New Barclays account to be closed, No reason given

ChewyyBacca

I have recently opened Barclays account (less than 2 weeks back) and used Switch offer. During the application process, the only option was to open Premier account, I think based on the salary. I met all T&Cs of 2 Direct debits and pay in of £1500. 
I was planning to get my salary deposited in this new shiny Barclays Premier account, from this month.
I have a Credit card with them since Jan 2023, all paid off every month. 

Today I received a letter from them saying we will close your accounts in a month. I also received a credit of £175 switch incentive in my new current account just yesterday, after they issued the letter.

There are no iffy transactions that would trigger AML programs.
There were 2 credits before they sent this letter.
£100, £1400 pay in for Switch
There are 3 debits. £100, £1372, £28 out, (left £28 for a DD that somehow went through donor account, so withdrew it)

I believe some AML program has given a false red flag & now they want to close the accounts. They havent mentioned Credit card closure though.

Any idea how to convince them? Any one here had luck in making them reverse their position?

Brie

They won't / can't tell you why in case that is tipping you off in some way.  And I've never heard of anyone reversing a decision.  But Barclaycard, while part of Barclays, is a bit set aside to the bank so it's unlikely the card will be affected.  (in my opinion)

GTR_King

They have made the decision as don’t like something that has happened on your account, when you apply for Barclays they give you list of all accounts available! So saying premier account we only available when applying seems odd! If you applied for premier account but falsely said you met the requirements that’s a reason to close it down!

Grumpy_chap

AIUI Barclays Premier Account has a fee and also a minimum salary / deposit requirement.

Theleak250

Barclays are extremely strict/difficult. It took me several attempts to get an account with multiple visits to branch, then they wouldn’t give me an overdraft and said I had to use the account for six months to prove I could manage it well, ain’t got no time for that! Even the branch staff had frustration over their policy.

I’d open an account elsewhere and count yourself lucky! I shouldn’t think it was related to premier, it would take a few months for them to notice and even then the account would just be downgraded. 

trient

Brie said:

They won't / can't tell you why in case that is tipping you off in some way.  And I've never heard of anyone reversing a decision.

I am living proof it can happen. I had a very similar situation, opened a Premier account a few years back, a few days later got closed with no explanation and all relationships severed (the PRM and customer support would no longer speak to me). I asked for a SAR which revealed some internal exchanges that alluded to suspicion of fraud. I went to the CEO executive team and asked for a formal review, and a couple weeks later they invited me back into branch to open a new account. Been friends ever since. 

ivormonee

trient said:

some internal exchanges that alluded to suspicion of fraud

It seems an exceptionally low bar to have bank accounts unilaterally closed on mere suspicion of fraud, without anything more tangible. In theory, most transactions could potentially allude to suspicion of fraud whereas in reality they are normal transactions for the account holder! What banks ought to be doing, to be seen to be fair, is to question the account holder if any suspicions arise for them, thereby giving them the opportunity to provide explanations and/ or evidence to allay those suspicions, rather than just point-blank closing the account.

flaneurs_lobster

Grumpy_chap said:

AIUI Barclays Premier Account has a fee and also a minimum salary / deposit requirement.

No fee.Blurb from website

Premier Current Account

Take your banking to the next level
No monthly fee
Eligibility criteria applies.
Premier eligibility
You’ll need to have a current account with us and either pay in a gross annual income of at least £75,000 – or have a total balance of at least £100,000 in savings with us, in eligible investments, or a mix of both(1).

Yorkie1

ivormonee said:

trient said:

some internal exchanges that alluded to suspicion of fraud

It seems an exceptionally low bar to have bank accounts unilaterally closed on mere suspicion of fraud, without anything more tangible. In theory, most transactions could potentially allude to suspicion of fraud whereas in reality they are normal transactions for the account holder! What banks ought to be doing, to be seen to be fair, is to question the account holder if any suspicions arise for them, thereby giving them the opportunity to provide explanations and/ or evidence to allay those suspicions, rather than just point-blank closing the account.

Whilst not disagreeing with the sentiment of your post, the law specifically forbids banks from doing this (the anti-money laundering tipping-off rules).

trient

ivormonee said:

trient said:

some internal exchanges that alluded to suspicion of fraud

It seems an exceptionally low bar to have bank accounts unilaterally closed on mere suspicion of fraud, without anything more tangible. 

And that's why, in spite of the usual advice here to leave it and move on, I insisted on taking the issue beyond the mere "computer says no". Of course they never "tipped me off" as to the nature of their initial ruling, but they did eventually carry out an internal investigation and must have realised they were in the wrong. But yes, their unilateral action was completely unwarranted hence I wasn't able to let it go.

boingy

The "tipping-off" thing always has me a bit puzzled. If you're up to no good and your account gets frozen surely that a pretty big clue that you've been rumbled. You'd have to be daft to think anything else.

And most people are not up to no good!