Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Just read some concerning news that British Banks are intending to close Expat Bank Accounts later this year as a result of no deal Brexit negotiations. This applies to EU countries, but , who knows, how we will be classed here. Being unable to use British Bank cards would cause quite a headache.

More than a headache, it would be a migraine for an awful lot of us. Plus, it probably explains why, in a somewhat casual way we have been asked to fill in a short three line questionnaire (tick box) confirming whether we have a UK address and UK phone numbers, both landline and mobile. Both within the last three weeks.

Barclays closed our credit card account 2 years ago after 20+ years saying we couldn't have an account with a Turkish address. Hoping Nationwide won't do the same...

Sunday Times Sunday 20th September

Brexit strips expats of UK bank accounts
Lloyds and Barclays say without a deal they cannot afford to keep EU-based customers

Tens of thousands of Britons who live in Europe are to be stripped of their UK bank accounts and credit cards within weeks, because the government has failed to negotiate post-Brexit rules.

A number of the biggest British banks, including Lloyds, Barclays and the Queen’s bank, Coutts, have started writing to expatriates to say they will stop serving them when the withdrawal agreement ends at 11pm on December 31.

Without a continuation of crucial pan-European banking rules, known as passporting, it will become illegal for UK banks to provide for British customers in the EU without applying for new banking licences.

As each of the 27 member states has a hotchpotch of different rules, it is a bureaucratic nightmare for institutions, and some are deciding simply to ditch certain countries.

A source at one leading British bank said: “In some cases, continuing to serve customers would be incredibly complex, extremely expensive and very time-consuming, and simply would not make economic sense. This is passporting — this is the reality of Brexit.”

In the past few weeks, banks have begun contacting customers who live in countries where the regulatory demands are considered too costly to tell them their accounts are being cancelled. Banks are making different decisions about where to apply for permission to continue operating — and which countries to abandon.

Lloyds, which is Britain’s biggest banking group and includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland, started writing to customers in August, telling them that their bank accounts would be shut on December 31.

So far, the bank has confirmed this applies to 13,000 customers, including those with current accounts in Holland, Slovakia, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. The bank would not reveal whether more countries will follow.

Lloyds said: “If customers have regular deposits into, or payments out of, their account, they will need to make other arrangements before their account is closed.”

Barclays said its banking and Barclaycard credit-card customers had started receiving letters, but would not say where or how many. Customers living in Spain, France and Belgium have told us their Barclaycards are to be cancelled.

Kristine Hendrickson, who lives in Brittany and has had her Barclaycard for more than 40 years, has received a letter telling her it will be terminated on November 16. “I’m absolutely furious about it — I have been a customer since 1974,” she said.

Barclays said: “In light of the UK leaving the EU at the end of 2020, we continue to review the services we offer to customers within the European Economic Area (EEA), and any impacted customers will be contacted directly. The timings for account closure will depend on the type of product that a customer holds, but we will always give notice to customers.”

Coutts, which counts some of the UK’s richest and most high-profile people among its customers, confirmed it would no longer serve customers based in the EU.

One company boss, who did not wish to be identified, said he faced a serious headache after the termination of his account, which he said contained “a considerable sum”, because he mostly lives in his Portuguese villa. In the UK, he receives a state pension, annuities and dividend income and pays all the usual bills, from insurance to utilities.

“How am I going to receive and pay these UK items without a UK bank account?” he asked. He said a number of expat friends were giving British banks the addresses of family members in the UK to keep their accounts.

Coutts said that the company boss would have to make “alternative banking arrangements” after December 31.

“In the event that no alternative to the European Economic Area passporting regime for financial services is agreed between the UK and EU, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from offering our services to clients who reside in the EEA,” the bank said.

NatWest and Santander said they had no plans to close accounts but were considering their options.

“We expect banks to treat their customers fairly and provide timely communications to enable them to make appropriate decisions,” the Treasury said. “However, the provision of banking services is a commercial decision for firms based on a variety of factors, including the local law and regulation of specific EEA countries.”

And the answer is
“How am I going to receive and pay these UK items without a UK bank account?” he asked. He said a number of expat friends were giving British banks the addresses of family members in the UK to keep their accounts.

Expat Brexit voters should celebrate their new found freedom of not been able to access their funds!

Brinsley wrote: ↑

Mon 21 Sep 2020 8:48 pm

Expat Brexit voters should celebrate their new found freedom of not been able to access their funds!

Expats, whichever way they voted, will be able to access their funds across the world.

But then again you knew that.

TAC obviously I don't know the answer, but I suspect that just giving the name and address of a friend or member of the family MIGHT not be sufficient and banks will require more proof than that. Did you listen to the BBC Money Box live item? Hopefully its not true.

Did you listen to the BBC Money Box live item?

Posted elsewhere, but here it is.

Brinsley wrote: ↑

Mon 21 Sep 2020 8:48 pm

Expat Brexit voters should celebrate their new found freedom of not been able to access their funds!

Again the wish to harm people who didn't vote the way you wanted them to.
This is of course after trying to overturn the democratic vote.

And people get surprised when people get shot or put in prison camps for wanting freedom and choice.

An article on UK banks in Europe for expats
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/expat ... es-do.html