staff
047 - online banking
048 - bankruptcy
623 - no charges
646 - account transaction prohibited
657 - refer to AQCU

(AQCU is Account Quality Checking Unit)

Some of the above are account indicators and some are customer indicators (those starting with 0).