# British expat in Jamaica - UK bank closing my accounts due to new policy



## Adam_L

Hi all,
I have been informed that my NatWest bank accounts will be closed in January 2023 because they will no longer service customers in certain countries who are resident outside the UK. I have tried to talk to a human being to get answers behind this decision but to little avail. I have remained loyal to NatWest for over 30 years and they have made lots of money from me. I lived my whole life in London until 2017 when I moved to another country. My biggest concern is losing out on the £85k deposit guarantee as well a huge inconvenience for other reasons. There is such a scheme where I now live but the cap isn't sufficient to protect my savings. Would be curious to know if this is affecting anyone else and what measures are being taken to mitigate the problem. I've explored off-shore banking but I'd struggle to maintain the required minimum balance and the UK banks offering this exclude Jamaica from list of eligible countries. Many thanks.


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## Bevdeforges

Welcome to the club of expats with banking issues! Quite a few banks in the UK have closed out accounts of their foreign based customers in recent years - in part due to Brexit issues, including just not wanting to be bothered with the extra hassle of foreign banking rules and tax disclosures. There are also a number of US banks and investment companies that will not maintain accounts for long-time customers once they move overseas. Offshore banking generally has a rather long list of countries they will not deal with (at least not as customers). 

What measures you can or should take to work around this can depend on the specifics of your situation, from the balances you have or expect to have in your account to your needs regarding the transfer of funds from one country to the next. Some banks will accept a mail drop address in the country where your account is located. Others insist on proof of residence at the address you give them for your account.

Let's see if we can flag down some of the forum regulars to share their tips and tricks for handling the issue of maintaining accounts back in the homeland.


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## Adam_L

Bevdeforges said:


> Welcome to the club of expats with banking issues! Quite a few banks in the UK have closed out accounts of their foreign based customers in recent years - in part due to Brexit issues, including just not wanting to be bothered with the extra hassle of foreign banking rules and tax disclosures. There are also a number of US banks and investment companies that will not maintain accounts for long-time customers once they move overseas. Offshore banking generally has a rather long list of countries they will not deal with (at least not as customers).
> 
> What measures you can or should take to work around this can depend on the specifics of your situation, from the balances you have or expect to have in your account to your needs regarding the transfer of funds from one country to the next. Some banks will accept a mail drop address in the country where your account is located. Others insist on proof of residence at the address you give them for your account.
> 
> Let's see if we can flag down some of the forum regulars to share their tips and tricks for handling the issue of maintaining accounts back in the homeland.


Brilliant, thanks for reaching out!


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## alfinjamaica

Adam_L said:


> Hi all,
> I have been informed that my NatWest bank accounts will be closed in January 2023 because they will no longer service customers in certain countries who are resident outside the UK. I have tried to talk to a human being to get answers behind this decision but to little avail. I have remained loyal to NatWest for over 30 years and they have made lots of money from me. I lived my whole life in London until 2017 when I moved to another country. My biggest concern is losing out on the £85k deposit guarantee as well a huge inconvenience for other reasons. There is such a scheme where I now live but the cap isn't sufficient to protect my savings. Would be curious to know if this is affecting anyone else and what measures are being taken to mitigate the problem. I've explored off-shore banking but I'd struggle to maintain the required minimum balance and the UK banks offering this exclude Jamaica from list of eligible countries. Many thanks.


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## alfinjamaica

I’ve also experienced this with a UK bank, having been a customer for 30+ years. They do not want to deal with the admin involved in having expat customers, and it seems they especially don’t want to deal with Jamaica! Another poster mentioned the reason is the ring fencing that is now required for banks to service overseas customers. Anyway, whatever their reasons are, it is so inconvenient and stressful to have this situation arise when you are overseas. I only became aware the first time this happened when my account was frozen and direct debits were declined. The long term solution is to work with a local bank, but of course you have to move your funds in order to do this and you may not want all funds in one place for the reason you outlined. It’s no consolation but this is also happening to many people resident in Europe with UK accounts.


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## alanedz

Adam_L said:


> Hi all,
> I have been informed that my NatWest bank accounts will be closed in January 2023 because they will no longer service customers in certain countries who are resident outside the UK. I have tried to talk to a human being to get answers behind this decision but to little avail. I have remained loyal to NatWest for over 30 years and they have made lots of money from me. I lived my whole life in London until 2017 when I moved to another country. My biggest concern is losing out on the £85k deposit guarantee as well a huge inconvenience for other reasons. There is such a scheme where I now live but the cap isn't sufficient to protect my savings. Would be curious to know if this is affecting anyone else and what measures are being taken to mitigate the problem. I've explored off-shore banking but I'd struggle to maintain the required minimum balance and the UK banks offering this exclude Jamaica from list of eligible countries. Many thanks.


Same happened to me last August. I live in Honduras. Had been with Natwest and Natwest International for over 50 years! Dealing with the Bank was a nightmare. They still use normal overseas mail
so even though I was given 2 months notice this was reduced to 1 month by the time I received their letter informing me of my account closure.
Trying to contact the Bank to speak to staff was very difficult. Never spoke to the same person twice - they must have plenty of days off: always "Not in the Office" Eventually I had to remind them of the date of my account closure!!!
Terrible customer service. Terrible Bank.


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## alanedz

alanedz said:


> Same happened to me last August. I live in Honduras. Had been with Natwest and Natwest International for over 50 years! Dealing with the Bank was a nightmare. They still use normal overseas mail
> so even though I was given 2 months notice this was reduced to 1 month by the time I received their letter informing me of my account closure.
> Trying to contact the Bank to speak to staff was very difficult. Never spoke to the same person twice - they must have plenty of days off: always "Not in the Office" Eventually I had to remind them of the date of my account closure!!!
> Terrible customer service. Terrible Bank.


Forgot to add that I managed to transfer my funds to my local Honduran Bank. They were very helpful and acted like a Bank should, keeping me up-to-date with my cash transfers etc. Interest rates here in Honduras both in US Dollars and local currency are so much higher than the UK so in one way Natwest did me a favour!
Local Banks here value their clients and even though Honduras is classed as third world their Banking system is first class. So very different from Natwest and Natwest International.
Don't be afraid of using local banks in whatever country you are living in as a legal resident.


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