Bank closure letter. Need advice.

Appleton

I need some advice. I have a Barclays Premier account. In the last year I had around £200,000 going in and out and never had an issue, the Barclays Premier team use to ring often, to offer me some service or another but other then that all was good.

Well my situation is I been sent a letter telling me after a review on my account and careful consideration they are closing my account in 60 days time with no explanation. I believe the reason was in the last 6 months I had 2 cases of fraud on my account. Granted 2 within 6 months may seem odd. I was refunded for the first fraud that occurred.

The second case It transpires that transactions were attempted to companies located in India , USA and some others. I cant recall all what the agent told me at the time, he did say majority were stopped but some had gone through even though I was not even alerted till the next day to the fraud.

I never been to India in my life. I was told they were confirmed fraud and I was given temporary credit and then later it was confirmed I would keep the funds due to the fraud, but then 2 days later I get a letter of closure! I had noticed as soon as I reported the fraud my pre-approved offers all of a sudden disappeared, so it seems they made the decision before even looking at my claim.


My friend has checked my computer after it occurred the second time and it did seem I had 8 malware and I didn’t have no protection, but would this be my fault? I don’t know if this is how my details got out or why it happened, but I made a report to the police and been more than happy to discuss everything with Barclays.

They can see I have a large sum in my account and the amount disputed would hardly be an issue for me... if I had actually made the transactions in the first instance. It feels like I am being blamed for fraud and Barclays lack of security as I was not even alerted till the next day by text message.

Surely It must be clear to Barclays that transactions occurring in different countries and currency on the same day that it was fraud. I welcome Barclays to get Police involvement if they are trying to suggest in anyway that it may of been myself that did the transactions.

What are my chances of Barclays changing this decision and getting an apology? I am stressed because I was buying another property and needed Barclays as my mortgage provider. It feels Barclays are blaming me for the fraud, as they sent the closure letter two days after confirming the fraud and saying my refund will stand. If they had suspected me why would they even refund me and also confirm fraud, I am obviously confused and upset by all of this.

[Deleted User]

They can choose who they do and don’t want as customers.

Not much you can do

antrobus

Appleton wrote: »

....
My friend has checked my computer after it occurred the second time and it did seem I had 8 malware and I didn’t have no protection, but would this be my fault?

I'd say yes.

Appleton wrote: »

...
What are my chances of Barclays changing this decision and getting an apology?

I'd say 'pretty slim', and 'apologise for what?'.

Appleton wrote: »

...
I am stressed because I was buying another property and needed Barclays as my mortgage provider. It feels Barclays are blaming me for the fraud, as they sent the closure letter two days after confirming the fraud and saying my refund will stand. If they had suspected me why would they even refund me and also confirm fraud, I am obviously confused and upset by all of this.

Barclays are not necessarily accusing you of anything. But they have now identified you as a risk, and they don't want your business any more.

Speak to your friend about protecting your kit in future, Find another bank.

NewToTheUkAgain

Unfortunately for yourself Barclays have decided that you no longer fit in there desired customer wish list.

They have therefore given you the correct notice to find banking elsewhere.

John_G_Jones

Was the £200,000 wages? If not they may be concerned at what was going on and decide that you are not worth the risk.

Even if it was wages, as others have said a company is not obliged to do business with you.

Why do you say that you need Barclays for your mortgage?

Herbalus

It may be completely unrelated to fraud.

If there is something else going on with your account (e.g. £200k in credits that are not easily explainable such as wages), it could be that this was spotted when they were closely looking at your account for the fraud.

I'm just speculating, but banks generally don't close people's accounts when fraud happens, so it could be a completely different reason.

e.g. if your £200k is from bitcoin or gambling, they may simply decide they don't want you as a customer. Again just speculating, I don't know what their criteria are.

alandaniel132

why only mortgage with Barclays?

jonnygee2

What are my chances of Barclays changing this decision and getting an apology?

None. It's 100% their decision.

It feels Barclays are blaming me for the fraud, as they sent the closure letter two days after confirming the fraud and saying my refund will stand.

Two frauds is 6 months is very unlucky. They probably believe that you are not being very thorough at protecting your card details - and they are right, apparently you don't even have decent anti virus software.

Why should Barclays keep on a customer who has lax personal security measures and keeps costing them money through fraud? How much have you cost them so far this year? How much will you keep costing them and why do you think they should be paying for this? They have a business to run, you know!

Terry_Towelling

It's all there in the Premier Banking T&Cs that it is your responsibility to keep your 'payment tools' and account access information secure. It even says you should be using anti-virus software and running regular checks to look after things online.

Failing to use antivirus tools is not very clever and suggests you are in breach of the T&Cs. Are they giving you a replacement account of a different sort or completely severing all ties with you?

Flobberchops

Unfortunately once this kind of decision is made, the bank staff have no power to reverse it and you have no right to appeal. 60 days should be plenty of time to sort out alternative banking.

deadendwaterfall

Flobberchops wrote: »

Unfortunately once this kind of decision is made, the bank staff have no power to reverse it and you have no right to appeal. 60 days should be plenty of time to sort out alternative banking.

Is at least 60 days notice what the banks are absolutely required to provide when making a decision to cut all ties with a customer or is it just standard practice?