Account Blocked By Santander

GeoffTF

If you make a payment and it turns out that you have been scammed, Santander will be obliged to compensate you. They therefore will not allow you to make a payment unless they are sure that you are not being scammed.

As others have said, if you speak to the bank with the attitude that is evident from your posts, you are asking for trouble.

You should be able to open a Basic Bank Account with another bank:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/banking/basic-bank-accounts

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts/

The suggestion to use a separate account (e.g. Wise or Revolut) to make the transfer to your friend also makes sense (unless you really are being scammed).

GeoffTF

Perhaps I should add to that. Lets put it like this. Santander has a customer who keeps trying to give his money away and when questioned does not offer satisfactory answers. (We do not know why.) Santander has blocked his account because they fear that he will find some other way of giving his money away, and they will have to compensate him. Moving to another bank will not help if he has the same problem with the next bank. Most importantly, we do not have all the facts here, and cannot reasonably offer advice.