HSBC has frozen all my accounts - high earner left penniless

hoc

Is this a bog standard account? A very high earner who tends to save more than most people, who has been a customer for 25 years and doesn't bank with anybody else should have at least premier if not a private banking account and not be subject to backlogs of the masses.

Going into the branch can be helpful with HSBC. With most banks it's a waste of time and they tell you to go away but I have found HSBC staff willing to share what they see in the system when call center can't or won't. This may not apply for this type of issue but there's nothing to lose. This is where having an account with a relationship manager can help speed things up. If you qualify ask to speak to someone about it.

mab3000

Has it not been suggested to you to go to a branch with a payslip to withdraw cash from your salary? Other banks do this in these circumstances and to be honest I thought this is something that all banks were required to do, so they don’t leave you completely stranded. 

born_again

trient said:

For what it's worth I suggest filing a complaint through Resolver.co.uk. In my limited experience every single complaint I eventually sent through them was actioned much quicker than those (initially) sent direct, even after multiple escalations.

One other thing you can try is writing the CEO office, there should be an executive support team there that handles cases with a proper human touch. It worked well for me with Barclays.

Lastly, as a very high earner do you have any special status (Premier/Jade etc)? Do you not have access to a premier relationship manager that could help expedite the  investigation? Long shot but worth trying.

Better to go straight to HSBC, rather than involve a 3rd party that do nothing but forward you complaint on, they do not do anything else. ALL banking complaints are handled by HUMANS.
 But this is one situation where a complaint makes no difference. As it is a regulatory requirement. No one can expedite these. The teams that do this work in the order the cases came in & they take as long as they take.

TBF. The Op is not penniless as they have a Monzo (pocket money acc)

Band7

ent_moot said:

  

I've often had my cards cancelled, which is fine. .

This is new information. Why did you have your cards cancelled often, and how did you resolve those cancellations? Why did you stay with a bank that often cancelled your cards?

artyboy

hoc said:

Is this a bog standard account? A very high earner who tends to save more than most people, who has been a customer for 25 years and doesn't bank with anybody else should have at least premier if not a private banking account and not be subject to backlogs of the masses.

Going into the branch can be helpful with HSBC. With most banks it's a waste of time and they tell you to go away but I have found HSBC staff willing to share what they see in the system when call center can't or won't. This may not apply for this type of issue but there's nothing to lose. This is where having an account with a relationship manager can help speed things up. If you qualify ask to speak to someone about it.

THIS! I had a call with my premier RM yesterday (not HSBC though) specifically to call out some high volume repetitive transactions I was making, and to say that I'd be less than impressed if it triggered any account restrictions. Her response was that she'd be the first to know if there were any internal 'flags' raised and that now she understood what I was doing, she'd be able to manage it.

Now of course this could all have been warm BS - and clearly she's not going to be able to do anything if they really think there is an AML issue on my account. But I'd like to think that it provides a slightly better safety net. So if the OP has a premier banking RM, they should be on to them right away...

ent_moot

hoc said:

Is this a bog standard account? A very high earner who tends to save more than most people, who has been a customer for 25 years and doesn't bank with anybody else should have at least premier if not a private banking account and not be subject to backlogs of the masses.

It's a bog standard account. As far as I know, you don't automatically get upgraded, regardless of how much you earn, or how long you've been a customer. If you're asking why I've not upgraded: simple, I see nothing attractive about the premier account. 

>Enjoy preferential terms on mortgages and savings
I've already paid off my mortgage, which, incidentally, was with HSBC. No thanks.

> Spend flexibly with an arranged overdraft
I'm a high earner. Why would I ever be overdrawn?

> Relax with HSBC Worldwide Travel Insurance
Travel insurance usually costs a few pounds. 

However, if they had said something like "reduced risk of high earners having their accounts frozen because of our poor fraud detection systems"... I may actually have been interested.

I've often had my cards cancelled, which is fine. .

Perhaps "often" is an overstatement. I think maybe 3-4 times. Once when I forget to mention that I was travelling abroad on business, and used my card. Once when I paid for street food in London.. and I forget the other occasions. I recall thinking "fair enough, better safe than sorry".  And it was not a big deal, as I could still transfer money to my Monzo online.

mab3000 said:

Has it not been suggested to you to go to a branch with a payslip to withdraw cash from your salary? Other banks do this in these circumstances and to be honest I thought this is something that all banks were required to do, so they don’t leave you completely stranded. 

Good point, I do recall this being mentioned at some point. I'm of a mind to take my last few pay slips, and ask to withdraw all 50k.

ent_moot

>One other thing you can try is writing the CEO office, there should be an executive support team there that handles cases with a proper human touch. It worked well for me with Barclays.

Good idea. 

I've written to their CEO. 

username

It wouldn't surprise me if the transfer to the kitten vendor was a factor.

Where did you find said vendor and why did they not accept cards or entirely in cash?

If it was a gumtree/fb market/other marketplace affair, I would have dealt strictly in cash and in-person.

eskbanker

ent_moot said:

I have had my current and savings account, totalling more than £50k, frozen for nearly a week now.

But less than 24 hours ago:

ent_moot said:

I'm into day two of HSBC freezing my current and savings accounts

ent_moot said:

I honestly feel violated.

It's like turning off someone's oxygen supply...

[...]

...I am a Distinguished Software Engineer...

If nothing else, all this sort of stuff will give the recipient a good laugh - I suppose everyone will have their own views about what constitutes an effective complaint, but exaggerating dates and ladling on all the gratuitous embellishment to pad it out seems unlikely to achieve anything that a simple factual and accurate complaint wouldn't.

Marchitiello

ent_moot said:

hoc said:

Is this a bog standard account? A very high earner who tends to save more than most people, who has been a customer for 25 years and doesn't bank with anybody else should have at least premier if not a private banking account and not be subject to backlogs of the masses.

It's a bog standard account. As far as I know, you don't automatically get upgraded, regardless of how much you earn, or how long you've been a customer. If you're asking why I've not upgraded: simple, I see nothing attractive about the premier account. 

>Enjoy preferential terms on mortgages and savings
I've already paid off my mortgage, which, incidentally, was with HSBC. No thanks.

> Spend flexibly with an arranged overdraft
I'm a high earner. Why would I ever be overdrawn?

> Relax with HSBC Worldwide Travel Insurance
Travel insurance usually costs a few pounds. 

However, if they had said something like "reduced risk of high earners having their accounts frozen because of our poor fraud detection systems"... I may actually have been interested.

I've often had my cards cancelled, which is fine. .

Perhaps "often" is an overstatement. I think maybe 3-4 times. Once when I forget to mention that I was travelling abroad on business, and used my card. Once when I paid for street food in London.. and I forget the other occasions. I recall thinking "fair enough, better safe than sorry".  And it was not a big deal, as I could still transfer money to my Monzo online.

mab3000 said:

Has it not been suggested to you to go to a branch with a payslip to withdraw cash from your salary? Other banks do this in these circumstances and to be honest I thought this is something that all banks were required to do, so they don’t leave you completely stranded. 

Good point, I do recall this being mentioned at some point. I'm of a mind to take my last few pay slips, and ask to withdraw all 50k.

It is true that HSBC does not automatically upgrade you but  it is basically a free upgrade (does not carry a monthly fee)  that does offer some few perks, notably a full family world wide travel insurance, that does not cost few pennies at all (someone I know had to get one for a trip to the Middle East, including two kids, and was over £100 for just that trip…) and other ways to get it in the UK with other financial institution is to pay a monthly or annual fee, so for me, just for this, it would have been a more then worthy upgrade (again, why remaining on a standard account when you can have a better one for free?).