Santander blocked my account with no explanation
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mcplums
Posts: 42 Forumite
It's been two weeks. They can't tell me why it's blocked, or when it'll be unblocked.
I'm fairly sure I know why it's blocked. I use my account for bitcoin arbitrage. I had about £800k of volume go through it in a 6 month period (never cash though). Santander sent me a letter asking me why I used the account, I was 100% honest and gave them all the details. They even had a box to tick for 'virtual currency trading'.
If it's against the rules to do what I'm doing, then why can't they just tell me so and close my account? Why all the secrecy?
What can I do to hurry up this process? It's really !!!!ing me off. They are holding my money, which was obtained legally and ethically, hostage.
Is it worth submitting a complaint? Is there a period of time after which I can raise this with the Financial Ombudsmen?
I know this is off topic, and I do not want to start a conversation on the merits of bitcoin, but it is this kind of behaviour that convinces me more than anything else that bitcoin will wipe out banks, simply because it is impossible for my bitcoins to be frozen in this way. It is hard to appreciate how angry and powerless you feel when a bank freezes your money.
I'm fairly sure I know why it's blocked. I use my account for bitcoin arbitrage. I had about £800k of volume go through it in a 6 month period (never cash though). Santander sent me a letter asking me why I used the account, I was 100% honest and gave them all the details. They even had a box to tick for 'virtual currency trading'.
If it's against the rules to do what I'm doing, then why can't they just tell me so and close my account? Why all the secrecy?
What can I do to hurry up this process? It's really !!!!ing me off. They are holding my money, which was obtained legally and ethically, hostage.
Is it worth submitting a complaint? Is there a period of time after which I can raise this with the Financial Ombudsmen?
I know this is off topic, and I do not want to start a conversation on the merits of bitcoin, but it is this kind of behaviour that convinces me more than anything else that bitcoin will wipe out banks, simply because it is impossible for my bitcoins to be frozen in this way. It is hard to appreciate how angry and powerless you feel when a bank freezes your money.
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Yet.I know this is off topic, and I do not want to start a conversation on the merits of bitcoin, but it is this kind of behaviour that convinces me more than anything else that bitcoin will wipe out banks, simply because it is impossible for my bitcoins to be frozen in this way. It is hard to appreciate how angry and powerless you feel when a bank freezes your money.
The reason your account is frozen is it isn't normal behaviour for the typical customer to shift that volume of money through their account. That inevitably leads the bank to ask itself whether there is some kind of illegal activity going on - they have a duty to do so. Governments across the World adopt a similar view when it comes to large amounts of money being shifted around with no obvious purpose.
If people ditch banks and use virtual currency instead - and banks are 'wiped out' - then Government attention will be switched to policing virtual currency. At which point you'll find the 'impossible' becomes very much the reality.
My money would be on that level of policing of virtual curency happening long before any of the banks come close to being 'wiped out'."In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0 -
In cases of suspected money-laundering, banks are not allowed to give any information whatsoever.0
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The problem is that if you’re reading, the bank is likely tomsay you’re in business. If you’re in business, you need to KYC your customers for AML purposes if accepting more than €10k in consideration.
Fines open up for them if dodgy money is coming from your customer base. This is why banks don’t like it, ae risks are too big for them.💙💛 💔0 -
Yet.
The reason your account is frozen is it isn't normal behaviour for the typical customer to shift that volume of money through their account. That inevitably leads the bank to ask itself whether there is some kind of illegal activity going on - they have a duty to do so. Governments across the World adopt a similar view when it comes to large amounts of money being shifted around with no obvious purpose.
If people ditch banks and use virtual currency instead - and banks are 'wiped out' - then Government attention will be switched to policing virtual currency. At which point you'll find the 'impossible' becomes very much the reality.
My money would be on that level of policing of virtual curency happening long before any of the banks come close to being 'wiped out'.
Well, I really really don't want to get into a debate on bitcoin itself as this isn't the right forum or the purpose of this post, but I can't help but push back just a little- it is technically not possible for governments to police virtual currencies because they are decentralised. There is nobody for them to lean on. Nobody to send a letter to, nobody to sue.
Anyway
fair enough it is not normal volumes. Since I already told them why I have those volumes, hopefully the investigation is short. 0 -
CKhalvashi wrote: »The problem is that if you’re reading, the bank is likely tomsay you’re in business. If you’re in business, you need to KYC your customers for AML purposes if accepting more than €10k in consideration.
Fines open up for them if dodgy money is coming from your customer base. This is why banks don’t like it, ae risks are too big for them.
I do KYC and AML for 100% of my customers. Will Santander even ask for evidence of this? I'm not holding my breath.0 -
bengal-stripe wrote: »In cases of suspected money-laundering, banks are not allowed to give any information whatsoever.
Ok, that would explain their smug non-answers on the phone. But presumably there is a limit to this? They can't hold my money hostage forever, surely?0 -
Expect to supply a whole raft of paperwork to show where the money is made , the origin and a proper audit trail.
For example £xxx from account A to account B , statement for account B showing £xxx arriving on same day etc and again if the money is moved to Account C later on
It may take longer than you think if it's a large volume of movements between accounts and , as you admit , a large amount of moneyEx forum ambassador
Long term forum member0 -
I do KYC and AML for 100% of my customers. Will Santander even ask for evidence of this? I'm not holding my breath.
If they don’t, it may be worth volunteering the information.
If they don’t want you as a customer, that’s their business, but such checks will clear your name in the event of issues with any other providers through CIFAS.
Banks are unlikely to mess around when you have clear audit trails.💙💛 💔0 -
Try using your decentralised currencies when it is made a criminal offence to handle/trade them and ISPs are required by law to snitch on anyone attempting to access any part of the internet associated with trading or storage of virtual currency.Well, I really really don't want to get into a debate on bitcoin itself as this isn't the right forum or the purpose of this post, but I can't help but push back just a little- it is technically not possible for governments to police virtual currencies because they are decentralised. There is nobody for them to lean on. Nobody to send a letter to, nobody to sue.
When we get anywhere near that point, the decentralised system will find a way to work under a system of regulation and policing."In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0 -
The high tech unit of the national crime agency follow bit coin transactions over a certain amount closely.0
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