Metro closed my account with 7 days notice

Sompong

colsten said:

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

Ok, the financial ombudsman, 46% of complaints the FCA were asked to deal with against Metro bank were upheld (2019). Make up your own opinion of that.

colsten

I am not here to defend Metro Bank, or any other bank, or to draw conclusions about the nature of complaints people raised. I merely pointed out that Trustpilot isn't a reliable source of information about banks.

eskbanker

Sompong said:

colsten said:

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

Ok, the financial ombudsman, 46% of complaints the FCA were asked to deal with against Metro bank were upheld (2019). Make up your own opinion of that.

One obvious interpretation being that the FOS were more likely to agree with Metro than the customer when presented with an escalated complaint....

Sompong

Managed to open a halifax reward account today, so presuming there are no black marks added to my name, just need to get Metro to transfer our funds now

John_

Sompong said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Your situation is almost unique, in my experience. Perhaps the bank just plain don't like the arrangement. Easier for them to close your account than accommodate your situation.

Agree, still think a better course of action would have been a letter expressing concerns and asking for proof. Anyway, it appears they will release our funds to another account once opened and hopefully leave no black marks... Still frustrating and causing a lot of grief and worry. 
Our plan was to save £100k over the 5 year route to British citizenship... Metro bank won't be seeing that now and we will think very carefully about how to best protect our savings, probably split it through as many savings accounts as possible

I think that most people overestimate the value to banks of their savings. Metro will have been making virtually nothing from your business, which is part of the reason that it’s better for them just to close it.

Payments in actual cash when there is no fraud or crime behind them are not going to be very common nowadays, so will raise a red flag. It’s a sensible commercial decision to just stop dealing with anyone that has such unusual activity rather than risk hundreds of millions of pounds in fines for facilitating money laundering.

notveryeducated

Sompong said:

Managed to open a halifax reward account today, so presuming there are no black marks added to my name, just need to get Metro to transfer our funds now

Not true. Even if you have a black marker it can take 2 weeks for a newly account opened to be closed because of it. 

born_again

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.

I think that if you do not want the same situation with Halifax, then while you do not like it. Get employer to pay you via bank payments.
It costs you or your employer nothing. But it stops issues like this that appear to banks as money laundering & possible tax evasion. Which banks do have to report to the relevant authorities. So your employer could end up with a visit from HMRC to view the books.
Metro could still add CIFAS markers on both of you, and you would then find your Halifax account closed. Which could put your whole wanting to stay in the UK in jeopardy.

Sompong

Went in branch to chase up our money today, at first they offered to give us cash from the vault (£22,000) but when we returned they said that would not be possible. They have now taken details to transfer our funds to our new account... So we will see, as yet nothing has appeared in the account

Sompong

money back.... result!
Horrible week and totally lost any trust for banks

Shakin_Steve

Lesson learned?