Barclaycard in the EU

Thanks for the update Tigerdon, especially the information about an account holder not having to live in the UK property they list - I'm sure that will be very helpful to people who are keen to keep their accounts.

Kind regards, 

Kim

tigerdon,  thanks for updating all on the outcome of the conversation with your bank. I am sure the response will help many members take prior action on what otherwise could be a very unwanted outcome later this year. 👍

LeckyLes 

With respect Ray opening a new account is a very different thing to retaining an existing one and the response you got was entirely to be expected. 

I'd like to know when the UK government began issuing 'directives' to private busnesses such as banks and lending institutions? 

Anyhow I found this from the UK press on Sept 11th., my bold in regard to countries affected, I would also question the figure of 13,000 as a total for EU resident Lloyds Banking Group customers. 

Britons abroad face a current account closure “lottery” as banks start to cut services in EU countries because of Brexit.

Britain’s biggest bank, Lloyd's Banking Group which also owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has written to 13,000 expats who live in Europe to tell them their accounts held in Britain will close from November. The move affects personal and business customers in Holland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Slovakia.

Cross-border rules after Brexit mean British banks will no longer be able to provide UK banking services to expats resident in EU countries unless they set up a separate legal entity in each region. This creates added costs for the banks and will result in services being cut in countries where it no longer makes financial sense to operate. Each bank will make its own decision on account closures according to the amount of business it does in each EU nation and the cost of keeping services going.

Customers have said they face a “lottery” as some banks cut services in their country of residence while others keep them going – and not all banks have announced their intentions yet.

Lloyds said its decision was regrettable and it had told affected customers they would need to make other arrangements for any regular payments before it closed their account. The changes apply to all brands across the Lloyds group.

HSBC has a large number of customers in France and has already moved most who still use a British bank account to its French arm. It is now considering applying for legal permission to continue to provide UK services in some countries. The bank also has a significant number of customers in Germany and Switzerland. A spokesman said no account closures were planned for now.

Barclays is “reviewing the situation” to make sure it complies with the law in each EU country in which it has customers as the Brexit transition progresses and said it would contact anyone affected by account closures directly.l

Santander and NatWest, which owns RBS, said they had no plans to close the accounts of any customers resident in the EU at present. 

I repeat that I have both a Lloyd's current account and credit card and thus far have had no communication from them in this regard.

Hope that at least puts people on thier guard. 

It's all about sharing the experience and we all learn something every day. 

I hope I managed to just contribute to the site.

Cheers

Well that's interesting after my hour and a half on the phone with them. I think you are right Ray .

There will be many more mysterious to solve out of this. 

Your contribution is appreciated as it brings important information for the benefit of other members. 

Well according to Barclays in my conversation....they were operating in line with a directive from the Government....so if that is the case...how can other banks do what they think fit???x

Hi,I spoke to Barclays bank yesterday and was told that I could have my bank accounts in the uk with my spanish address.Whilst living in Spain you can have £50 thousand per person in Premium Bonds with a Spanish Address.I think personally Barclay Card without an English Address will not be able to take you to court to claim monies owed.