Reply With QuoteI saw that on Twitter the other day, completely shocking behaviour.
https://medium.com/@photonstorm/hsbc...e-d7f5547f3929
If you bank with HSBC you may want to look at a second account with a different bank to store a few months operating costs...
I saw that on Twitter the other day, completely shocking behaviour.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
Beyond words fit for G&D.
I have gone through something similar although not as painful as the person in the article.
I am LTD contractor in IT and have used HSBC for business banking last 5 years, account always in credit, often in excess of 6 figures.
I was requested to provide this additional information, have gone through the pain of the form, answered some questions which I think were a bit intrusive but all in the name of preventing AML and all that....
Then couple of months later I get a notice that I haven't provided the requested information (which I did) and that IF I do not comply they will close my account. Phoned them up, standard business banking team tell me that they can see I provided the information but its different team dealing with it so they will let them know and they don't know why I'm seeing the message on my online banking.
Then another couple of weeks pass (still seeing the "ultimatum" message but before the final date) and I receive the letter that my account will be closed in September, no explanation given - just we reviewed our business relationship with you and decided to close the account. I appeal to this using secure messaging in the online banking portal (so I have something in writing) and 2 weeks later receive same response and again not a word of explanation.
I decided to throw in a towel and switched to Bank of Scotland which has been super faultless and actually nicer experience anyway and then HSBC clowns have a cheek to send me an automated letter "we're sorry you've decided to leave us". At this point I have given up trying to understand what has happened and surely they're not going to be worse off with out my business but I do hope they will overall be worse off with this kind of behaviour being publicised in the media and people leaving them. Shocking level of service for a business customer.
They're playing silly beggars with me because my address is different in 2 parts of their check form. We live in a village whose name does NOT feature in our official Royal Mail address - so what I use doesnt exactly match the RM format. However.. it IS the same 1st line, county and postcode. They're saying that my addresses dont match, so the account will be closed unless I now supply certified ID etc.
What a ruddy nonsense. I gave them ID when I opened the account IN PERSON! Nonsense.
I can't stand how they operate for small businesses like mine and will happily jump ship.
why are companies not issuing writs? you would be amazed how quickly they would sort out the issue
Totally agree. As an HSBC bank pensioner I have just sent the link on to a fair number of my colleagues - all retired HSBC managers.Originally Posted by adrianw
Dreadful ,but why didn't Mr Photon simply switch his account to another provider. I don't bank with HSBC but if my current bankers did that, I'd be gone in days?
Am I missing how this is any different than any other back 'interference'?
They froze his account. So they effectively locked him away from his money.
Did you actually read what the article said ?
I just caught the end of them talking about his on radio 4. I think it was moneybox, they've frozen church bank accounts with this safeguard and all sorts. Most likely available on iPlayer straight away. There was a lady from HSBC on the show with contact details. Only caught the latest minute but I got the impression they were talking about this at length
- - - Updated - - -
I just caught the end of them talking about his on radio 4. I think it was moneybox, they've frozen church bank accounts with this safeguard and all sorts. Most likely available on iPlayer straight away. There was a lady from HSBC on the show with contact details. Only caught the latest minute but I got the impression they were talking about this at length
Yes - and ?
They froze his account. It was still there but he couldn't do anything with it. Withdraw, pay in, he certainly couldn't move it to another bank.
My understanding from my current business bankers is that banks cannot obstruct account transfers without a court order, so have assumed some internal dogma doesn't count.
Unfortunately it does count as you are powerless. You can take them to court and sue but then you'll have to get yourself a 'no win, no fee' solicitor as you cannot pay for his assistance. You have absolutely no time either as you're desperately trying to salvage a good business going down the drain faster than your credit rating.
HSBC has admitted something went wrong but they have got a long way to go to make it right for all the businesses. And some will not recover.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
They've admitted there's a problem but the statement I heard from them claimed that they'd only frozen accounts if the account holder hadn't replied to their letters.
It sounds to me like they're already trying to pass some of the blame to the customer!
I had been a business customer of HSBC for over 30 years when they demanded documentation about the company's initial funding and what exactly the company did.. I provided this information. Six months later they wanted even more irrelevant information or threatened to close the account. I took my business elsewhere. They seem to be staffed by box tickers who are unable to use any common sense whatsoever and are not allowed to think for themselves.
So your understanding could well be wrong then ?
Not a uk account but my account in India has been frozen due to all the bollocks that has been going on over there and shout as much as I want there seems little or nothing that can or will be done by them. At this moment nobody can tell me exactly why it has been frozen and I can't transfer any money to or from it.
This money laundering claptrap is going beyond sane (if it ever was genuinely sane) now. HSBC have lost the plot, regardless of any state fines in the USA (which seem to be more about protectionism than about preventing actual crime).
Neither people nor businesses actually voted in favour of this meddling in the name of anti-money laundering so I wonder how we can get rid of it again and return to proper banking privacy.
Late last year there was a discussion about personal accounts being closed without notice or reason by NatWest.
I wrote this at the time:
Reading the messages at that link reminds me of what I learned several years ago: Always have one or more backup current accounts. It's always a good idea to open them before you have any need of them and keep them minimally active because opening them in an emergency is too late (and if you have any defaults, possibly caused by your main bank's actions(!), then you likely won't be able to open a new account).
'Basic' bank accounts are ideal backup accounts since they are not credit checked, only identity checked. See http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/cu...urrentaccounts for the Cashminder account, which is Co-operative's basic account.
If you're thinking "I have a good income and am creditworthy, so I don't need to take pre-emptive action just in case" then think again: If your main current account bank goes nuts, as can happen to anyone for any reason (or no reason), then it won't matter about your income or creditworthiness. You'll be stuffed unless you took action in advance to set up a backup current account.
The above applies to business accounts as much as to personal accounts. The link above is to a Co-op personal account but I've found Co-op good for business accounts too.
P.S. And (as I am always going on about when the cloud is mentioned) don't forget to keep offline backups of your cloud data too! It is folly to keep data only in the cloud where it may go AWOL for any reason, whether it be banking issues, technical, or business-related. And don't rely on cloud-hosted locally-run software at all -- it's a business-killer waiting to happen. Relying on the cloud makes your business brittle. Disaster planning should shoe you that the cloud is not reliable for all sorts of reasons. I've said this to people before and they haven't believed me but articles like the one discussed here prove the point.
Last edited by markrlondon; 10th September 2017 at 11:22.
Only if my current business bankers have advised me incorrectly.................
Under the circumstances, bankers may not be the best advisors. ;-)
It only seems prudent to have multiple accounts in different banks. I certainly do and have done for decades.
Indeed. It is surprising, though, how few people seem to have this sort of arrangement. Often people think that because they or their businesses are well run they won't need a backup plan but, as we are discovering, it is the incompetence, negligence or sometimes even outright malice of banks and/or the state itself that we need to protect against.
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