Beware of Tide Bank

Lambuza123

I have a small business and bank with Tide Bank. i recently received a message from Tide Bank, informing me that they were closing my account immediately. I contacted Tide, and asked why however they refused. I offered to provide any supporting documentation they required in case they had any concerns, however my account remains frozen and i have no access to my funds. Tide bank asked me for a bank account from another bank so they can transfer my funds, but its 12 days, and they have not transferred my money, nor offered any support assistance or reason. Beware!

MyRealNameToo

Lambuza123 said:

I have a small business and bank with Tide Bank. i recently received a message from Tide Bank, informing me that they were closing my account immediately. I contacted Tide, and asked why however they refused. I offered to provide any supporting documentation they required in case they had any concerns, however my account remains frozen and i have no access to my funds. Tide bank asked me for a bank account from another bank so they can transfer my funds, but it's 12 days, and they have not transferred my money, nor offered any support assistance or reason. Beware!

It's not unique to Tide. 

There are only a few grounds that banks can terminate accounts without notice and whilst different banks use different tools with different rules they are all looking for the same things and all will react similarly if their concerns are triggered. 

Assuming it is something like anti-money laundering then its an offence to tell someone you suspect them of money laundering and few call centre staff want to risk jail time to tell you that some payment you received/made was to someone on a watch list etc. 

Lambuza123

I am aware that banks can freeze bank accounts if they suspect illegal activity. But if there are questions regarding transactions, then banks can ask the account holder to provide supporting evidence or prove the source of funds. I have a different company which operates with Revolut, and occasionally are asked to provide further information like invoices and other documentation. It is however extreme behaviour to close an account without asking the account holder to prove of justify the source of funds. 

MyRealNameToo

Lambuza123 said:

I am aware that banks can freeze bank accounts if they suspect illegal activity. But if there are questions regarding transactions, then banks can ask the account holder to provide supporting evidence or prove the source of funds. I have a different company which operates with Revolut, and occasionally are asked to provide further information like invoices and other documentation. It is however extreme behaviour to close an account without asking the account holder to prove of justify the source of funds. 

Problem is tipping off is a crime, so simply asking you questions which clearly makes it obvious that they think you are laundering money can be an issue. Clearly it depends on how high their level of concern is and the level of the evidence. 

Lambuza123

I am not sure what you mean by tipping off. the money entering my Tide bank account, is my monthly salary which is paid from a limited company which i am a director and shareholder. How can my monthly salary be viewed as money laundering?   

eskbanker

Lambuza123 said:

I am not sure what you mean by tipping off. the money entering my Tide bank account, is my monthly salary which is paid from a limited company which i am a director and shareholder. How can my monthly salary be viewed as money laundering?   

Surely salary would be paid into a personal account, not another business one?

Lambuza123

where salary or professional fees are paid to is NOT really not the issue is it. the fact is Tide have effectively accused me of illegal activity and used this as an excuse to freeze my account. I note that this is a common complaint and the financial ombudsman have intervened frequently against Tide for exactly the same complaints. My point is that people should be aware, Tide bank can act in this way without providing any warning

eskbanker

Lambuza123 said:

where salary or professional fees are paid to is NOT really not the issue is it.

I don't know - something has obviously spooked them, so I was just picking up on something unusual in the absence of any other meaningful information to go on.

wmb194

Lambuza123 said:

I am not sure what you mean by tipping off. the money entering my Tide bank account, is my monthly salary which is paid from a limited company which i am a director and shareholder. How can my monthly salary be viewed as money laundering?   

Have you used a business account as a personal account and breached its terms that way?

grumpy_codger

wmb194 said:

Lambuza123 said:

I am not sure what you mean by tipping off. the money entering my Tide bank account, is my monthly salary which is paid from a limited company which i am a director and shareholder. How can my monthly salary be viewed as money laundering?   

Have you used a business account as a personal account and breached its terms that way?

Breaching the T&C isn't money laundering. In this case there is no justification for keeping a customer in the dark. What's wrong with saying that they suspect that the T&C were breached and they are investigating this?

wmb194

grumpy_codger said:

wmb194 said:

Lambuza123 said:

I am not sure what you mean by tipping off. the money entering my Tide bank account, is my monthly salary which is paid from a limited company which i am a director and shareholder. How can my monthly salary be viewed as money laundering?   

Have you used a business account as a personal account and breached its terms that way?

Breaching the T&C isn't money laundering. In this case there is no justification for keeping a customer in the dark. What's wrong with saying that they suspect that the T&C were breached and they are investigating this?

Yes, but it wouldn't surprise me if these days the default position is to always say nothing. The people working there cannot get into trouble with the law if they say nothing.