Barclays Closing the Accounts for Ex-pats.

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An ex-pat friend had a letter today from Barclay Card, saying they'll be closing the account because they do not have a UK address.
Apparently, they are closing the accounts of all EU residents.
 
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Apparently, they are closing the accounts of all EU residents.

If he's an ex-pat, he should have a bank account and a card issued in the country he is living in. Can’t see how that would be a problem. What country is he in?
 
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An ex-pat friend had a letter today from Barclay Card, saying they'll be closing the account because they do not have a UK address.
Apparently, they are closing the accounts of all EU residents.
You say Barclay Card.

Is it just the Card or the complete account?
 
It will be all uk financial organisations not registered in the EU.
This was all brought up in the Brexit debate and dismissed as scare mongering.

As I understand it, those ex-pats (immigrants) in the eu will have to have a uk bank and transfer the money to an eu bank. The same applies (afaik) to uk pensions. Under eu law they'd have to be transferred from a uk bank to an eu one, not paid direct.
 
You say Barclay Card.

Is it just the Card or the complete account?
He referred to his "Barclay Card", but also said that they are closing all 'accounts' of EU customers.
But apparently there are Barclays branches in France?
So it is not crystal clear yet, even though others have checked with Nationwide and said there is going to be no change to their Nationwide account, and still others have said they were told their accounts would be closing, e.g. Liverpool Victoria Bank.
So, confusion reigns at the moment.

Personally I'm OK. I have an account in UK, with a connected account in France with a well-known international bank. It allows me fee-free international transfers, but I use a broker for transfers because of better exchange rates, and over £4k is free anyway.
The only benefit with the bank transfer is it is immediate. The broker transfer takes a day or two.
 
This is isn't a Brexit bonus its due to tax liability. Under international OECD and EU Saving Tax Directives, the Banks have become the tax agents and are liable to pay the tax if they 'help' expats clients to evade tax. Given this burden of liability on the bank, it is only worth their while with the additional tax compliance if you bank big money with them. There are plenty of international bank accounts available. I have some.

People frequently use credit cards to hide income. Years ago I did some work with one of the big card companies to find suspects likely to be hiding money. Justifications were usually related to divorce or profits.
 
An ex-pat friend had a letter today from Barclay Card, saying they'll be closing the account because they do not have a UK address.
Apparently, they are closing the accounts of all EU residents.
How can they have a 'Barclay card' or U.K. account without a U.K. address? Where do the statements go to? Where would they find you if you didn’t pay your Barclay card or went overdrawn on your account? I see no problem with that rule - I can’t open a U.K. account without an address and I live in the U.K. - why should someone living in another country be allowed one?
 
There are a lot of expats cruising the Mediterranean with a "cherry picking" attitude (not a Brexit thing), they want to pop home for any NHS treatment, but pay their taxes in cheap locations. They cruise around countries where incomes are low, in their 1/2 million pound boats, moaning that they got charged 5 euro to put 400 litres of water in their tank on an island that basically has to import fresh water. They are all moaning about the possible war between Greece and turkey, not because war is bad, but because it avoid them paying a visa Post Brexit Schengen zone limits.
 
How can they have a 'Barclay card' or U.K. account without a U.K. address? Where do the statements go to? Where would they find you if you didn’t pay your Barclay card or went overdrawn on your account? I see no problem with that rule - I can’t open a U.K. account without an address and I live in the U.K. - why should someone living in another country be allowed one?
It might be a left-over from when they were UK based, and there was no problem with EU citizens having UK accounts. As motorbiking suggests, maybe tax collecting arrangements might be coming to an end.
My UK account has my French address as my primary address, with no problems.
I know I can't open a UK account now, with another bank. I can still open another account with my usual bank. It's only because I had a UK account when I became ex-pat, and opened a 'sister' account in France with the same bank, and that my bank is an international bank, that I assume I am not affected. I can open other 'sister' accounts in other countries without even visiting those countries. But some countries I have to visit even to open a 'sister' account with the same bank.
 
We’ve got a Santander one for Spain. Haven’t had anything through from them. Yet!
 
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