maccruiskeen
Full MemberCoutts doesn’t have reputation of being too worried about how grubby the money people deposit with them is
Absoltely, but they don't do it for just any old tom dick and harry- they're not giving it away, they're professionals. It looks like Farage has got used to the service but can't afford the price, and now he's trying to find that same blind eye service for free elsewhere.
As for everyone else, a new account gets a different spotlight shone on it than an existing one, and most high street institutions are <not> as open to ignoring the rules as Coutts, they don't have enough prestige and history to laugh off million pound fines. So while it's probably two different things, they're not unconnected.
(when I was still in the bank, we'd already gone highly risk averse on new custom, even a whiff of unexplained earnings and we were likely to just decide that while you might well be a legit customer, you probably weren't worth the hassle of finding out, or the risk of accidentally tipping off, or the financial or reputational risks. A completely reputable PEP with simple, fully documented earnings turning up in your office was a Bad Day, never mind a Farage. You could get away with all sorts of heinous **** once you were in, because we were hopelessly underresourced at higher level, and the people handling the day to day stuff were barely trained, so dubious activity would most often be missed, often be ignored. So even then it had got mostly to the point of first-contact gatekeeping and just saying no to anything that looked like hassle, rather than trying to maintain hassle)
Guess if he's got dodgy money, he'll be off to Switzerland then!
More Nigel Farage explanation:
It looks like because im not a member of ****teer I wont be allowed to look at tweets. Every time ive recently(past couple of days) clicked a link it gives me a "something went wrong" note saying retry, and it doesnt matter how many times I click that its just the same oops....
No loss really
My heart sinks when I see those signs about staff not accepting rude or aggressive behaviour as it usually translates to “you are about to experience the worst imaginable service known to mankind”
My daughter's back from Uni and working at the supermarket for posh people again to earn some summer money. Two shifts in and she's had a middle aged 'well spoken' man berating her and a colleague on the welcome desk because they shop (and the two 19 year olds on the welcome desk) are supporters of pride, culminating in him throwing his loyalty card over the counter at them because he's never shopping there again.
They told their manager who came over afterwards and she's told them if he comes back in wanting his card back, she's cancelled his account on the system and to call her. She might 'accidentally' have cancelled any points he was due vouchers for as well......
Some people get the service they deserve.
TBH my revolute account was suspended for money laundering checks 🙂
Once I had provided details of the funding sources to the banks satisfaction that they could tick the not money laundering checkbox it was reinstated.
They told their manager who came over afterwards and she’s told them if he comes back in wanting his card back, she’s cancelled his account on the system and to call her. She might ‘accidentally’ have cancelled any points he was due vouchers for as well……
Legend!
My heart sinks...
There's one in our GP practice, it went up after a patient (bitter angry red faced man*) at one of our receptionist with his walking stick because he couldn't get an appt. that day.
* and it's always bitter angry red-faced men
My heart sinks when I see those signs about staff not accepting rude or aggressive behaviour as it usually translates to “you are about to experience the worst imaginable service known to mankind”
As above, 9 times out of 10 (99 times out of 100) it'll be great. If you ever experience 'the worst imaginable service known to mankind' it probably isn't anything to do with the sign....
My heart sinks when I see those signs about staff not accepting rude or aggressive behaviour as it usually translates to “you are about to experience the worst imaginable service known to mankind”
My heart sinks because we shouldn’t need signs like them. Something is deeply wrong in our society when hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets have to have signs up telling people not to be utter pricks.
hmmm, I thought banks like Coutts were supposed to be v private? I mean, OK it's on the BBC and who am I to second guess the info they've got? But I'd not be massively impressed if my bank (not Coutts!) started telling the media about accounts held there.
If you started lying abut a bank, then them people close to the situation setting the record straight is your own doing.
Edited because the bank has still said nothing at all according to that BBC story.
turns out he’s just too poor
Called it 2 days ago 😀
He’s probably simply not wealthy enough to be a customer there. They are a bank, you know, those bastions of integrity and ethics… why would they care who he is as long as he has money.
Apparently Natwest offered him a normal account rather than thier elite tier Coutts accounts.
One thing I've never really understood, as a pauper.... aside from prestige, what to these elite tier banks actually do for you? better interest rates? Turning a blind eye on dirty money?
Fresh ground coffee when you go into the branch rather than a vending machine?
It was a 'from unnamed sources' kind of situation. I presume they are not happy that he is flinging mud.
As said above by many being with Coutts is one thing trying to set up a new account elsewhere with potentially dodgy sources of income is another game. He just needs some Russian to rest a load of money in his account and job jobbed
As above, 9 times out of 10 (99 times out of 100) it’ll be great. If you ever experience ‘the worst imaginable service known to mankind’ it probably isn’t anything to do with the sign….
+1
Back in the dim and distant past working in hospitality, you can spot the people about to receive "the worst imaginable service known to mankind" a mile off.
But I’d not be massively impressed if my bank (not Coutts!) started telling the media about accounts held there.
The bank hasn't said anything public as far as I know, and they shouldn't, it would be a mine field of data protection/ litigation.
Farage went public on twitter or whatever, and on Gbeebies, saying (paraphrased)
"i've been cancelled by elite wokists!"
aside from prestige, what to these elite tier banks actually do for you
Generally, a bit of wealth management making sure your money is making money for you (& them) + something like a concierge service - that sort of thing.
Turning a blind eye on dirty money?
As a "normal" bank, this generally isn't worth it - if a person is sanctioned, or you can't trace the source of funds you can get in quite hot water, or even go to prison if you don't report potentially dodgy dealings.
Glad to see the papers going ballistic over conflating a couple of non-stories... Ho hum...
Our favourite rubbery faced fascist has been ranting about he has been turned down by other banks too hasn't he?
Can see how that would go.
APPLICATION
Name: Nigel Farage
Filed under BIN...
i’ve been cancelled by elite wokists
the first thing that comes to mind when I think of woke culture is coutts bank tbf…
he’s taking a pasting on twitter..
he’s taking a pasting on twitter..
Nothing changed there then, he just likes the attention....
the first thing that comes to mind when I think of woke culture is coutts bank tbf…
He was half right though with the elite part. Somewhat odd that a man of the people like him was banking there in the first place.
He was half right though with the elite part. Somewhat odd that a man of the people like him was banking there in the first place.
Well, indeed. lol!
he just likes the attention….
That's my reading on the situation, he's desperatley trying to remain rellevant in a post brexit world.
He's used up, spent, he has nothing to offer the right wing anymore.
Off to the glue factory for you 'me old mucker.
Be sure to leave your pint of Greene King IPA, and flat cap at the door, as it plays havoc with the grinders, and new blades cost a fortune.
Bon Voyage!
I had a student summer job of working on the public facing counter of the DSS as it was known at the time and not a day went past when either me or my female colleague would be threatened with untold violence for not easing the process. On rare occasions I’d see the customers out and about in the town and other than an uneasy grimace not much occurred.
Everything’s been easier since.
turns out he’s just too poor
I don't know the protocols in banking are but it sounds plausible to me that the other half a dozen or so banks that refused to do business with Farage might have done so because he couldn't explain why his previous account had been closed by his bank.
Do they ask the question "have you ever had a bank account closed or refused"?
And if he went along with the Daily Telegraph headline suggestion that it was possibly connected with him being seen as "rude and discriminate" it wouldn't have enhanced his chances!
@dyna-ti ****ter are DDoS'ing themselves and us refuseniks are not allowed access as the data use is costing them pots of money.
sounds plausible to me that the other half a dozen or so banks that refused to do business with Farage
We only have the word of Farrage himself on this point.
I would speculate that, and in consideration of;
A) He's a lying sack of poo
B) He's probably broke, or at least suffering cash flow issues
That he's still lying. No bank would realistically refuse you a basic zero overdraft current account. They will even give you a contactless debit card, but they will rape you if you go overdrawn.
According to his own words Natwest offered him a Natwest account, but apparently that's not posh enough for an established elite, of the callibre of Farrage, who is totally anti-elite.
The whole thing is a joke, and a sad attempt by farrage to try to remain politicaly relevant.
We can file this under ‘non-story put about by proto-fascist populist and should-know-better journalists’ along with the pupils identifying as cats story and probably at least two more before the end of the week.
I hate to sound like a crazed American, but the main stream media are really letting society down by not fact checking stuff before they spaff it everywhere.
We can file this under ‘non-story put about by proto-fascist populist and should-know-better journalists’
Fine by me. 🙂
He's too poor? Excellent, couldn't happen to a 'better' man 🤣
As for the 'No bank will accept me' line? Every bank has to offer a Basic account of some sort and they're virtually impossible to fail the checks for, all you need is proof of ID and a UK address. If you cannot find a bank to accept you then there is an appeals procedure to the Financial Ombudsmen who will nominate a bank to take you on if you are a legitimate UK resident.
"My heart sinks when I see those signs about staff not accepting rude or aggressive behaviour as it usually translates to “you are about to experience the worst imaginable service known to mankind”
My daughter’s back from Uni and working at the supermarket for posh people again to earn some summer money. Two shifts in and she’s had a middle aged ‘well spoken’ man berating her and a colleague on the welcome desk because they shop (and the two 19 year olds on the welcome desk) are supporters of pride, culminating in him throwing his loyalty card over the counter at them because he’s never shopping there again.
They told their manager who came over afterwards and she’s told them if he comes back in wanting his card back, she’s cancelled his account on the system and to call her. She might ‘accidentally’ have cancelled any points he was due vouchers for as well……
Some people get the service they deserve.
Back in the dim and distant past working in hospitality, you can spot the people about to receive “the worst imaginable service known to mankind” a mile off.
Another one here who did a few years in retail and bars. Far too easy to spot the people who have never worked in hospitality or retail, they just seem to default to being rude. If I had my way everyone would have to do a few weeks working in a customer-facing role in a shop or restaurant, it would quickly cut down on the bad customers in the future.
In one of his tweets he said that they wouldn't offer him a business account and that he needs one because he does everything through them.
I took that to mean he needs a business account to help him avoid paying tax.
Suppose it has to be one way or the other. You either allow any organsisation to discriminate or none. Freedom to have an opinion works both ways.
However this is more likely to be the result of less desirable financial dealings rather than selective discrimnation.
After all if anyone has the right to object to him he has a right to be himself.
There was a case in the States recently of a woman who refused to design wedding websites (who knew there was such a thing) to gay couples as it went against her Christian beliefs.
If that’s the one I’m thinking of, the whole thing is completely bogus, false, made up.
Interestingly, apparently other customers of Coutts are contacting the BBC to say that they don't meet the wealth criteria and they haven't had their accounts closed. Seems they have a measure of flexibility.
My heart sinks when I see those signs about staff not accepting rude or aggressive behaviour as it usually translates to “you are about to experience the worst imaginable service known to mankind”
My heart sinks because we shouldn’t need signs like them. Something is deeply wrong in our society when hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets have to have signs up telling people not to be utter pricks.
We absolutely shouldn’t need signs like that! It costs nothing at all to be nice to people. Although, being nice to people is the basic definition of ‘wokeness’, so clearly there’s a subset of people who feel it beholden of them to demonstrate just how ‘anti-woke’ they are at any given opportunity. 😖🙄🤷🏼
We absolutely shouldn’t need signs like that!
I agree, but that is a different subject..
apparently other customers of Coutts are contacting the BBC to say that they don’t meet the wealth criteria and they haven’t had their accounts closed.
Perhaps the wealth criteria only applies if you are an obnoxious ****er?
There is the concept (in some businesses and countries) of having lots of rules/laws/processes whose application/enforcement there is considerable discretion over. The idea is that nobody could possibly comply or navigate all of them, so if the powers that be are displeased for any reason with someone, then they can whack them with the aforementioned without revealing the true reason. Or just make use of the ever-present implied threat of that to steer things in the desired direction.
don’t meet the wealth criteria and they haven’t had their accounts closed.
Yet 🙂
I hate to sound like a crazed American, but the main stream media are really letting society down by not fact checking stuff before they spaff it everywhere.
yep it’s insane, they do seem to like flooding the airwaves with non-stories.
I think it’s weird thou,man of the people, complaining bitterly that he’s been downgraded on his bank account, in a cost of living crisis.
I’m sorry sir we have to withdraw your black card so you’ll have to slum it with a gold card.
He’s so offended that he can’t name drop Coutts anymore and has to struggle with a NatWest account like the rest of us.
Whatever next ,will his family office be forced to close 🙂
Did Coutts actually confirm this; everything I read seems to be 'people familiar with Coutts move' so probably insiders but not actually the bank itself?
Just makes his man of the people act even more ridiculous though, whether he has that wealth now or not. He has no more idea what normal people's lives are like than Sunak or Johnson or any of them.
Coutts won't make a public comment about a specific case.
The change in money laundering regs mentioned further up is probably the real reason.
Coutts won’t make a public comment about a specific case.
The change in money laundering regs mentioned further up is probably the real reason.
Feels like that to me, I can't help hoping all of his bleatings bring more focussed attention from the authorities on to his finances.
Ahhh, the good old Streisand effect. Keep on whinging loudly Nige, I'm sure you've hidden Vlad's donations expertly...
There’s one in our GP practice, it went up after a patient (bitter angry red faced man*) at one of our receptionist with his walking stick because he couldn’t get an appt. that day.
I’m confused what purpose the sign actually serves? Angry and irrational people are not usually calmed down by a sign. There’s no need to put a sign up to refuse a service (unless you are in some statutory service where a sign may not help anyway). It has zero bearing on any prosecution. Does a bit of laminated A4 make your staff feel protected? I’ve always assumed these were a bit of an HR bullshit thing - “if we get sued by the staff for their MH issues we can point at the sign and say not our fault”. Or if a staff member goes off with stress we can get rid of them easier by saying “we did everything we could”.
* and it’s always bitter angry red-faced men
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">its not. If that’s your experience in your practice I’d be wondering why you are only seeing angry men - are the women getting better service, or are they just so used to being downtrodden and ignored that they give up? Is it that men, in general, go to the GP less often than women so have become unaware of just how much of a shit show it’s become? Is it that women are more socially connected with their friends and willing to discuss their health issues with them and so either have found an informal way of getting advice or their friends have told them how to navigate the system? I am sure there are men getting angry and red faced because they can’t get an appointment today about the verruca they’ve had for years but in many cases angry patients either have an underlying addiction or mental health issue or have a genuine health concern (which may or may not be as big a concern to the clinician) which they’ve been trying to navigate the system for and coming up against barriers and little laminated signs.
</span>
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">If I was running a facility where people were getting angry regularly enough to consider a sign that states the obvious I’d be asking what can we do to alleviate some of that anger. That’s not pandering to angry people - the issues that make a man go red in the face and shout also affect lots of your other “customers” who are just passively pissed off instead. It’s not always about spending more to solve the problem either - often people get angry because they don’t think they are being listened to, they don’t understand something, or they don’t like the tone of the way they were responded to.
</span>
there’s no excuse for abusive behaviour, and my experience is police, prosecutors and the courts take it seriously when reported especially from places like pharmacies and doctors. But sometimes these places seem to have engineered their processes and environment almost to make it more likely to generate conflict. In contrast I’m sure that Coutts don’t make their customers queue up to then have to talk loudly through a Perspex screen sharing personal information for everyone else waiting to hear, or insist that to talk to their staff you must call at 0800 and keep hitting redial, or expect the customer who only meets them once a year to know how their system works even though you change it every six months, etc.
Actually, Please can someone deep fake him doing a payday loans advert... That would be awesome.
I want Farage to become the unofficial face of Wonga.com (do they still exist?)...
