Locked out of my Revolut account - can they do this, and where do I go from here?

t4shprout

Hi all,
This morning I checked my Revolut banking app for the first time in a week or so to discover I have been locked out of my account. After contacting their support on Twitter, I was told that my account has been placed under review and that I can be given no information as to why or when the lock will be lifted. Additionally, I was made aware that only the Revolut compliance team can discuss this matter but they have no contact information so I will have to wait for them to get in touch with me. So in essence my funds are being withheld for an undisclosed security reason that I am not allowed to know about and I have no idea when I will be granted access again. For reference, a quick Twitter search shows some users with this similar problem have been waiting to be contacted by the compliance team for over 8 weeks.

Obviously, I'm baffled for a number of reasons. Having my money withheld would be stressful enough even without the added pressure of, y'know, a worldwide pandemic. Luckily for me, I do not use Revolut as my primary bank account and only transfer small amounts of money into the account at a time for budgeting purposes. I do, however, have a decent chunk of money saved in their 'Vault' function, as I find it a helpful way of saving without thinking too much about it. 

My main questions for the forum, then, are:
1. Can they really do this? I find it incredibly difficult to believe that a company governed by the FCA are able to withhold funds from users of their app for undisclosed amounts of time without providing a reason or alerting said users to any potential security risks. After all, I am completely locked out and as such cannot change any passwords or delete any information for my own peace of mind. This is especially concerning to me as, as stated above, I use my app solely for small purchases and transferring to friends so any suspicious activity significant enough to raise alarms is likely to be fraudulent.  
2. Where should I go from here? I have followed Revolut's minimal advice (contact a non-existent agent through the in-app chat, use the feedback email) and taken some steps of my own (namely, a complaint form) but do not feel entirely comfortable just sitting and waiting for a compliance team with no contact information to decide I am allowed my money again. I do plan on contacting a financial ombudsman if the issue is not resolved in the time allotted but wondered if anyone has any advice for further steps I can take in the meantime. It goes without saying, of course, that I will be withdrawing all my funds and closing the account as soon as I possibly can. 

Thank you in advance for any help, and apologies if formatting or any other such thing is off as this is my first post on the forum! 

eskbanker

Unfortunately it's a situation that many find themselves in (search this board for locked/blocked/frozen/closed) and because of compliance with anti money laundering legislation the unpalatable truth is:

• yes, they can do this
• no, there's nothing you can do other than wait
• they can't tell you why the account is blocked
• they can't tell you how long it'll take to investigate

The good news is that you've done the right thing in having multiple accounts to give yourself some resilience against issues like this so you're ahead of many others who find themselves completely stuck....

[Deleted User]

Yes, they can do it.  As a company regulated by the FCA, they have no choice if they suspect the account is being mis-used.  If they gave you a reason, they would be guilty of tipping-off, so they won't be doing that.

There's nothing you can do in the meantime as they need to complete their investigations, however much you may wish for a quicker answer.  FOS will advise you to wait for the resolution.

It goes without saying, of course, that there is no point in withdrawing all your funds once this is resolved if that is simply borne out of an emotional response, as all providers are bound by the same rules. And having been through this once with Revolut, the chances of a reoccurence are obviously less than with a new provider.

george9071

All banks and building societies say this in their T's&C's, you going to have to wait and see what they say, they are going to be under a lot of strain at the minute so your probably looking at a while. I would suggest checking back through transactions etc. just to make sure there are no odd transactions, hope you get this sorted.

t4shprout

eskbanker said:

Unfortunately it's a situation that many find themselves in (search this board for locked/blocked/frozen/closed) and because of compliance with anti money laundering legislation the unpalatable truth is:

• yes, they can do this
• no, there's nothing you can do other than wait
• they can't tell you why the account is blocked
• they can't tell you how long it'll take to investigate

The good news is that you've done the right thing in having multiple accounts to give yourself some resilience against issues like this so you're ahead of many others who find themselves completely stuck....

Thank you for the fast response! As much as I was hoping otherwise I think I did know that there's nothing much to be done, but glad to know the multiple accounts puts me in a better position. 

t4shprout

Deleted_User said:

Yes, they can do it.  As a company regulated by the FCA, they have no choice if they suspect the account is being mis-used.  If they gave you a reason, they would be guilty of tipping-off, so they won't be doing that.

There's nothing you can do in the meantime as they need to complete their investigations, however much you may wish for a quicker answer.  FOS will advise you to wait for the resolution.

It goes without saying, of course, that there is no point in withdrawing all your funds once this is resolved if that is simply borne out of an emotional response, as all providers are bound by the same rules. And having been through this once with Revolut, the chances of a reoccurence are obviously less than with a new provider.

Thank you for a speedy response! Regarding your last point, is this true for all banks and building societies too? For some reason, I was under the impression that companies such as Revolut were governed by different guidelines hence my immediate response being to close up shop and stick to the banks I have used without problems such as this occurring. Maybe this is misinformation I've picked up along the way, and in that case you'd be absolutely right with the advice to stick with Revolut. 

digalumps

As others have said all banks in the UK have to follow the same anti-money laundering rules ie if the bank suspect one of their accounts is being used for money laundering or anything like that then they have no choice but to freeze it and investigate

There are severe penalties if they don't and severe penalties if they discuss it with the customer while they are doing it

I personally think this is a tad unfair but others think that this is the best way to tackle money laundering.

Chino

digalumps said:

There are severe penalties if they don't and severe penalties if they discuss it with the customer while they are doing it

What are these "severe penalties"?

digalumps

Large fines