Hi there,
I have seen a similar case posted here before so want to try my luck - anyone have a view on how to deal with such "bank bully?"
1. my problem is with Revolut having an overly sensitive AML (possibly algorithm) resulting in thousands of accounts suspensions, following which they typically have a poor customer service and invasive unlocking policies on resolve the issue. Revolut has no customer hotlines to call, and access to funds, sometimes large sum, can be locked behind slow chat room agents for ages.
2. in my case, i was attracted by Revolut's paid service of unlimited FX transactions (at fairly good rates, and instant access, 8GBP per month?), and decided to transfer large sums of EUR (three clips of 50k EUR each) from my own account to revolut, take advantage of the cheap FX exchange (which i have paid for) and transfer out. Both the transfer-in and transfer-outs are from accounts in the UK, under my own name.
3. Revolut flagged a request for verifying source of funding on 10th Dec 2020 after my second transfer, for which i immediately provided my Barclays bank account EU bank account statement. they did not respond at all for near 30 days while the account remained operational despite the review.
4. On 4th Jan 2021, i transferred in my third clip of 50k EUR, the transfer in and conversion to GBP encountered no issue, but the transfer out (to my own account elsewhere) was blocked
5. contacting revolut has been very frustrating - there is nowhere to call, and the chat room is the only way to contact any one. The agents take forever to reply, and it took me 4 hours to get to speak to someone who basically said - it is unusual to take this long. But we need your pay slips and tax return records.
i work in institutional financial sector, know a bit about the concept of AML. I wonder if Revolut had grounds to conduct invasive reviews like this? note these are funds from my own-named accounts... While banks can hide behind their T&C and simply say it is their policy, surely as a regulated financial services provider there have to be rules governing such reviews and restricted access to client money? there are now thousands cases of complaints like this.
in my view, if revolut want to be invasive on DD on picking their client, they have the right to be - but at the account opening stage. if they accept the account opening applications, and enable the service, they cannot then make the service overly sensitive to large sums? Especially if the services i paid for are advertised as "unlimited FX conversion".
My guess is that Revolut was done for compliance reaches, and had instead gone overboard with AML detection without adequate unlocking policies. all they have are a stretched ream of agents with a poorly written unlocking procedure. if customers have any issues with this process (i suppose most do?), they simply just not respond...