Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts • Hacker News Board

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#661

Post by ceejayoz » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:16 PM UTC

phpisthebest wrote: post #658

pjc50 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a world where several thousand people have just been killed by an internationally funded terrorist group, I think scrutiny on groups which are (a) armed and (b) make political statements is probably justified. And the argument that "Al-Quds Weekend Rifle Club and Prayer Group" isn't allowed while a comparable Christian one is is pure unconstitutional religious discrimination.

>>In a world where several thousand people have just been killed by an internationally funded terrorist group, Actions that have been widely celebrate by the political segment of the population that often aligns with the gun control movement. Actions that could have been curbed if the people that were attacked where allowed to defend themselves in stead of reliance on state protection that never came, and Israel is n…

> If you are in the US, express the desire to violently "decolonize" the US or chant "from the river to the sea" then maybe you should be investigated.

The original founding document of Netanyahu’s Likud party:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/original-party-platform...

“between the Sea and the Jordan [River] there will only be Israeli sovereignty”

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#662

Post by RugnirViking » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:16 PM UTC

rosmax_1337 wrote: post #602

Either we completely get rid of the idea that everyone has a bank account which they use for everyday transactions, going back to cash as default. Or we guarantee everyone an account which can not be closed for any reason whatsoever, at a state run bank. What we have right now, is untenable and a true sign of a society which has lost it's bearings completely. A bank account nowadays is not some kind of privilege whic…

I think the part about bank officials detracts from your point. Whether or not its actually correct, I think its a separate and divisive issue than highlighting the contradiction of requiring that everyone should be able to get a bank account while demanding that banks not give bank accounts to some people

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#663

Post by naasking » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:18 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #593

HenryBemis wrote: post #590

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Negative brand value is no reason to debank someone, half musicians that do drugs would give their bank a bad name. There must be a legal basis to debank someone. I don't like Farage's opinions, and being a PEP only means "more eyes on you", doesn't mean "kick them out". 1) Now, if Coutts dropped the ball on something, shame on them. A good lawyer can get some good ££££ for damaging the client's business/etc. 2) If F…

Farage didn't meet their net worth requirement, which is why his account was closed. A bit like any retail banking product - e.g. HSBC advance, there can be some slack in how strictly the rules are allied. Coutts decided that since he no longer met their net worth requirements, they didn't want to continue to serve him. They may have decided to continue serving other clients whos circumstances changed though for thei…

> Farage didn't meet their net worth requirement, which is why his account was closed.

Not according to follow-up reports: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38159768

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#664

Post by phil21 » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:19 PM UTC

ricardobayes wrote: post #610

mcny wrote: post #544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a solution - not sure if everyone's ready to hear it yet: Decentralized finance. I want the pendulum to swing the other way. Everybody gets and gets to keep forever an account at the Reserve Bank. > self-hosted Ethereum wallet I'm sorry. The technology might be fine But I simply do not trust the people involved with cryptocurrency. Not just the scammers such as SBF, I don't trust the "victims" to make wise…

"Crypto" as a whole broke the circle of trust for most ordinary people. Mocking cryptos now became so mainstream that UK television ran ads, calling out crypto believers. Not to mention all of crypto on and off ramps are incredibly centralized.

So we're at the "then they laugh at you?" stage of the game it seems?

I guess that happened years ago and we are fully in the "and then they fight you" portion of the timeline.

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#665

Post by naasking » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:20 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #554

phpisthebest wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just follow any Conservative, Christian, or Gun group and you will see stories of Chase closing accounts for political reasons, Chase is will known for this in many political circles

In a world where several thousand people have just been killed by an internationally funded terrorist group, I think scrutiny on groups which are (a) armed and (b) make political statements is probably justified. And the argument that "Al-Quds Weekend Rifle Club and Prayer Group" isn't allowed while a comparable Christian one is is pure unconstitutional religious discrimination.

> In a world where several thousand people have just been killed by an internationally funded terrorist group, I think scrutiny on groups which are (a) armed and (b) make political statements is probably justified.

Only if you think the ends justify the means.

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#666

Post by rafaelero » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:21 PM UTC

djaro wrote: post #609

rafaelero wrote: post #160

Buy Bitcoin.

Bitcoin does 7 transactions per second and has a latency of hours if you don't want to pay extremely high gas fees, so you can't use it as a currency.

Bitcoin has similar throughput to Fedwire, so if we can build our current infrastructure using the Fed, we can do the same with Bitcoin.

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#667

Post by ArabicBaklava » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:26 PM UTC

dwighttk wrote: post #630

ricardobayes wrote: post #618

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it really difficult to believe it was a "one chance" thing. Universities have late enroll, plus appeals processes in place. It's in their interest to get paid in the end.

Yeah this sounds like this was the last chance to get current after many unmentioned-in-the-story deadlines

This is absolutely 100% correct, i didn't disclose all the details since it is not relevant to bank account freeze and closure which exacerbated the situation and put me in a place where i cannot do anything. This is some of the other unmentioned instances that made the situation harder.

1) Funds took a while to be in my account, it arrived mid of 1st week of semester. 2) Procedures from the international students office -- they placed a hold on my account for not buying international students insurance from their provider, which is mandatory, and no you cannot buy the insurance somewhere else. note that this happened after the classes were dropped, it was possible to fix it and keep my enrollment had the bank not closed my banking account. 3) Simply because it was a capstone class (final major related class), the seats get full really fast so after being dropped of the class i was attending it became full, and even after receiving the funds, i paid the tuition, removed the holds, contacted the professors where there was available seats to allow me enrollment (have to have their sign off to enroll past a certain date) they refused to allow me enrollment (2nd week approaching third).

If the bank did not close my account, I would've paid my tuition before the deadline, paid the universities insurance, secured a shelter, wouldn't have my classes dropped.

Regardless, it is a tough experience, it taught me a lot and i came out of it stronger.

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#668

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:27 PM UTC

raincom wrote: post #41

Banks hide behind Bank Secrecy Act and other regulations in order to debank people. Chase closed my account, and the reason Chase gave: "Financial institutions have an obligation to know our customers and monitor transactions that flow through our customers' accounts. After careful consideration, we decided to close your account because of unexpected activity on these or another Chase account." I didn't dispute any t…

[deleted]

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#669

Post by patwolf » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:28 PM UTC

I do wonder if the problem lies with the banks or with the amount of federal regulation that makes certain customers unattractive.

I had a small business bank account, and one day I got a call from the bank asking to go through my transaction list and provide explanations for all the transactions. Fortunately they didn't close the account, but given the fact that it was costing them to investigate my account, it did make me wonder if they would have closed it if it wasn't profitable enough.

Re: Why banks are suddenly closing down customer accounts

#670

Post by janandonly » Mon, Nov 06, 2023, 1:29 PM UTC

trompetenaccoun wrote: post #523

ArabicBaklava wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this happened in 2017.. fast forward to this account closure effect on my life: I had to go back to my country, without a degree, was not able to land any job. Unfortunately, good places require degrees. Stayed unemployed, hit with chronic depression as anyone would. Lost 4+ years of professional progress. When covid came, i was able to complete my degree online and graduated in 2021, but because all fresh grad…

Horrible. I've heard similar stories but this one's the worst by far. This shouldn't be allowed to ever happen again, such sudden closures without warning need to be illegal. The issue is banking is highly regulated but a lot of the regulation is about AML, terrorism screening and such. Not actually protecting customers from abuse but rather the other way around - banks are taking precautions to protect themselves fr…

Having cash counts as “decentralized” finance just as well, no?