Fidor UK Bank smart account Frozen, advice needed please

bery_451

I was advised and recommended by most online to use Fidor bank as they are a community/social based bank and are friendly with customers without doing credit checks etc. There's an article on this money saving expert website mentioning Fidor.

This morning I received an email without reason stating that my account is blocked and I cant log into my Fidor account.

I been with Fidor for just over a month now and had no problems until now.

Fidor said to me on the phone that their Compliance Team are reviewing my account and will unlock until they are satisfied. This isnt a random account review they also said.

Anyone here experienced similar problems with Fidor and would like to share. What shall I do?

jonesMUFCforever

The only thing you can do is wait.

Any reason why you can't have a normal bank account and don't want a credit search done?

bery_451

Thanks for your reply however my funds are in that account and I need access to them to pay for shopping, bills etc. If this wait is long then I have no access to money.

Credit searches effect people credit ratings. As most people do banking online nowadays I thought it was a good idea to apply for a online bank instead of a normal high street one.

If the worst case scenario happens that is they steal my money and lock me out without a valid reason then what i can legally do to get my money back?

jonesMUFCforever

Sue them.

Did you not know that you can apply online to all high street banks for an account? - yes they will credit score you but as long as you have not been involved in any fraud the worst thing that can happen is they only offer you a basic account.

mwarby

Credit searches aren't bad per se, and your score is mythical. I wouldn't go mad applying for lots of stuff all at once(as you could look desperate for credit), but I also would apply for a single bank account because of effect on score.

bery_451

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Sue them.

Did you not know that you can apply online to all high street banks for an account? - yes they will credit score you but as long as you have not been involved in any fraud the worst thing that can happen is they only offer you a basic account.

If it comes to that sueing them stage then I dont think I can afford the legal costs to take them to court to sue.

agrinnall

This is why you shoud have money in more than once place, if you wanted to avoid credit checks you could have opened a savings account that offers an ATM card.

bery_451

agrinnall wrote: »

This is why you shoud have money in more than once place, if you wanted to avoid credit checks you could have opened a savings account that offers an ATM card.

So what you implying to potential customers looking to open a bank account is to do so at your own risk of losing your money? And also lesser the risk by spreading money between multiple accounts?

If that was the case i should have just risk putting the money on the stock market and could have earned a neat profit margin as well instead of worrying of losing my money at a current account for no reason.

Seriously can banks nowadays do whatever they want to customers and get away with it?

GingerBob_3

bery_451 wrote: »

So what you implying to potential customers looking to open a bank account is to do so at your own risk of losing your money? And also lesser the risk by spreading money between multiple accounts?

If that was the case i should have just risk putting the money on the stock market and could have earned a neat profit margin as well instead of worrying of losing my money at a current account for no reason.

Seriously can banks nowadays do whatever they want to customers and get away with it?

Yes. They are, in effect, not regulated, and get away with blue murder on a number of fronts.


Assuming you've done no wrong, when you get this sorted, please make sure you dispense with this rogue bank and tell them why you're doing so in no uncertain terms. The only problem is, you'll have to move to another rogue bank - they are pretty much all the same. Oh, and make sure you brief against this Fidor bunch of chumps at every opportunity.

antrobus

bery_451 wrote: »

So what you implying to potential customers looking to open a bank account is to do so at your own risk of losing your money?..

Fidor is German. I expect you are covered by the German equivalent of the FSCS.

bery_451 wrote: »

...And also lesser the risk by spreading money between multiple accounts?...

Yes. Your bank have frozen your account. As that's your only account you have a problem.

bery_451 wrote: »

...If that was the case i should have just risk putting the money on the stock market and could have earned a neat profit margin as well instead of worrying of losing my money at a current account for no reason.

Earning a "neat profit margin" on the stock market isn't guaranteed you know.

bery_451 wrote: »

....Seriously can banks nowadays do whatever they want to customers and get away with it?

You have stated that their "Compliance Team" are reviewing your account and that is not a "random account review"; thus they have a reason for doing so. I have no idea what that reason is. It may well be a misunderstanding, but if I had to guess I'd say it was suspicious activity implying money laundering or similar.

But when it comes down to it any bank or, indeed anybody at all, can choose not to do business with someone for any reason they like.

bery_451

GingerBob wrote: »

Yes. They are, in effect, not regulated, and get away with blue murder on a number of fronts.


Assuming you've done no wrong, when you get this sorted, please make sure you dispense with this rogue bank and tell them why you're doing so in no uncertain terms. The only problem is, you'll have to move to another rogue bank - they are pretty much all the same. Oh, and make sure you brief against this Fidor bunch of chumps at every opportunity.

Oh ok so Fidor is not regulated like established UK high street banks? Unlicensed?