Halifax Bank UK - Account Closed

[miztaziggy]

I have no idea whether or not this is Bitcoin releated, but today I received this:



I contacted Halifax, spent 30 minutes on the phone only to be told an internal review highlighted my account as 'no longer suitable' and that is literally all they would say. The guy I spoke with said that the closure team that sent me the letter would not give any more information than that.

I went to my branch and they couldn't tell my anything else. It was getting close to closing time so they said they would make some calls tomorrow, however the notes on their screen on my account said a 60 day closure notice had been issued and just said 'following a review'. I fully expect the bank manager to get nowhere with this too and to tell me that it's just following a review too.


The problem for me now is this: I tried to sign up to a first direct account and got denied.

How is this possible?

What the hell am I supposed to do without a bank account in 60 days now? How do I pay my mortgage and how do I get my salary paid?


I have 0 debt other than my mortgage of about £180k, but that is with Britannia and just goes out as a DD payment of £1,300 a month. I have no credit cards, I have no store cards, no hire purchase and no bad credit history.

I got a statutory report from Equifax and it's all green, I have 0 bad debt and 0 missed payments, ever.

My Halifax account is always a few thousand in credit, I never use the overdraft. My salary goes in, my mortgage and bills go out.

I have used it for a couple of bitcoin sales only, maybe a total of £2000-5000 at most in 3-4 sales. I have also paid in 2 lots of £2,500 in cash from other sources recently.

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[hottweelz]

Did you CALL the bank?

That letter is written so poorly, it HAS to be fake.

If it's real, leave that bank anyway.  



Sorry, I see you DID call.  That bank's letter looks like it was written by a 5 year old... surely you have other banks where you live?

[casinocoin]

Did you CALL the bank?

That letter is written so poorly, it HAS to be fake.

If it's real, leave that bank anyway.  



Sorry, I see you DID call.  That bank's letter looks like it was written by a 5 year old... surely you have other banks where you live?

I agree.. Letter seems very poorly written for a bank. You should mention that to your local branch.
Do not live in the UK, but do live in Canada.. Personally would contact a financial advisor or lawyer for some questions. They gave no reason for your account being terminated or not "doing business" with you.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

Did you CALL the bank?

That letter is written so poorly, it HAS to be fake.

If it's real, leave that bank anyway.  



Sorry, I see you DID call.  That bank's letter looks like it was written by a 5 year old... surely you have other banks where you live?

I agree.. Letter seems very poorly written for a bank. You should mention that to your local branch.
Do not live in the UK, but do live in Canada.. Personally would contact a financial advisor or lawyer for some questions. They gave no reason for your account being terminated or not "doing business" with you.

Wow just noticed the spelling..."Writting".

[practicaldreamer]

I'm seriously thinking of switching my current account across to a Credit Union (of which I'm already a member) - don't know if that might be an option for the OP ?

[miztaziggy]

Credit unions are an option, however they aren't brilliant for direct debits / debit cards and I need my account for that.

I did call the bank, and yes I agree the letter is pretty poor. It does look like it was written by a child.



Yes there are other banks here - but read my post, I tried to get an account with another bank but they turned it down.

Read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18540832

Once an account is closed, fraud prevention agencies put a flag against the customer's name so they cannot normally then open an account with another provider.

Mr Phillips said: "You cannot find out what you're accused of, you cannot plead your case and you find yourself unable to open a bank account and nothing can be done about it. What's happening goes absolutely against the rules of natural justice."

[runam0k]

Try Britannia.  You have a mortgage with them so it might make the application process easier.

[miztaziggy]

Try Britannia.  You have a mortgage with them so it might make the application process easier.

Yeah I would, however they don't do a current account, only savings accounts as far as I can see.

[runam0k]

You might also want to complain to the Financial Ombudsman.  Not sure it will do you any good but if you tell Halifax that's what you are doing, they might escalate it more quickly.

Britannia is part of the Co-op, FYI, so that's where you will find the current accounts.

[railzand]

some savings accounts can do direct debits

[IrishFutbol]

Could be multiple reasons.  Likely taxes or money laundering.

I'm not saying you don't pay your taxes (though I'd be willing to guess that hardly any BTC miners do), nor am I saying you committed money laundering.  Banks are required to take action against any identified instances of someone avoiding taxes / laundering money.  It's likely that the bank is concerned about getting into trouble with their regulator, and rather than keep the income from BTC trading customers, they prefer to close your account and do away with the risk of a giant fine.

[runam0k]

Ask them if they registered info with CIFAS (a not-for-profit that allows banks and other companies to share information about frauds).

You can pay a £10 fee to see a copy of the information they hold (a “subject access request”).  If there is any information registered against your name and you disagree with it, you can dispute it.

[01BTC10]

Unfortunately, banks are private company and they don't have any obligation to serve anyone or justify why they don't want to.

[genjix]

looks exactly like the same letters intersango used to get. same format and everything we'd receive these out of the blue and be told to move banks within 1 week despite it taking 20 days to open bank accounts. if you don't want this to happen you need to be part of the bankers private club.

[miztaziggy]

Ask them if they registered info with CIFAS (a not-for-profit that allows banks and other companies to share information about frauds).

You can pay a £10 fee to see a copy of the information they hold (a “subject access request”).  If there is any information registered against your name and you disagree with it, you can dispute it.

Thank you for that, I will give that a shot.

looks exactly like the same letters intersango used to get. same format and everything we'd receive these out of the blue and be told to move banks within 1 week despite it taking 20 days to open bank accounts. if you don't want this to happen you need to be part of the bankers private club.

Did they register you or the company with the fraud agencies or just shut down the account and tell you to move on?

[BitOnyx]

First time i hear about such bank any way, where in the name of hell did you find it.

Just move to some normal banks.

[miztaziggy]

First time i hear about such bank any way, where in the name of hell did you find it.

Just move to some normal banks.

They're one of the biggest banks in the UK.

They're part of the Lloyds HBOS group, which actually, I think is the biggest retail bank in the UK.

I spoke to a branch manager today and she said that she was told by the closure team that it was being closed due to an internal review and that's all that they would say.

So it seems that I will not be able to get an explanation why. I see what happens with my other accounts and if I have problems then I will pay the £10 to CIFAS and check out what's recorded against my name.

[FlappySocks]

The bitcoin transactions you did - could it be inked to a known bitcoin trader/exchange? localbitcoins?

Using localbitcoins worries me a bit, in that you could end up dealing with someone caught/suspected of money laundering further down the road, and find yourself implicated.

[miztaziggy]

The bitcoin transactions you did - could it be inked to a known bitcoin trader/exchange? localbitcoins?

Using localbitcoins worries me a bit, in that you could end up dealing with someone caught/suspected of money laundering further down the road, and find yourself implicated.

Quite possibly, I sold with Localbitcoins, but I didn't have many transactions go through this account. I have had a far higher number go through one of my HSBC accounts and never heard a thing from them.

Even if I sold BTC to someone that's caught laundering, why should that mean the closure of my own bank account?

[FlappySocks]

Even if I sold BTC to someone that's caught laundering, why should that mean the closure of my own bank account?

Maybe the authorities notify the banks that have had any transactions associated with the laundry account, and it's cheaper to loose you as a customer, than take any chances.