Revolut...Problems?

[Declan]

4 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Within the law (discrimination etc.).

True but there isn't a law against discriminating against politicians (surprisingly) or who espouse views that differ from the firm's values. 

Maybe there should be, but I don't know what that law would look like. It would need to safeguard a firm's right to refuse business to someone who racially abuse one of their staff but not over reach into areas other than provision of goods and services (you wouldn't want politicians suing because someone criticised their policies). 

[AcousticallyChallenged]

8 hours ago, Zarley said:

If a person is conducting financial crimes through their bank account, then yes they should face penalties. People who are savvy enough to play the financial crime game know what they risk. I've no sympathy for them.

However when people who have committed no crime have their bank accounts - and therefore their ability to function in the world - taken away from them for nothing other than a difference of opinion or belief, we're getting into very dangerous territory.

Any financial institution that is regulated is required to act based on reasonable suspicion.

An 'uneasy feeling' isn't enough, but the threshold is often described as whether a 'reasonable person' would be suspicious of the activity.

In reality, what that can mean is a payment that is out of sorts can put a freeze on your entire account, unless you can prove where it came from. If you can't, then you have to wait for the financial crimes unit to make a decision. But, the bank or company cannot tell you, or they're deeply in the shit.

8 hours ago, Zarley said:

If you tolerate this, then you may well be next to fall foul of what amounts to being the thought police for whatever thoughts happen to be fashionable at any given time.

Do you want this to be a possibility? 

One could argue, morally, that groups actively supporting the suppression of people, crying when they get oppressed themselves, is just desserts.

I'm sure, if it was commercially viable, there could well be a bank for all of these people who claim that the only reason they're being de-banked is because of their political views. Challenger banks are very trendy.

Of course, if you talk to anyone working in the crypto industry, lots of banks won't touch you with a bargepole. Even bland things like getting insurance can be a nightmare. Banks can and do forbid you from exchanging your own money for crypto, if they deem it to be 'high-risk'.

As the BBC pointed out, Farage's balance fell below the requirements for the account he held. Coutt's decided to close it, and offer him a more suitable, in their eyes, NatWest account. Mr Farage claimed that 'it hadn't been a problem for the last 10 years'. He also claims he was given no minimums, but it's here on the sign up page. https://www.coutts.com/become-a-client/private-form.html

So potentially his position triggered a review of his account, but, if you're breaching the terms in black and white, it can't be held against the bank for them enforcing them.

[AcousticallyChallenged]

9 hours ago, The Phantom said:

At work (and banks) we have software that runs an online search every few days, to check if there are any reports of crime associated with clients' names.  More than once I've had to call clients to check they are not in jail, as they've had the same name as some unsavoury character that has been busted for something.  

Compliance is a nightmare.

Sometimes it just isn't worth the cost involved for a given customer.

[genericUserName]

On 6/23/2023 at 11:41 AM, Albert Tatlock said:

Virtual or prepaid credit or debit cards aren't accepted as payment methods for a number of businesses...including Azure subscriptions.

Stating the obvs here but the issue with Azure, AWS, GCP etc is that you use the services before you are billed. i.e. you pay after. Very few services will accept any debit cards for that since there is no guarantee that you will have the money in your account by the time that the invoice is raised.

[The Phantom]

@Zarley @Declan

Looks like Farage has managed to get hold of the internal review documents from Coutts. 

No mention anywhere that I can see he has dropped below their threshold. In fact it specifically says he 'meets the criteria for commercial retention'. 

They classified him as a low risk PEP, to be reviewed annually. 

Some accusations of Russian links. 

Mainly notes issues regarding him being 'controversial' and having 'views contrary to the bank' on things such as Brexit, climate change/net zero and race.  

So basically they exited him because they don't like what he says.  Agree or disagree with Farage, but this certainly a worrying trend.  

[Zarley]

6 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

@Zarley @Declan

So basically they exited him because they don't like what he says.  Agree or disagree with Farage, but this certainly a worrying trend.  

Exactly this. Personally, I can't stand the guy. However, we can't take away people's ability to function in the world just because we hold different views to them. It could be any one of us who falls out of favour next. Very worrying trend indeed.

[Roxanne]

1 hour ago, Zarley said:

Exactly this. Personally, I can't stand the guy. However, we can't take away people's ability to function in the world just because we hold different views to them. It could be any one of us who falls out of favour next. Very worrying trend indeed.

The reason was ‘he doesn’t share our values’  Or, ‘ We’re shit scared we might lose our customers so it’s easier to face the backlash and get rid of him’. 

Whatever, it’s a dangerous precedent  

And I can’t stand him either  He reminds me of a grey Homer Simpson  

 

[The Phantom]

Well it appears to have backfired impressively. 

Coutts even said in their report, one of the risks of closing the account would be that Farage would take it to the Press! 

[The Phantom]

The real irony of this Farage Coutts palaver is that the left are trying to justify Coutts actions.  Coutts; one of the more elitist and right (historically) of banks. 

[Rab]

Important T&Cs are changing

What's changed? We used to use 'real exchange rate' to describe our currency exchange rates. We now understand that the concept of the ‘real’ rate could be open to interpretation, and may mean different things to different people. From today, we’ll describe our rate as the 'Revolut exchange rate' for currency exchanges. This exchange rate is set by us, and is dynamic as it reflects real-time market changes. We’ve also updated the section of our T&Cs that deals with how we can recover money you owe us – for example, if your e-money account balance is negative, or if you owe us fees or any other amount. Our updated T&Cs say that: ·         We can take the amount you owe us from any money we're due to pay to you including any other account you have with us – either in your own name or jointly, and ·         We can do this at any time without notice or without asking you, ·         There are some additional steps we can take to recover money you owe us like informing fraud prevention agencies (where we’re permitted to do so), and selling, transferring or assigning the amount you owe us to a third party, and ·         Where we take steps to recover money from you, we may also charge you additional fees Please see section 28 of the updated Personal T&Cs for more information. If you're experiencing financial difficulties please reach out to us via in-app chat for support.

[mad_manx]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:19 PM, Rab said:

Important T&Cs are changing

What's changed? We used to use 'real exchange rate' to describe our currency exchange rates. We now understand that the concept of the ‘real’ rate could be open to interpretation, and may mean different things to different people. From today, we’ll describe our rate as the 'Revolut exchange rate' for currency exchanges. This exchange rate is set by us, and is dynamic as it reflects real-time market changes. We’ve also updated the section of our T&Cs that deals with how we can recover money you owe us – for example, if your e-money account balance is negative, or if you owe us fees or any other amount. Our updated T&Cs say that: ·         We can take the amount you owe us from any money we're due to pay to you including any other account you have with us – either in your own name or jointly, and ·         We can do this at any time without notice or without asking you, ·         There are some additional steps we can take to recover money you owe us like informing fraud prevention agencies (where we’re permitted to do so), and selling, transferring or assigning the amount you owe us to a third party, and ·         Where we take steps to recover money from you, we may also charge you additional fees Please see section 28 of the updated Personal T&Cs for more information. If you're experiencing financial difficulties please reach out to us via in-app chat for support.

The maximum I leave on the card is around a hundred quid .. And you can top it up or withdraw back to your bank account in seconds. 

The funny thing is that for years I could top it up with one of my credit  cards and then withdraw back to my bank account..No cash fee charged from my  credit card issuer either. 

So was quick access to cash that I could generate income with..

I pay all my cards in full every month anyway .

I think they closed this loophole a month ot two ago 

[Passing Time]

Not so much a Revolut problem but has anybody got a Starling account? if so, is it any good. Did a quick google and it seems to be in the top ten of recommended banks.

[mad_manx]

14 hours ago, Passing Time said:

Not so much a Revolut problem but has anybody got a Starling account? if so, is it any good. Did a quick google and it seems to be in the top ten of recommended banks.

They wouldn't let me open an account with an IOM address 

They used to be crypto friendly but then became anti crypto.. So I'm not missing much 

 

Set up a coinbase account and they are quite happy with IOM and even have my currency as IMP ( isle of man pounds) .Transfers in and out happens in seconds..

Starling and chase ( if you canopen one ) are among the best for forex rates if travelling  overseas 

 

But both of them do not allow IOM residents as far as I know. 

Same issue with curve..They shut me down due to my IOM address.

Edited February 14 by mad_manx

[Gormless Git]

16 hours ago, Passing Time said:

Not so much a Revolut problem but has anybody got a Starling account? if so, is it any good. Did a quick google and it seems to be in the top ten of recommended banks.

 

I've been using STARLING regularly for the past 3 years and it has been faultless. I Like it.

 

[The Phantom]

Revolut are anti-crypto unless you use their platform to buy/sell/hold it. 

Although after a brief flurry of Revolut seeming to be receptive to IOM clients and Companies, I've heard recently that a lot of people are now having their accounts closed down. 

So once again it seems that we might be heading for the scenario where we are an 'International Finance Centre' that con't open bank accounts anywhere.