Banks closing accounts

ForumUser7

SMITHERSP64 said:

I switched to First Direct after watching Martin's programne to get ther £175.00 switch reward.  - only had wife's wages going in & 3  direct debits going out totalling about £90.00. I suddenly couldn't access my app so rang them - they said a letter had gone out THAT day telling me they were closing the account (on THAT DAY! ) and would not give a reason. I asked about DD's i had due next couple of days & they said nothing they can do about that & I had to set them up again elsewhere !  I suspect they have done this purely because of the fact that after wife's wages go in & the direct debits go out any leftover money of around £1k a month I move to another higher interest account & they don't like that ? Anybody else experienced this ? I find this extremely unprofessional to say the least ! 

I saw a post on here about this happening to someone with NatWest - but not necessarily for the reasons you've described. I think they applied, the account was switched, but there was a wrong DOB on the application, so it was closed. I cannot remember which thread it was or the exact details, but hoping someone else can, or the OP sees this and can link to their post.

TheBanker

SMITHERSP64 said:

I switched to First Direct after watching Martin's programne to get ther £175.00 switch reward.  - only had wife's wages going in & 3  direct debits going out totalling about £90.00. I suddenly couldn't access my app so rang them - they said a letter had gone out THAT day telling me they were closing the account (on THAT DAY! ) and would not give a reason. I asked about DD's i had due next couple of days & they said nothing they can do about that & I had to set them up again elsewhere !  I suspect they have done this purely because of the fact that after wife's wages go in & the direct debits go out any leftover money of around £1k a month I move to another higher interest account & they don't like that ? Anybody else experienced this ? I find this extremely unprofessional to say the least ! 

Decisions to close accounts are normally made by the Fraud and Financial Crime units, especially when it's an immediate closure - they would not care about you moving money to a higher interest account. At the bank I work for, which is not First Direct, the only reason we close an account immediately apart from Fraud or Financial Crime concerns is where the customer has been abusive or violent to a member of our staff. 

Was this account in your sole name, or was it joint? It's possible that receiving someone else's wages into the account was a red flag. Or it could be something else. Does the usage of your account (wife's wages) match whatever you stated on the application form?

datz

SMITHERSP64 said:

I switched to First Direct after watching Martin's programne to get ther £175.00 switch reward.  - only had wife's wages going in & 3  direct debits going out totalling about £90.00. I suddenly couldn't access my app so rang them - they said a letter had gone out THAT day telling me they were closing the account (on THAT DAY! ) and would not give a reason. I asked about DD's i had due next couple of days & they said nothing they can do about that & I had to set them up again elsewhere !  I suspect they have done this purely because of the fact that after wife's wages go in & the direct debits go out any leftover money of around £1k a month I move to another higher interest account & they don't like that ? Anybody else experienced this ? I find this extremely unprofessional to say the least ! 

Not sure on the timescales involved in your situation, but banks will offer you an account (immediately) after successfully completing their primary checks. However, your application then goes through secondary checks over the following week (or two) which, if failed, will result in immediate closure. Not saying this was the case for you (maybe they were uncomfortable with some activity on the account), but it is something that does happen and it is not very fair to those that have switched their primary/only account as part of that application.

The only advice I can offer (for next time) is to switch a secondary current account when chasing an offer (and manually move things over at a future date if you really want). Or, if you have to move your primary account, to delay the switch for a couple of weeks (as long as the incentive offer allows for this - not all do). Either way, it is good practice to hold more than one current account with more than one banking group.