A leading bank has announced that it will close the bank accounts of all British expats in a decision which could leave some customers unable to access their pensions or savings. British people living overseas in the UK will no longer be able to hold a Barclays UK current or savings account. This follows a review of the bank's international offerings, which began in 2021. Following the decision, it has now written to affected customers, giving them six months to react to the decision. Despite the possibility of opening a worldwide account with Barclays, wealthy extroverts need to keep at least £100,000 in the account to avoid a monthly charge of £40.
Barclays said UK products designed for British customers are designed for those living in Britain. The Financial Conduct Authority in response said Barclay's decision was a commercial decision and that banks are allowed to set their own rules on customers. Several customers have protested against the decision, including Professor David Barker, 89, who moved from London to Australia in 1988.
Professor Barker and his wife received a letter from Barclays in April. He was told that they could re-register at their daughter's UK address.
But earlier this week he received a phone call saying that the advice he had been given was wrong and his account would be closed. We are concerned about the way Barclays is handling it, Mr. Bell said in a statement on condition of anonymity. I couldn't believe that we would get a cold call telling us we would be debanked. The account was the basis of the family's finances and they had to move all the money out of their accounts by November 24.
According to data, there are more than a million Britons living in Australia. The move from Barclays follows similar moves by rival banks. In 2021, Lloyds Banking Group told 13,000 European expats that their accounts in Britain would be closed. Under the new rules, people with cash ISAs and fixed-rate bonds would be able to keep their accounts if they lived in Slovakia, the Netherlands, Italy, or Estonia. The same policy applies to loanholders in the UK wing of the bank, but some existing mortgage customers won't be able to remortgage after the end of their current term.