Barclays closed my current account - warning to other expats

GeordieinAotearoa

Sharing this just in case anyone else gets caught out and ends up in the same situation as me.

Last week I discovered that Barclays had closed my current account. I only found out when I was contacted by my pension provider about a failed payment. I was completely shocked, having been a customer for 44 years. They were regularly sending me email alerts about statements being available to read, the last one being sent 3 weeks ago. I logged in to read it and everything was normal. No alerts, no warnings, no red flashing signs, nothing. Just the usual notifications about being on guard against scammers.

Barclays claim they have been sending me communications about the closure since February. I haven't seen them. Apparently letters are stored in a separate area from statements. Who knew? Not me.

As a result of the closure, not only have I lost access to my pension and my funds, but I can't get any of my personal data (balance, transactions etc - which I need for my tax return records). I don't have any other UK account and no other bank will give me one. Presumably for the same reasons that Barclays have made the decision to service the UK only and close all overseas accounts. I do remember seeing press articles last year about residents of the EU and EEA possibly losing their UK accounts as a result of Brexit, but have been completely unaware of any threat to the rest of the world (I'm in New Zealand).

I purposefully kept my UK account in order to receive my pension and also to service some personal affairs that I still have over there - my property, family gifts and cards, spending during my visits home, etc. So although I know there are options to have money transferred, I don't particularly want to. And I don't qualify for offshore accounts. It's all been a bit of a nightmare.

Ayr_Rage

I am very surprised you didn't also get emails saying something along the lines of "Important secure message regarding your account, please check your inbox"

Every bank that I use shows some sort of flag for unread messages both on the web login and app.

Section62

GeordieinAotearoa said:

Barclays claim they have been sending me communications about the closure since February. I haven't seen them. Apparently letters are stored in a separate area from statements. Who knew? Not me.

For something like this they would normally send at least one paper letter to your registered postal address, even if you have opted to go paperless.  Do you have a current address in the UK that Barclays have been sending post to (e.g. friends or family), or is it possible Barclays have been sending letters to one of your old addresses (where strangers now live)?

km1500

yes it is annoying - it would presumably be equally difficult for me (living in the uk)  to get a current account in another country

wmb194

GeordieinAotearoa said:

Sharing this just in case anyone else gets caught out and ends up in the same situation as me.

Last week I discovered that Barclays had closed my current account. I only found out when I was contacted by my pension provider about a failed payment. I was completely shocked, having been a customer for 44 years. They were regularly sending me email alerts about statements being available to read, the last one being sent 3 weeks ago. I logged in to read it and everything was normal. No alerts, no warnings, no red flashing signs, nothing. Just the usual notifications about being on guard against scammers.

Barclays claim they have been sending me communications about the closure since February. I haven't seen them. Apparently letters are stored in a separate area from statements. Who knew? Not me.

As a result of the closure, not only have I lost access to my pension and my funds, but I can't get any of my personal data (balance, transactions etc - which I need for my tax return records). I don't have any other UK account and no other bank will give me one. Presumably for the same reasons that Barclays have made the decision to service the UK only and close all overseas accounts. I do remember seeing press articles last year about residents of the EU and EEA possibly losing their UK accounts as a result of Brexit, but have been completely unaware of any threat to the rest of the world (I'm in New Zealand).

I purposefully kept my UK account in order to receive my pension and also to service some personal affairs that I still have over there - my property, family gifts and cards, spending during my visits home, etc. So although I know there are options to have money transferred, I don't particularly want to. And I don't qualify for offshore accounts. It's all been a bit of a nightmare.

Thems the breaks and I suspect that I'd find it hard to open an account in New Zealand. Is your pension refusing to send the money abroad?

Have a look at whether HSBC can offer you something. It pitches itself as a global bank and these days appears to offer the widest range of options to expats.

DullGreyGuy

GeordieinAotearoa said:
I do remember seeing press articles last year about residents of the EU and EEA possibly losing their UK accounts as a result of Brexit, but have been completely unaware of any threat to the rest of the world (I'm in New Zealand).

Brexit focused the mind on what your licenses allowed you to do and not do. Selling products to non-residents was a big no no for most financial services companies but servicing existing customers that are overseas was a bit more of a grey area and took more investigation/consideration.

Clearly Barclays have decided either they cannot legally provide the services to someone in NZ or they simply dont want the risk and hence have given you notice and withdrawn the product. As such you will now be looking for a bank that's willing to sell you a new product whilst you are resident in NZ which will most likely mean a local bank to you or an offshore/ex-pat account (which is typically setup in a lower regulation environment like the Channel Isles or Isle of Man). Unfortunately the later are typically more aimed at MNW/HNW individuals and have fairly high minimum savings/investment requirements. 

jaypers

This has all been well publicised and the rules for all UK Banks are clear. 

xylophone

(or moving your pension to another provider who does offer this service if yours does not). 

Might be a problem if a DB pension.

https://www.pomsinoz.com/topic/216674-barclays-closing-accounts-if-non-uk-address/

OP might try WISE?

gt94sss2

DullGreyGuy said:

GeordieinAotearoa said:
I do remember seeing press articles last year about residents of the EU and EEA possibly losing their UK accounts as a result of Brexit, but have been completely unaware of any threat to the rest of the world (I'm in New Zealand).

Clearly Barclays have decided either they cannot legally provide the services to someone in NZ or they simply dont want the risk and hence have given you notice and withdrawn the product. 

Barclays UK announced that they are closing all their expat accounts globally.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6474399/barclays-to-close-accounts-of-all-british-expats

Unfortunately, HSBC are selling their New Zealand operations but @GeordieinAotearoa can contact HSBC UK directly to see if they can assist


https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/apply-for-a-uk-account/

penners324

Wise or Revolut or an HSBC global money account?

gt94sss2

GeordieinAotearoa said:

As a result of the closure, not only have I lost access to my pension and my funds, but I can't get any of my personal data (balance, transactions etc - which I need for my tax return records). I don't have any other UK account and no other bank will give me one. 

As per my post above, try HSBC.

On the issue of balance/transaction history, banking regulations mean that a bank has to offer you the last 5 years of transactions on closing your account for free - so request this data from Barclays.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/help/accounts/account-services/close-account/