Nationwide Froze Account Again - Need New Account

mystic_bertie

Hi folks

My girlfriend has had her bank account frozen by Nationwide about 5 times now. She sells a lot of items that she personally owns, some of which are high value, some are to people in foreign countries. So this means a lot of money goes in and out her account. Some money comes from foreign bank accounts. They freeze her bank account to investigate suspicions of possible money laundering. She is not doing anything dodgy and it upsetting her having this hassle repeatedly.

So can you guys suggest a bank account that wont do this. Im not sure if all banks are doing this or perhaps Nationwide are just being a but too sensitive with her account activity.

Any advice thanks.;)

18cc

This might be very annoying but my suspicion is that pretty much any bank you go to is going to act in the same way to a Greater or lesser extent as all banks these days are responsible for ensuring the sources of funds deposited into current accounts

before going down the route of opening another account I wonder if you could think of going into the branch perhaps with all the books of the trading enterprise, receipts for sales sales and purchases, printouts of adverts and listings, your tax and vat returns for the business, and any correspondence from official sources such as HMRC.

try and sit down with someone and go over your business plan and explain what is happening

Does your girlfriend have an accountant or does she do her own returns herself. if she has an accountant then a letter from them would also help

i'm not saying it will work but it might allay any fears Nationwide might have that your girlfriend is money laundering but in fact is running a genuine business

in fact even if you open a new account I would recommend you do this to avoid any future problems

agrinnall

No, all banks will query such transactions. I suggest she finds a different way to dispose of her belongings.

18cc

Oh and I assume you are not running a business through a personal account are you...

mystic_bertie

18cc wrote: »

This might be very annoying but my suspicion is that pretty much any bank you go to is going to act in the same way to a Greater or lesser extent as all banks these days are responsible for ensuring the sources of funds deposited into current accounts

before going down the route of opening another account I wonder if you could think of going into the branch perhaps with all the books of the trading enterprise, receipts for sales sales and purchases, printouts of adverts and listings, your tax and vat returns for the business, and any correspondence from official sources such as HMRC.

try and sit down with someone and go over your business plan and explain what is happening

Does your girlfriend have an accountant or does she do her own returns herself. if she has an accountant then a letter from them would also help

i'm not saying it will work but it might allay any fears Nationwide might have that your girlfriend is money laundering but in fact is running a genuine business

in fact even if you open a new account I would recommend you do this to avoid any future problems

My girlfriend does not have a business, business account or an accountant. It could be seen that she is running a business but she is not. She has a lot of clothes, designer shoes, designer bags that are her own, a laser projector, Apple Macbook pro and so on. She has come to a stage where she is in desperate need of some money. So selling a lot of things off. They are personal belongings. So you can see why it looks suspicious.

So maybe this problem cant be avoided.

agrinnall wrote: »

No, all banks will query such transactions. I suggest she finds a different way to dispose of her belongings.

Thanks for your reply but selling is the only logical way. How she receives the funds is the problem.

18cc wrote: »

Oh and I assume you are not running a business through a personal account are you...

No there is no business being run, just her selling off her personal things she has been keeping.

18cc

I will accept that she is not running a business if you say so but it is unusual for people to sell their personal possessions to people foreign countries...

if she uses eBay then the money will come into a UK Paypal account and there should not be any problem

if she is advertising them in the local classified ads in iran and n korea she might run into trouble here

mystic_bertie

18cc wrote: »

I will accept that she is not running a business if you say so but it is unusual for people to sell their personal possessions to people foreign countries...

if she uses eBay then the money will come into a UK Paypal account and there should not be any problem

if she is advertising them in the local classified ads in iran and n korea she might run into trouble here

Most of the things she sold are in the uk however a few sales were from abroad. She advertised them on certain Facebook groups and they have a worldwide audience. EBay is best avoided due to rip off fee's. That's why Facebook marketplace & selling groups are so popular.

Nothing is advertised on foreign classifieds or websites.

Zanderman

mystic_bertie wrote: »

How she receives the funds is the problem.

If she's continually having problems with banks because of money coming in from a variety of places then yes, as you say, how she receives funds is the problem. But as 18cc advises:

18cc wrote: »

if she uses eBay then the money will come into a UK Paypal account and there should not be any problem

You suggest that

mystic_bertie wrote: »

EBay is best avoided due to rip off fee's.

But actually it's probably the answer to your problem.

mystic_bertie

Zanderman wrote: »

If she's continually having problems with banks because of money coming in from a variety of places then yes, as you say, how she receives funds is the problem. But as 18cc advises:



You suggest that



But actually it's probably the answer to your problem.

I see what your saying but using ebay and losing 10% of everything is not practical. How do you get the funds from a paypal account without causing suspicious activity by transferring large amounts.

nrsql

She could open a few bank accounts so that while she is dealing with a frozen one can use the others.
Maybe split transactions between two so that too much money isn't locked then cycle to others.
Also could move money to a holding account as soon as it arrives on the assumption that transfers from UK accounts won't cause issues - but it might be flagged as a concern by the source account.

jonesMUFCforever

1. Who buys high end goods only to sell them on again? (Money launderers?)
2 Where is she getting the money to buy the goods in the first place?
3 Which countries are funds coming from?