Barclays requesting me to close my uk account

Hi... last month I received a letter from Barclays requesting me to close my uk account. I live in Spain and they are no longer allowing bank accounts with a Spanish address. Has anyone else had this problem? I am also wondering how easy it would be to open another account with a different uk bank without having to physically go to the uk...

Thanks in advance

It has nothing to do with  Barclays UK...this is a directive issued by the so called EU...to stop Tax evasion by EU Tax residents....all your worldwide assets / wealth become Taxable in the EU  as soon as you become  a Tax resident in any part of the EU. ..you are not permitted to open a uk bank account without proof of a 🇬🇧  UK address  ...what you need to do is open a online bank account with the likes of Wise bank...when you have done this you can then transfer all you money  and change any  direct debits you have with  Barclays  to the Wise account and then close the UK  account. 

‘’this is a directive issued by the so called EU.’’

What has an EU directive got to do with a non EU Sovereign country?

The So called EU want complete control  of its so called populations Taxable income..they are doing  this by stopping its citizens having bank accounts and accets in none EU  member state's  avoiding paying Tax to the EU  ...as you should be doing as a so called EU citizens ...if you are a permanent residents  in any EU  member state  then you should be paying Tax to that state ...personally I think the EU has caused its own problems with  allowing  so called freedom of movement  ..across  its state's with millions of people wandering around  like headless chickens ..working and earning money on the black  employment market and avoiding  Tax ...I think the British called it Ducking and Diving which all came to a abrupt end when the UK 🇬🇧  left the So called EUROPEAN Union. 

Load of rubbish by windtalker again. Some banks have agreements to work in EU countries and others do not. This is international banking regulations.

Barclays is one but most other UK banks allow you to keep your account. You can even open a new one without a UK address with NatWest and Nationwide although you do have to turn up in person to do it.

Windtalker is just one of those who wants out of the EU but wants all the benefits it brought. 

Back to the original point. Do you have a relative or friend in UK you could get your mail sent to? You could register that with Barclays and keep your account open. It's what I do with my Barclaycard and my daughter sends me the neww card every few years. 

Derek here, not Marie

When UK was a part of the EU, banks could make an agreement to operate throughout the whole of the EU with just one pact. Since leaving, they now have to make agreements with each individual country not as a bloc (same as USA, S African banks etc.)

Some banks have made agreements with individual countries whilst others have decided the customer base is not strong enough to do so. Hence Barclays closing accounts in certain countries and Spain is one of them along with Germany and France.  Lloyds closing accounts in the Netherlands but not in Spain is another example.

A couple of UK banks will allow you to open a new account if you have no UK address but you must present yourself in person to do so. Unless you already have an account with that particular bank and you are a UK citizen but not necessarily a resident. For example, if you have a current account with NatWest, you can open a savings account on line but if you have no account you must turn up in person to do so.

There are online banking services such as Wise, Revolut and others that allow you to open an account online and they use an IBAN registered in Belgium or some other EU country and you can pay direct debits, withdraw money and so on by using those. 

The point is, agreements must now be made with individual countries since UK is no longer in the EU. Something that was pointed out in the run up to the referendum but obviously one of the points that got swept under the carpet.

Mariedav...first of all you say I am talking a load of rubbish....Google it ...by the end of September if you are not a resident of the UK your bank account will be closed ...and quite  rightly so if you have thrown in towel on the UK 🇬🇧 by moving to Spain and becoming a immigrant Tax resident. 

Then you are telling the poster to break the law by using a friend's address  to open a bank account and so on which is illegal are you right in the head ...I have already told them how to do it legally..simply by opening a online bank account with the likes of Wise bank. 

Why lie? Our bank, Natwest, has already informed us there will be no change to our banking with them. They are closing accounts for UK residents in the Netherlands due to passporting agreements but they are not closing our accounts in Spain.

The latest notification at the beginning of this month states:

"There will be no change to how you make and receive payments to EU countries. And, of course, you can continue to access your bank accounts through the mobile app to conduct your everyday banking needs".

I think I'd rather listen to them than someone ranting on the internet and, as I am not with Barclays, my account will not close at the end of September.

As for the rest of your post, I'm sure you failed the "how to make friends and influence people" course.

I shall not bother reading or replying to any more of your rants.

Mariedav..

The original poster is with Barclays...that is going to close all British  citizens account's down  that are residents in Spain other UK banks will no doubt follow Barclays lead..the so called EUROPEAN Union tried to shut down  the city of London  banking down by making it  extremely difficult for banker's to trade in the EU..and they failed end of story. LOL.

Windy, this is not UK law, it is just a load of made up rubbish by some banks who want to quote EU directives despite the UK no longer being a member of the EU dictatorship.

It’s all pie crust made up rules that is why many expats use a family or friends UK address to maintain a UK bank account.

Can you imagine Mr X in the dock at the Old Bailey, ‘’you are charged with using your sisters address to maintain your UK bank account while living in Spain’’ life in prison.

As I understand it, the UK is still part of SEPA. Link: https://accesspay.com/knowledge-hub/payments/is-the-uk-still-part-of-sepa/

However, this does not help with regard to Barclays asking the Original Poster.  Maybe the OP needs to contact his branch/bank and find out why they want it closed.

Kavanagh...if you allow people to use your UK address to open a UK🇬🇧 bank account..you could cause problems for yourself if they start running up credit card bills and so forth ..

Especially when the bank recovery department call in the debt collectors...I have had a couple of friends ask me if I could go guarantor for them to buy a car in the past and I referred them to my wife  ...and for some reason or another they didn't ask her...letting someone open  a bank account using your address amounts to the same thing. 

I have quite a few friends in Spain who live in Spain and have UK address's, for bank letters and such to be delivered to, if it was illegal then some smart joker would put a stop to it, but while no criminal activities go on then it stays put.

Being a guarantor for a item, any item has nothing to do with having letters from banks sent to, lets say Daughters or Sons house, you don't open a bank account in their name, it's no more then a mail drop box number of sorts, and banks allow these, some say they wont but again I know people that do.

‘’letting someone open  a bank account using your address amounts to the same thing.’’ 

Windy your deliberate deceptive and bogus information discredits EOS

Thanks so much to EVERYONE for your detailed responses. 
Then I could maybe ask my sister who lives in the uk if I can use her address. It would be useful to know beforehand that if by doing this there could be anything that would affect/implicate her in terms of taxes or anything else?

Hi. 
you shouldn't have any tax problems because all bank letters should be addressed to the account holder not your sister, best make sure the bank sends them care off so and so's name.

You could mention to the bank what you are doing but personally I wouldn't, you might get the bank's jobs worth and you know what they would say, I would wait and set if they picked up on it.

Hope it helps in some way.

Kavanagh  next time you cut and paste what I am posting..Dont just pick a few words...what I said is that if you allow someone to open a bank account by using your address to obtain credit cards and to move money  around the you are committing fraud.. all you need to do is look up money laundering...if you can't see through  that then please don't reply any of my statements .

.

Allowing a friend or relative to use your address as an accommodation address for a bank account does not make you a guarantor to their debts. Yes, letters and statements will probably arrive through your letterbox but only addressed to your friend or relative, and yes you may well get a knock on the door from debt collectors asking for the friend or relative if they default on debts, but they cannot take possession of your assets or legally make you responsible for someone else’s debts.

As for money laundering, you would have to be found guilty in court that you either knew about it or were party to it.

Does anyone have the number for Barclays so I can phone them to "confiem" my UK address please.

Thanks

George Fee

Internet has it for sure.