Barclays closing accounts if non UK address

[RubyMonday]

For people that are due to emmigrate rather than already settled in Oz.

Just fyi but Nationwide building society are happy for you to keep your account open and make transactions while you live in Australia even as a non UK tax resident. They just request that you update them of your correct address so that they can send any mail and new cards etc out to the right place even to an Australian address. They said there is no guarantees long term but at this time there are no plans to change this policy. On the other hand starling bank said I'd have to close my account as soon as I'm no longer a UK tax resident, I haven't asked Natwest yet. 

Edited November 1, 2023 by RubyMonday

[Marisawright]

9 hours ago, RubyMonday said:

For people that are due to emmigrate rather than already settled in Oz.

Just fyi but Nationwide building society are happy for you to keep your account open and make transactions while you live in Australia even as a non UK tax resident. They just request that you update them of your correct address so that they can send any mail and new cards etc out to the right place even to an Australian address. They said there is no guarantees long term but at this time there are no plans to change this policy. On the other hand starling bank said I'd have to close my account as soon as I'm no longer a UK tax resident, I haven't asked Natwest yet. 

There seems to be no consistency.   As per the earlier discussion, there aren't any actual laws preventing British banks from allowing foreign account holders.  It's just that some banks have done their sums, and decided that complying with the rules has become very complicated and expensive, and overseas customers are rarely large enough to be worth the bother.  I do think it's a matter of time before they all work that out, TBH.  

[Celia]

I am very interested in the subject of Barclays closing the accounts of customers who live in Australia without a UK address. I had a small Barclays savings account for nearly 25 years which I started when one of my parents died in the UK (all of my family were in the UK when I emigrated in 1968) and later when I became eligible for a part state pension it was very useful as a piggy bank for when I visited the UK on holiday. Most people on this page say that they received a letter regarding the imminent closure of their account, I never received a letter, not even an email, the first I heard about it was in November 2023 when I had a phone call from Barclays saying they were closing my account. I said I'd never had a letter and they then told me it was in the statements section of internet banking, well hidden. For the last few months during 2023 I had asked for a new card reader which never turned up, I made numerous phone calls to Barclays in England and no one knew why this was so until it was too late. I was stuck with the problem of not being able to transfer my funds, the enormous amount of 1500 GBP, to my Australian account as I could only do this with a card reader. Barclays themselves couldn't transfer the funds either apparently so it was suggested that I used my debit card to withdraw all the funds from an ATM in Australia but a maximum withdrawal of 500GBP was allowed per transaction and of course there was a fee each time I did that plus a foreign currency fee. My main point in writing all this is that I have never heard any more from Barclays no letter of confirmation of the the closing of my account either in the mail or online as they appear to have permanently locked me out of their website, is all this really legal?? By the way I am still a British citizen with a British Passport.

[Philip]

Being a British citizen and having a passport doesn't entitle you to have a UK bank account.

It is legal for a bank to close an account, most bank have a clause in their terms and conditions saying something like they can close your account for any reason with X days notice (usually around 2 months).

It could be argued that they have not treated you fairly, and this would merit a "formal complaint" which could be escalated to the UK financial ombudsman if not resolved satisfactorily. However barclays has made their decision and the ombudsman will not be making them keep your account open - at the most they may just give you a £50 "goodwill" payment (which would cover the forex fees I suppose).

Without a functioning card reader there probably isn't much you could do without physically going to the UK - if you did have one you could have sent the money to yourself using Wise/Revolut for lower fees, and you could also have kept it in GBP. Alternatively if you have access to a UK address, lie about your residence status

[Marisawright]

6 hours ago, Celia said:

By the way I am still a British citizen with a British Passport.

Citizenship isn't relevant I'm afraid, it's residency that matters, and you're no longer a UK resident. 

I have the same situation in that I'm locked out of the Barclays website but that can happen for all kinds of reasons. It doesn't mean they have closed the account.  I'd suggest contacting them again and seeing what they say.  If that fails then contact the ombudsman as Philip suggests.

[Bob Jones]

You can use the Barclays app for authentication instead of the card reader. 

I cant remember if i had to use the card reader to authenticate the Barclays app the first time i used it, but i havent used the card reader for a few years now and bank every month; been over here 12 years and not had a letter or message.

[Bob Jones]

On 09/04/2024 at 16:21, Philip said:

It is legal for a bank to close an account, most bank have a clause in their terms and conditions saying something like they can close your account for any reason with X days notice (usually around 2 months).

 

I wish they'd shut mine.  I closed down both Nationwide and Halifax 12 years ago, cleared balances and handed everything back.  They still email me and ask me to log on and check details...which i can no longer do.

I thought they had been forced to close these dormant accounts, as British banks were inflating their value by retaining dormant accounts in the customer figures

[Marisawright]

43 minutes ago, Bob Jones said:

You can use the Barclays app for authentication instead of the card reader. 

I tried that when I got locked out with the card reader. I can't remember why it didn't work but I recall that it didn't work either. 

[Bob Jones]

5 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I tried that when I got locked out with the card reader. I can't remember why it didn't work but I recall that it didn't work either. 

Maybe i had to do it with the card reader to activate, can't remember.  I will wait until it inevitably locks me out one day !

Edited Thursday at 02:29 by Bob Jones