I´m afraid of the banks in the UK

Bedetti

I´m new in the UK and when I arrived I opened an account with LLoyds. I worked 10 years in Spain and used the money I saved in 10 years to support applying for my visa. I also have a Chase account. I transferred part of the money (12K) into Lloyds account  thinking it was my Chase account. When I realised the mistake, I immediately transferred it to my savings in Chase. So Lloyds probably thought I was money laundering my money and closed my account. I´m forbidden to have account with Halifax and Bank of Scotland for life because of my mistake. Now, what do I do to transfer the rest of the money from my Spanish bank account without Chase thinking I´m money laundering too? Shall I open more bank accounts?? I´m afraid, I don´t know what to do with my money. I have all the taxes and bank statements from Spain to prove this money is legit. 

[Deleted User]

You just make sure you transfer funds directly, not bouncing them around multiple accounts.

Worth checking your CIFAS files in case anything appears there.

alternate

Not doubting you but an unusual transfer pattern tends to trigger a security check rather than a life ban.

Bedetti

They haven´t asked me anything. They just sent me a letter in the end of May saying they will close my account and I can´t open any account with them in the future. Also, I´ve seen its the same letter they send to everyone they´re closing the account. I wish I had the chance to provide them all the documents from Spain.

Daliah

The best way to transfer funds is by using a currency transfer firm. Check monito.com for the best deal. Usually wise.com comes top, or near the top.

Always make sure your account is fully verified before you transfer any money. Don't transfer large chunks at once, keep it below £10k. Always have proof of funds, and expect that your transfers will get held up occasionally, as the providers have a legal obligation to verify the source of funds.

Bedetti

[Deleted User] said:

You just make sure you transfer funds directly, not bouncing them around multiple accounts.

Worth checking your CIFAS files in case anything appears there.

Well, my bank in Spain was BBVA and it only allows you to transfer 15k euros/day. So I transferred a part of it into Chase account in June without knowing this behaviour was dangerous. They haven´t closed my account, but I´m afraid they will do this to me in the future. Nothing happened so far.
So, as I was afraid of them doing the same LIoyds did, I wrote to Chase asking if they wanted me to submit the documents I have from Spain because I told them I was transferring this money to the UK and they said it wasn´t necessary.
Now I have money stuck in Wise bank account, around 30K stuck.
What would you do? Transfer to Chase Savings all the money? Open a new bank and transfer the money?

Bedetti

I have submitted the form for the CIFAS today, but I think it can take 10 days to be ready.

Bridlington1

One thing you could do in future is notify the bank if you are about to make any unusual payments in/out of your account. Although it won't remove the problem entirely, it should help to alleviate some concerns the bank may have about possible fraud/money laundering.

Bedetti

Bridlington1 said:

One thing you could do in future is notify the bank if you are about to make any unusual payments in/out of your account. Although it won't remove the problem entirely, it should help to alleviate some concerns the bank may have about possible fraud/money laundering.

Thats a good idea. I just froze thinking Chase would do the same and got my money stuck. Maybe I will contact them again and offer to show them my BBVA bank statements and also my Tax Return from Spain.

Daliah

Oh right, you are already using wise.com (they are not a bank, btw, so there is no deposit protection). I can't judge what is best for you to do, and I have no idea why Lloyds Banking Group banned you.

Though generally, it is a good idea to have accounts with more than one bank, in case something goes wrong with one of them. 

As you, presumably, won't need all your money at once, you might want to look at opening some savings accounts, and gradually move your £30k into these. I would limit transfers to £5k to £10k max at a time. There is always a chance that your payments will be held up for extra checks - - these are routine checks, not because somebody is after you. Though check whether you have a CIFAS marker, as suggested.

Bedetti

Daliah said:

The best way to transfer funds is by using a currency transfer firm. Check monito.com for the best deal. Usually wise.com comes top, or near the top.

Always make sure your account is fully verified before you transfer any money. Don't transfer large chunks at once, keep it below £10k. Always have proof of funds, and expect that your transfers will get held up occasionally, as the providers have a legal obligation to verify the source of funds.

My money is in Wise right now, doing nothing there. LOL. Wise is definetely the best rate, even though they charge a fee.
I didn´t know about the 10K, thanks for sharing that.