Revolut - Locked Account and No Customer Service

business14

Good morning all,

I have had an account with Revolut bank for about 3 years now, over the past 2 i've barely used it and the account has been fine until 10 days ago. I run my own business and have a bank account with Starling bank, i raised an invoice to one of my customers and they paid into my Revolut account by error. They had my personal Revolut account on file when i first opened it and there's a new accounts director in their company who clearly see my name to pay rather than the details of my company on the invoice. 

Anyway, my account was flagged and locked on the day that payment came in - after an initial discussion with their support team on the live chat (this is the ONLY method you can get hold of them) i was told it was flagged for a standard security check including AML and that the process won't be long at all and for me to provide them with documents such as payslips, invoices, tax returns etc. I explained over and over that this money was put into the wrong account, therefore the money isn't legally my own or Revoluts, it belongs to my Ltd company.

10 days go by and after the first day of agreeing to send in the documents, they have been becoming more and more unresponsive on the chat and even when they do reply, it is the same robotic / generic message that they sent at the very beginning!

It has now been a solid 3 days since anyone has replied to my messages, this is totally unacceptable for a bank to act like this - especially when i have explained the urgency to get this money back into my business, i have staff and bills that can't be paid as they're holding onto the money.

I've had a brief conversation with the FCA who wasn't much help at all, they simply said nothing can be done as Revolut are within their rights to hold/lock/delete any account if they are not happy with the documents provided to pass these "security checks"! I completely understand the need for AML checks and everything that revolves around it but the documents i have provided clearly show the money shouldn't have been put here and yet they're failing to see it nor bother replying.

A complaint has already been raised, to which these e-banks have 15 days to reply, the response to my complaint was received 6 days after and it was the most automated reply you could think of and is almost identical to that others have received who are in the same position as me. 

I now have a choice to head over to the Financial Ombudsman Service and file a complaint there which is a lengthy, before i do this i wanted to get advice here and to see if anyone else has gone through the same?

My question simplifies to 2 main points:

1. Do banks such as Revolut have a protocol/policy to follow when being responsive to customers, perhaps outlined somewhere by the FCA?
2. How long are banks legally allowed to hold funds until these so called 'checks' are completed? 

Many thanks.

eskbanker

Unfortunately the answer to q2 is effectively 'as long as it takes', and for q1, they're largely not allowed to discuss the matter....

business14

Thanks for your quick reply. 

There must be a limit though on time, the account is so basic with hardly any transactions going through it.

Revolut seemed to have many technical issues over the past 5 days, many taking to Twitter saying how payments into and out of the accounts are not being received. This makes me think that the delay in reviewing my account has been put on the back burner as they're limited with staff, while i do understand these things happen i shouldn't be forced to wait longer than expected to have my money.

I should have added to the first post another question, as the money has been put into the account by mistake and i have sent in the invoice to prove this - surely this one payment should be offered to send back to the client or put into the correct account? I recently had a small amount deposited into my personal bank account with Natwest, i called up the bank and asked what do i do with the funds and they told me it's illegal to hold money that doesn't belong to me. Surely this is the same? 

etienneg

Taking a step back, your company's client appears not to have paid the invoice properly, as he has paid to a different account from the one your company invoice (presumably) quoted. Would it help, then, to ask the client to request a chargeback via his bank, and then to pay the invoice properly to the right account?

I would also (politely but sternly) tell him to remove details of your personal account from his computer system. It's a pity you ever gave these personal account details to a business contact.

colsten

business14 said:

It has now been a solid 3 days since anyone has replied to my messages, this is totally unacceptable for a bank..........

1. Do banks such as Revolut have a protocol/policy to follow when being responsive to customers, perhaps outlined somewhere by the FCA?
2. How long are banks legally allowed to hold funds until these so called 'checks' are completed? 

Revolut is not a bank but even if they were a bank, they can, and will, take as long as it takes to complete their investigation.

You can raise a formal complaint, and if they haven't responded satisfactorily within 8 weeks, you can escalate your case to the FOS. Don't expect the FOS to be quick, either, though.

born_again

etienneg said:

Taking a step back, your company's client appears not to have paid the invoice properly, as he has paid to a different account from the one your company invoice (presumably) quoted. Would it help, then, to ask the client to request a chargeback via his bank, and then to pay the invoice properly to the right account?

I would also (politely but sternly) tell him to remove details of your personal account from his computer system. It's a pity you ever gave these personal account details to a business contact.

No such thing as a chargeback on a banking payment. Chargebacks relate to card payments. Even if it had been paid using a card, there is not a valid chargeback reason for paying to the wrong account.

Thrugelmir

Yours won't be the only account under review. It will be sitting in a queue awaiting processing. Resources are finite. Hence the impossibility of giving a time scale as requires manual review and investigation. 

etienneg

born_again said:

etienneg said:

Taking a step back, your company's client appears not to have paid the invoice properly, as he has paid to a different account from the one your company invoice (presumably) quoted. Would it help, then, to ask the client to request a chargeback via his bank, and then to pay the invoice properly to the right account?

I would also (politely but sternly) tell him to remove details of your personal account from his computer system. It's a pity you ever gave these personal account details to a business contact.

No such thing as a chargeback on a banking payment. Chargebacks relate to card payments. Even if it had been paid using a card, there is not a valid chargeback reason for paying to the wrong account.

OK, I stand corrected. Chargeback is the wrong word. So, what is the process called whereby you get your bank to request the receiving bank to return the money because it has been transferred to the wrong account? If I remember correctly, the receiving bank will ask their customer for permission to return the money (which the OP would gladly give) and back it would go. Sorry, I cannot remember what this process is called.

eskbanker

etienneg said:

born_again said:

etienneg said:

Taking a step back, your company's client appears not to have paid the invoice properly, as he has paid to a different account from the one your company invoice (presumably) quoted. Would it help, then, to ask the client to request a chargeback via his bank, and then to pay the invoice properly to the right account?

I would also (politely but sternly) tell him to remove details of your personal account from his computer system. It's a pity you ever gave these personal account details to a business contact.

No such thing as a chargeback on a banking payment. Chargebacks relate to card payments. Even if it had been paid using a card, there is not a valid chargeback reason for paying to the wrong account.

OK, I stand corrected. Chargeback is the wrong word. So, what is the process called whereby you get your bank to request the receiving bank to return the money because it has been transferred to the wrong account? If I remember correctly, the receiving bank will ask their customer for permission to return the money (which the OP would gladly give) and back it would go. Sorry, I cannot remember what this process is called.

I believe you're referring to the misdirected payments process:

https://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/consumers/what-happens-if-i-have-sent-payment-wrong-place

However, if Revolut have determined that the payment is suspicious for whatever reason, then it seems unlikely that this would expedite anything, i.e. by the time they'd be willing to release it to the sender they'd presumably make it available to the recipient too....

born_again

etienneg said:

born_again said:

etienneg said:

Taking a step back, your company's client appears not to have paid the invoice properly, as he has paid to a different account from the one your company invoice (presumably) quoted. Would it help, then, to ask the client to request a chargeback via his bank, and then to pay the invoice properly to the right account?

I would also (politely but sternly) tell him to remove details of your personal account from his computer system. It's a pity you ever gave these personal account details to a business contact.

No such thing as a chargeback on a banking payment. Chargebacks relate to card payments. Even if it had been paid using a card, there is not a valid chargeback reason for paying to the wrong account.

OK, I stand corrected. Chargeback is the wrong word. So, what is the process called whereby you get your bank to request the receiving bank to return the money because it has been transferred to the wrong account? If I remember correctly, the receiving bank will ask their customer for permission to return the money (which the OP would gladly give) and back it would go. Sorry, I cannot remember what this process is called.

No worries

As per @e@eskbanker post.
Once a review has been started even if the sending back requested it to be returned. I would guess they would get a NO, until the review had been completed. As it make the payment look even more dodgy.

etienneg

Thanks to eskbanker and born_again for their responses. As will be obvious, this is not an area in which I have much knowledge or experience, so I'm very pleased to learn.