A week ago I started a thread on here expressing my horror at Coutts bank (owned by NatWest) closing a bank account simply because of the political beliefs of the account holder. Whatever flavour of view, right, left or center, it's wrong to deprive you of your bank account. It wasn't the solitary example of this happening, but was certainly a high profile one.

Many contributors saw the principal of this and like me, just knew it was wrong, others just couldn't see what the fuss was about. What if your water company discovered some of your views, didn't like them, and cut your water off?

Alison Rose has now admitted that she leaked confidential information to a BBC journalist (Simon Jack) which in addition to being confidential, was also wrong, stating they shut his account because of his failure to meet certain financial criteria, an account he had held for decades. Quite rightly, she has now stepped down from her job, and the reputational harm she has done to her employer will resonate for some time.

I feel totally vindicated in my personal protest of cutting up my NatWest card, sadly their values no longer align with mine.

 

Well, well, well !!

I'm shocked and so surprised that Alison Rose has resigned (or was she pushed ?)

Now what would be a really funny thing is if her electricity supplier was in favor of Brexit, held political views that were in favor of protecting our boarders and felt that they couldn't continue to supply Alison Rose with electricity and cut her off 🤣

13 minutes ago, unofix said:

or was she pushed ?)

If this was Russia there would probably have been an accident involving a window........😀

Nigel now has the rest of the board in his sights, good for him as they backed her. The public and government own 38% of Coutts and Nat West and now it a question of damage limitation.

30 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

If this was Russia there would probably have been an accident involving a window........😀

Yes, it would have been an open & shut case 😂

Just seen that NatWest has had £600 Million (EDIT: It's now, 27.07.23,  £850 Million) wiped off it's share value since the 'Farage' incident. That sure was one expensive meal Alison had with her BBC mate! 😀

No time to rejoice though as we, the public, as @Jimpster has pointed out, still own 38% of it...

How much do I own specifically?  

On a more serious note though.  There is another, arguably larger, issue going on with many (most!?) banks at the minute.  Won't go into details on here but basically they're deciding how you can spend your own money, and refuse a payment, even after you've confirmed it's not fraudulent.  All I'll say is be very careful if you choose to change banks...

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

How much do I own specifically?  

On a more serious note though.  There is another, arguably larger, issue going on with many (most!?) banks at the minute.  Won't go into details on here but basically they're deciding how you can spend your own money, and refuse a payment, even after you've confirmed it's not fraudulent.  All I'll say is be very careful if you choose to change banks...

Tom, the state of our current banking scares the bejesus out of me. 3 weeks ago, my bank app was unavailable for over 12 hours due to 'maintenance'. If you have no access to WiFi, or a mobile signal, you are snookered if you need to do any 'banking'.

I tried to open a savings account for my mum last year by actually walking into a bank in person. They refused saying they no longer do 'paper' transactions and to use the app. My 85 year old mum doesn't have an app, I simply wanted a paper application form for her to sign.

Anyway, I wrote to the CEO (not NatWest), and after some communication, they have now modified their procedure to allow customers to apply via a written letter of intent - result!

My daughter has been unable to access her bank for the last 3 weeks, she cant pay her bills or return what she borrowed from me, so i'm struggling to make ends meet. They are being less than helpful so we've raised a complaint via the financial ombudsman

3 minutes ago, Jimpster said:

My daughter has been unable to access her bank for the last 3 weeks, she cant pay her bills or return what she borrowed from me, ..

That's awful! Hopefully it'll be down to banking incompetence, rather than anything sinister. Fingers crossed she'll get sorted soon.

https://gript.ie/the-debt-we-all-owe-to-nigel-farage/

7 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://gript.ie/the-debt-we-all-owe-to-nigel-farage/

"...But in Farage versus Natwest, as in so many things before, he has once again shown that his existence is something for which every true democrat should be thankful."

Really interesting article, never heard of that source before, well done for catching it...

6 hours ago, StephenFord said:

If you have no access to WiFi, or a mobile signal, you are snookered if you need to do any 'banking'.

Can't you use your landline? 

Or for some banks, the post office.

5 hours ago, Jimpster said:

My daughter has been unable to access her bank for the last 3 weeks, she cant pay her bills or return what she borrowed from me

Can she write a cheque?

4 minutes ago, alanfp said:

Can't you use your landline?

Have you phoned a bank in the last 3 years? LOL

7 minutes ago, alanfp said:

Can she write a cheque?

Many places, including shops will no longer accept cheques. (eg Sainsbury, Boots, ASDA, Morrisons, WH Smith, etc...)

19 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Many places, including shops will no longer accept cheques. (eg Sainsbury, Boots, ASDA, Morrisons, WH Smith, etc...)

Woolworths still do, but only for 'Pick & Mix' 🤣

1 minute ago, unofix said:

Woolworths still do, but only for 'Pick & Mix' 🤣

I think Comet do as well, but only for fridges 😂

23 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Have you phoned a bank in the last 3 years? LOL

Can't believe I'm defending the service supplied by my bank, but yes, I phoned them this evening. Spoke to a real person. Job done. I can phone them 24/7. 

That reminds me....

My wife says I don't pay attention when she talks to me, so we sat down and had a bit of a catch-up last week, which was quite nice, but apparently she's been made redundant from Woolworths.

8 hours ago, alanfp said:

 Job done. I can phone them 24/7. 

I too can do that, my banks annoying automated computerised system never sleeps, and, they insist my call is important to them... 😂

11 hours ago, alanfp said:

Can she write a cheque?

No Chequebook.

We FINALLY got a kind of resolution yesterday. It was Lloyds bank, they even wouldnt let her go in branch to withdraw as she had done previously. They are now issuing a cheque for the full balance not an insubstancial amount that she can pay into another account "Virgin" via the paying in via a photograph option. Registered a formal complaint and had an acknowledgment from the FSA. Thry also wanted to close her account which we declined, thus forcing them to sort themselves out.

10 hours ago, alanfp said:

That reminds me....

My wife says I don't pay attention when she talks to me, so we sat down and had a bit of a catch-up last week, which was quite nice, but apparently she's been made redundant from Woolworths.

It's a man thing, selective hearing haha

Nigel's pond ripple continue to travel. CEO of Coutts, Peter Flavel, has now resigned. Relatively small fry on a salary of £1 Million (£19,000/week). His (ex) boss, Alison is likely to get that as a severance payment, as she was paid £100,000/week!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/peter-flavel-coutts-farage-natwest-alison-rose-b2382793.html

6 hours ago, Jimpster said:

Registered a formal complaint and had an acknowledgment from the FSA.

Sorry to hear that you've had such grief. Hopefully a little compensation will be on its way to your daughter (but probably only if she asks for it!).