Bank Harassment

Sibz

What foreign student wouldn't receive money here and there from parents? Surely standard... it was opened as a student account originally

Altarf

Sibz wrote: »

What foreign student wouldn't receive money here and there from parents? Surely standard... it was opened as a student account originally

And it is standard for the banks to make anti-money laundering / terrorism checks on foreign nationals that open accounts in the UK and then start receiving money from certain countries.

Obviously students from some countries are going to be subject to far more scrutiny than students from others.

If the banks does have any suspicions (which not answering their questions is likely to do) then they will simply close the account. And if you complain they are not allowed to tell you why.

EachPenny

Sibz wrote: »

What foreign student wouldn't receive money here and there from parents? Surely standard... it was opened as a student account originally

Is she still a 'foreign student'? Not wishing to be 'picky' but your first post stated that it was a "standard account".

If it is now a standard account then the fact she was a foreign student once is irrelevant, Santander will assess the usage of the account on the status it now has.

If it is still a student account, then Santander may have concerns if it is being used (by a foreign national) for regular income from employment with no indication of student-type activity.

colsten

Sibz wrote: »

I will raise a formal complaint with them.

Please remember it is your wife's account, not yours. She needs to raise the complaint. By all means, help her doing so if she wants you to but the complaint needs to come from her.

Sibz wrote: »

I also suspect that my wife’s nationality is behind this, though she is here perfectly legally with leave to work etc and paying a lot of money to remain so alongside the national insurance and taxes we all do. She’s on a min wage job and besides a couple of small transfers from her mother that’s all the money we are talking.

How much tax and NI a person pays is not relevant to the operation of a current account. Neither are any visa or resident permit charges she might have to pay. Banks are, however, obliged to check people's immigration status. If your wife believes she gets an undue amount of attention, she could consider raising the matter with the MP for your area.

Sibz wrote: »

Surely it’s straightforward enough for them to confirm the employment is genuine and see that this is a very basic account?

As others have said, you need to be clear about the account T&Cs. If it's a student account, she needs to be a student to be entitled to it. If it's a basic account, it has different T&Cs. If she receives payments from abroad, there could be additional checks, depending on the amount of money, and where it comes from. If, in addition, your wife is reluctant to speak to the bank, either on the phone or in person in a Branch, I would suggest that it isn't too surprising that they keep asking questions.

Sibz

It started out as a student account, then was changed to standard after she graduated. It now rcvs her wages. I mentioned the student part as that's when she got money from her mother.

I have no issue with banks doing due diligence, I have issues with them repeatedly threatening when we have answered all their questions and returned all requested paperwork completed.

It's the governments responsibility to check immigration status, not the banks - they have seen and been provided evidence of this. Once when opening the original account, once when changing the account type and again as part of this process.

I have all the info I feel I require to move on with this now. Thanks again for the help and advice and links... it's slightly reassuring from the other thread I was pointed to that others are experiencing this treatment from banks... however that really makes it worse that banks seem to be able to treat people this way with impunity- the funds we are discussing here are nothing that would ring alarm bells, it's a min wage job and some historical amounts to help with rent.

colsten

Sibz wrote: »

It's the governments responsibility to check immigration status, not the banks

Government have a different view on that, as you can see from the link I posted. There's no point in creating an alternative reality in which the rules are made by yourself.

OceanSound

comeandgo wrote: »

Have no idea who you should complain to about your wife being pregnant but I can't understand why the bank even discussed her bank account with you, thankfully my bank only discusses my accounts with me.

Nasty and creepy.

OceanSound

Sibz wrote: »

...I have all the info I feel I require to move on with this now. Thanks again for the help and advice and links... it's slightly reassuring from the other thread I was pointed to that others are experiencing this treatment from banks... however that really makes it worse that banks seem to be able to treat people this way with impunity- the funds we are discussing here are nothing that would ring alarm bells, it's a min wage job and some historical amounts to help with rent.

Ignore the unfounded opinions/suspicious about money laundering. They are barking up the wrong tree. Chasing a red herring.

The process for money laundering is completely different. i.e. they would freeze the account immediately and carry out thorough investigations.

They wouldn't ask your wife 'what did you buy from the pram centre'. BTW, you are right. I would have had a good mind to say 'two pink elephants' or 'two white elephants' (if the bank continues to treat customers this way they would end up like a white elephant).

From what’s happened it definitely seems racially motivated. contact your Member of Parliament. Contact Citizens Advice Bureau. Contact Santander via Facebook/twitter and ask why they are asking your pregnant wife what she bought from a pram shop. Speak to local/national media. Sure they will be interested.

Apart from the nasty and crude comments, the only good/useful advice I've seen on this thread is telling you (your wife) to change banks.

It's also worth pointing out that a complaint to Santander is essential. Your wife's harassment could simply be the work of an unwell member of staff suffering mental health issues. Santander management has simply failed to spot it.

pmduk

Sibz wrote: »

It's the governments responsibility to check immigration status,

Not these days. In this Government's "hostile environment", the responsibility has been delegated to banks, employers and landlords. I suspect others too.

Pennywise

Sibz wrote: »

It's the governments responsibility to check immigration status, not the banks

No it really isn't. Banks, employers and some other professionals are required by law to ensure their employee/customers' immigration status and can be (and are) prosecuted if they don't.