Metro closed my account with 7 days notice

Sompong

Grumpy_chap said:

Sompong said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Good luck in resolving your case at the bank, and in securing your visa and long-term life goals here.
BUT...

Sompong said:

my husband is a chef and I work as a chef in the same country pub/restaurant, our joint income is around £28k and we also had around £8k in a stocks and share ISA which was moved to the Metro account... That's not particularly unusual or unbelievable.

I wouldn't say paying around £1500 cash a month into a current account is odd either and it's certainly not illegal.

Your combined salaries plus accomodation etc are not common, but not exceptional either as you explain them through the whole thread.  Nor is paying £1,500 in cash illegal.

To receive £1,500 in cash monthly is odd, though, and quite unusual.  Not to mention the security aspect of that.  I assume you are properly paid with pay-slips and tax etc. all declared.  If it was me, I would prefer to have this payment by bank transfer or cheque rather than cash.

Everything is completely above board, we get paid weekly, we get payslips and P60's and during lockdown were furloughed, if anything underhand was going on it would have been flagged by now, my husband has worked for 11 years for him

I never said anything was underhand.  I simply said that to receive salary in cash is unusual and I would prefer bank transfer.

Yes, I will get our employer to switch to BACS payments and perhaps use savings accounts where banks are expecting money to just go in with no direct debits or standing orders set up.

jonesMUFCforever

Not for Chinese/Thai restaurants its not - they all use cash.

A_Lert

You can expect a difficult time.

What you're doing looks suspicious. Banks have been spooked by billion-pound fines for not tackling money laundering, so they'd rather screw things up for law-abiding customers than risk more fines like that. If they're investigating your account for laundering they're not allowed to tell you anything because that's deemed "tipping off". The whole system is completely opaque and treats honest people like criminals.

notveryeducated

This is must be very annoying for you but make sure you get your money back and also that Metro Bank haven't given you a CIFAS marker as one of these markers prevents you from opening a bank account with another bank.  

born_again

Sompong said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Amazing English, by the way.

I'm translating for my wife as she can not read and write English yet.
With the way banks operate now there is an illusion that paying by bacs is easier but in fact it is not, cash is still legal though.... but banks don't make an extra 1% on every transaction, maybe they are singling out cash people. Either way we are not talking about large amounts of money and if there was a concern they could easily of asked for payslips or a p60 etc

And sounds just like restraint is avoiding paying tax/NI on you. And also possibly not declaring full income (avoiding tax) As that cash you get given has to come from somewhere.....
So it's either out of the takings, or they take it from there bank account.
As with cash there is no trail of funds. 

Sompong

born_again said:

Sompong said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Amazing English, by the way.

I'm translating for my wife as she can not read and write English yet.
With the way banks operate now there is an illusion that paying by bacs is easier but in fact it is not, cash is still legal though.... but banks don't make an extra 1% on every transaction, maybe they are singling out cash people. Either way we are not talking about large amounts of money and if there was a concern they could easily of asked for payslips or a p60 etc

And sounds just like restraint is avoiding paying tax/NI on you. And also possibly not declaring full income (avoiding tax) As that cash you get given has to come from somewhere.....
So it's either out of the takings, or they take it from there bank account.
As with cash there is no trail of funds. 

This I disagree with, Pubs take a lot of cash through legitimate business and most of the staff are young and part time, it is perfectly reasonable to pay these people in the cash coming through the till. Staff still expect payslips and evidence that their NI contributions are being paid and they are all entitled to pensions now too
The banks WANT you to think that a cashless society is somehow safer but it's just more profitable to them.

Thrugelmir

Sompong said:

born_again said:

Sompong said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Amazing English, by the way.

I'm translating for my wife as she can not read and write English yet.
With the way banks operate now there is an illusion that paying by bacs is easier but in fact it is not, cash is still legal though.... but banks don't make an extra 1% on every transaction, maybe they are singling out cash people. Either way we are not talking about large amounts of money and if there was a concern they could easily of asked for payslips or a p60 etc

And sounds just like restraint is avoiding paying tax/NI on you. And also possibly not declaring full income (avoiding tax) As that cash you get given has to come from somewhere.....
So it's either out of the takings, or they take it from there bank account.
As with cash there is no trail of funds. 

This I disagree with, Pubs take a lot of cash through legitimate business and most of the staff are young and part time, it is perfectly reasonable to pay these people in the cash coming through the till. Staff still expect payslips and evidence that their NI contributions are being paid and they are all entitled to pensions now too
The banks WANT you to think that a cashless society is somehow safer but it's just more profitable to them.

Fiddling the books is as old as the hills as far as cash is concerned. These days it's money laundering that is the bigger problem. Nail bars, takeaways etc are the types of business that are ideal for legitimising large sums of money. 

Sompong

Thrugelmir said:

Sompong said:

born_again said:

Sompong said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Amazing English, by the way.

I'm translating for my wife as she can not read and write English yet.
With the way banks operate now there is an illusion that paying by bacs is easier but in fact it is not, cash is still legal though.... but banks don't make an extra 1% on every transaction, maybe they are singling out cash people. Either way we are not talking about large amounts of money and if there was a concern they could easily of asked for payslips or a p60 etc

And sounds just like restraint is avoiding paying tax/NI on you. And also possibly not declaring full income (avoiding tax) As that cash you get given has to come from somewhere.....
So it's either out of the takings, or they take it from there bank account.
As with cash there is no trail of funds. 

This I disagree with, Pubs take a lot of cash through legitimate business and most of the staff are young and part time, it is perfectly reasonable to pay these people in the cash coming through the till. Staff still expect payslips and evidence that their NI contributions are being paid and they are all entitled to pensions now too
The banks WANT you to think that a cashless society is somehow safer but it's just more profitable to them.

Fiddling the books is as old as the hills as far as cash is concerned. These days it's money laundering that is the bigger problem. Nail bars, takeaways etc are the types of business that are ideal for legitimising large sums of money. 

Simple enough to request the P60 and payslips if there is a concern. But again we are missing the main point
"The Banking Code and the Business Banking Code both say that, in normal circumstances, firms should give customers at least 30 calendar days’ notice before closing their accounts."

Sompong

Checking trustpilot for metro bank, seems like they are doing a lot of this right now, one complaint was the bank not accepted a cash deposit during the coronavirus lock-down.... 

colsten

Trustpilot is, of course, the ultimate source for reliable information about banks. Not.