Metro Bank closed my account - need urgent help

lhwrandal

lindabea said:

lhwrandal said:

Nothing out of the ordinary.  I moved to my new house in April, and I am already on the electoral roll at my new address.   I immediately transferred a few pounds from my other account to the Metro bank account on 5/7 right after opening just to make sure it works.  Then apparently they served a closure notice on 5/9 due to ‘suspected fraud’.  

I checked CIFAS, it is clean.  My main concern is not about the Metro account as I have other accounts.  I am nervous that Metro Bank will report this account to CIFAS as fraud then I will be in trouble.  Do you think this will likely happen?

OP - Your reference to dates as 5/7 and 5/9 implies an American format; are you by any chance an American citizen.  If so, Metro bank may be doing some further checks after opening your account regarding your tax status.  Perhaps a long shot but quite a possibility.

No I am British, however I spent a long time overseas.  I live and own a property in the UK now, which I used the address to open the account.  Having said that, I was traveling on business overseas the moment when I used the app to open the account on 5/7.  I called Metrobank again today and they said somehow the system detects the application was came from overseas and flagged a security alert.  I am not sure if I go to the branch to prove myself I can get this resolved.

eskbanker

lhwrandal said:
I was traveling on business overseas the moment when I used the app to open the account on 5/7.  I called Metrobank again today and they said somehow the system detects the application was came from overseas and flagged a security alert.  I am not sure if I go to the branch to prove myself I can get this resolved.

They obviously shouldn't be giving out differing reasons for the closure but this one does sound more plausible than the fraud one, although whether in itself it should be sufficient to decline the application is debatable.  What did they say about whether going into branch would resolve it, i.e. are they actually looking for you to 'prove yourself' if there isn't any dispute about ID, etc?

MattMattMattUK

lhwrandal said:

lindabea said:

lhwrandal said:

Nothing out of the ordinary.  I moved to my new house in April, and I am already on the electoral roll at my new address.   I immediately transferred a few pounds from my other account to the Metro bank account on 5/7 right after opening just to make sure it works.  Then apparently they served a closure notice on 5/9 due to ‘suspected fraud’.  

I checked CIFAS, it is clean.  My main concern is not about the Metro account as I have other accounts.  I am nervous that Metro Bank will report this account to CIFAS as fraud then I will be in trouble.  Do you think this will likely happen?

OP - Your reference to dates as 5/7 and 5/9 implies an American format; are you by any chance an American citizen.  If so, Metro bank may be doing some further checks after opening your account regarding your tax status.  Perhaps a long shot but quite a possibility.

No I am British, however I spent a long time overseas.  I live and own a property in the UK now, which I used the address to open the account.  Having said that, I was traveling on business overseas the moment when I used the app to open the account on 5/7.  I called Metrobank again today and they said somehow the system detects the application was came from overseas and flagged a security alert.  I am not sure if I go to the branch to prove myself I can get this resolved.

It is fairly standard to do that by looking at IP addresses, which their system will log and automatically geolocate as an anti-fraud measure. It might also be part of the terms and conditions of your application that you are physically present in the UK at the time of application. 

They might reject it outright and say you need to try again, they might reject it outright and say no, they might let you prove you are who you say you are with a passport and driving license in the branch, only they can confirm either way though. 

Thrugelmir

lhwrandal said:

lindabea said:

lhwrandal said:

Nothing out of the ordinary.  I moved to my new house in April, and I am already on the electoral roll at my new address.   I immediately transferred a few pounds from my other account to the Metro bank account on 5/7 right after opening just to make sure it works.  Then apparently they served a closure notice on 5/9 due to ‘suspected fraud’.  

I checked CIFAS, it is clean.  My main concern is not about the Metro account as I have other accounts.  I am nervous that Metro Bank will report this account to CIFAS as fraud then I will be in trouble.  Do you think this will likely happen?

OP - Your reference to dates as 5/7 and 5/9 implies an American format; are you by any chance an American citizen.  If so, Metro bank may be doing some further checks after opening your account regarding your tax status.  Perhaps a long shot but quite a possibility.

No I am British, however I spent a long time overseas.  I live and own a property in the UK now, which I used the address to open the account.  Having said that, I was traveling on business overseas the moment when I used the app to open the account on 5/7.  I called Metrobank again today and they said somehow the system detects the application was came from overseas and flagged a security alert.  I am not sure if I go to the branch to prove myself I can get this resolved.

So are you actually a UK resident. That's what Metro bank will be questioning. 

lhwrandal

I would like to share an update.  I went to the branch on Tue, showed my ID and proof of address.  At that time the account has already been closed as 7 days has passed since the notice to close was issued.  The staff still scanned all my IDs and sent it off to the fraud team to review my profile, or should I say clear my name.  They told me that, although I am an UK resident, the account was flagged because I was overseas the moment when I submitted the application. 

Frankly, I don’t need to reopen this account but I just want to make sure they won’t register my name in CIFAS because the fact that I made this application when I was traveling overseas.  I heard cases that people got on CIFAS after the bank closed their accounts.  This bothers me over the last week.

lhwrandal

MattMattMattUK said:

lhwrandal said:

lindabea said:

lhwrandal said:

Nothing out of the ordinary.  I moved to my new house in April, and I am already on the electoral roll at my new address.   I immediately transferred a few pounds from my other account to the Metro bank account on 5/7 right after opening just to make sure it works.  Then apparently they served a closure notice on 5/9 due to ‘suspected fraud’.  

I checked CIFAS, it is clean.  My main concern is not about the Metro account as I have other accounts.  I am nervous that Metro Bank will report this account to CIFAS as fraud then I will be in trouble.  Do you think this will likely happen?

OP - Your reference to dates as 5/7 and 5/9 implies an American format; are you by any chance an American citizen.  If so, Metro bank may be doing some further checks after opening your account regarding your tax status.  Perhaps a long shot but quite a possibility.

No I am British, however I spent a long time overseas.  I live and own a property in the UK now, which I used the address to open the account.  Having said that, I was traveling on business overseas the moment when I used the app to open the account on 5/7.  I called Metrobank again today and they said somehow the system detects the application was came from overseas and flagged a security alert.  I am not sure if I go to the branch to prove myself I can get this resolved.

It is fairly standard to do that by looking at IP addresses, which their system will log and automatically geolocate as an anti-fraud measure. It might also be part of the terms and conditions of your application that you are physically present in the UK at the time of application. 

They might reject it outright and say you need to try again, they might reject it outright and say no, they might let you prove you are who you say you are with a passport and driving license in the branch, only they can confirm either way though. 

I have shared the updates in a separate thread.  I think the situation is exactly what your said.  It was my error that I was not aware I have to be physically in the UK when the application was made.  Do you think this is enough to be an application fraud, or is it just a security preventative measure?

kaMelo

Given the high bar required to place a CIFAS marker, enough evidence of wrongdoing for a criminal investigation, I would say you will be okay.

lindabea

One would think that if the Metro system is able to detect someone trying to open an account with an IP address from overseas, (nothing really clever in that), it would stop such an attempt, instead of allowing an applicant to proceed and open the account for it to be closed at a later stage.  Wouldn't that make more sense, or am I missing something here.  I know we're talking about a bank here, their lack of common sense never ceases to amaze me.    

lhwrandal

I would like to give an update of the situation.  Sorry for the late reply as I was traveling.  I went to the branch on 5/17, presented all my IDs and proof of address.  The branch sent all the information to their head office for validation.  

The account was eventually closed because 5/16 was the 7th day of the notice of closure.  However, the branch said head office would still review all my documents to decide if I can reopen the account.  They also confirmed the reason of closure was due to the fact that the application was made outside of UK.

About a week later, Metro bank called me back saying head office has given the branch OK to reopen my account.  I did not bother to reopen at the end because I was already tired of the process, but at least I got my name cleared.  

I requested a CIFAS DSAR afterwards to check if there is any issue, I received my CIFAS DSAR today and the report states- Metro Bank PLC undertook a search on 18 May 2022 using your details - please contact Metro Bank PLC for further information.

Is this an adverse information? Do I need to contact them to challenge and remove the entry, or should I just leave it?

Daliah

No need to worry about the search - this won't count against you. It is merely a record that a search was carried out.

Thanks for coming back with an update on your case. I don't blame you for not giving them your custom after the hassle they put you through.