Santander blocked my account without any reason

grumbler

Momanns said:

ToastLady said:

No matter what, I think banks should be duty bound to give an explanation as to why you are no longer wanted as a customer, as quickly as they can. I do appreciate that some investigations can take a bit of time in the case of fraud/dubious practises, and banks would keep that quiet.
However, in this case, cheques have been paid out, and the OP really should know why, and absolutely claim compensation.

Given most are closed for fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, criminal activity ...

Really? And what proportion of these customers get prosecuted for the crimes they allegedly committed?

Momanns

Nothing to do with a bank who are legally required to operate on a knowledge or suspicion basis. 

This can of course be interpreted differently and often, incorrectly. I would still suggest this happens less frequently than people having their accounts blocked and closed without cause.

LHW99

One assumes that if there is fraudulent / criminal action, then it would be reported to the police.

If there is no criminal activity, I see no reason why a bank should not make a straightforward statement laying out the reasons, if after investigation they have found no wrongdoing, but still plan to close the account.

grumbler

Momanns said:

Nothing to do with a bank who are legally required to operate on a knowledge or suspicion basis. 

In this case you should have said "for suspected fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, criminal activity".
That was exactly my point.

or clear breaches of T&C's such as business usage on a personal account. What would an explanation achieve? 

If it's some breaches, then why keep it secret? An explanation will achieve that the customer will not make this mistake again, especially if it's some vague 'business usage' that, most likely isn't defined in any T&C. At what level, say, selling stuff on ebay becomes 'business'?

That's what the T&C exist for - to make it clear when one of the parties breaches them. No secrets whatsoever.

littlemissbossy

Hi
LBC discussing bank account closures just now. 

dealyboy

@littlemissbossy said:

Hi
LBC discussing bank account closures just now. 

... an hour special with Iain Dale at that (my favourite) ... it's good so far ... a lot of ordinary people texting in.

born_again

a7ash said:

I have now got separate closure letters for all my 3 accounts that I had with Santander in the mail. 

A cheque for one of my accounts also arrived separately for 20k which I promptly encashed. 

When I called them , they said other cheques are in the mail. I hope to get them soon. The other cheques for my two accounts are 66k total, so hope Royal Mail doesn’t lose it. I am still surprised - they send all these by 2nd class post. 

No reason for closing bank account was given, the closure letter only said -  it’s down to their company policies and they can stop banking facilities to a customer at any time.

No notice was given to me for bank account closure, just closure letters by second class post for a customer who maintained north of 85k, not to mention, two and half months of limbo when they couldn’t give me any information. 

Good news it sorted & cheques on the way.

Might be worth a CIFAS check in a month or 2 given the immediate closure of the accounts.

Momanns

grumbler said:

Momanns said:

Nothing to do with a bank who are legally required to operate on a knowledge or suspicion basis. 

In this case you should have said "for suspected fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, criminal activity".
That was exactly my point.

or clear breaches of T&C's such as business usage on a personal account. What would an explanation achieve? 

If it's some breaches, then why keep it secret? An explanation will achieve that the customer will not make this mistake again, especially if it's some vague 'business usage' that, most likely isn't defined in any T&C. At what level, say, selling stuff on ebay becomes 'business'?

That's what the T&C exist for - to make it clear when one of the parties breaches them. No secrets whatsoever.

Yah fair point. Glad the OP got his money back and there does seem to be some scrutiny on account closures. 

Only addition closure letters are more often than not automated - Giving a reason for each closure what require more resources.

EightyOne

Something bad is happening in the banking security theatre and I suspect the big players are trying to kill off the online banks. My Santander business account was blocked for no reason last week, Santander had the wrong birthdate on file and I need to go to my nearest branch (10 miles) to verify ID.
4 days later TSB blocked my personal account because I tried to pay a new recipient - an online bank.
Today (same day) Santander has blocked a second business account. Guess what, yes an online bank payment.
They are inflicting reputational and financial damage, not to mention the time and mental anguish. And they don't care.

wmb194

EightyOne said:

Something bad is happening in the banking security theatre and I suspect the big players are trying to kill off the online banks. My Santander business account was blocked for no reason last week, Santander had the wrong birthdate on file and I need to go to my nearest branch (10 miles) to verify ID.
4 days later TSB blocked my personal account because I tried to pay a new recipient - an online bank.
Today (same day) Santander has blocked a second business account. Guess what, yes an online bank payment.
They are inflicting reputational and financial damage, not to mention the time and mental anguish. And they don't care.

A lot like HSBC a few years ago after it was fined for poor oversight, last year Santander UK was fined £108m for its oversight failures and in reaction it seems to have become a lot twitchier about blocking and questioning every little thing.

If it's really annoying you I'd look at switching your business accounts to another bank as I doubt it'll change anytime soon - when this sort of thing happens banks spend years trying to regain the trust of the regulators.

"The financial watchdog said the bank "failed to properly oversee and manage" systems aimed at verifying information provided by business customers.

Santander also failed to properly monitor the money customers had going through their accounts."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63914275