• Reduce your dependence on bank accounts. Wherever possible, use cash or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
• Keep an ample supply of cash available so that you can pay expenses if your bank accounts are closed or frozen.
• Maintain small balances in banks. If your account is frozen, at least all your money won’t be tied up. And don’t forget that if your bank becomes insolvent, thanks to the bail-in phenomenon, you might never get your money back.

https://www.nestmann.com/your-bank-might-lock-you-out-of-your-own-account

By Mark Nestmann

In the last few years, banks have been falling over themselves to get rid of “undesirable” customers. Basically, if your bank isn’t making enough profit servicing your account, it will close it.

Of course, banks won’t admit they’re doing this. Instead, they’ll blame laws and regulations. Compliance with money laundering rules is their favorite excuse.

This process has become so common that a term has come into use to describe it: de-risking. In the US, tens of thousands of gun sellers, coin dealers, fireworks suppliers, dating services, US citizens living abroad, Muslim students, money services businesses, diplomats, and even porn stars like Teagan Presley have had their accounts closed due to the de-risking phenomenon.

It even happened to me.

About a year ago, EverBank (now TIAA Bank), with whom I had a nearly 20-year relationship, notified me that all four accounts I had with them were being closed. The first paragraph of the notification read:

We regret to inform you that EverBank is unable to continue a customer relationship with you at this time, therefore, we are requiring closure of the above referenced accounts within 30 days from the date of this letter.

So much for 20 years of customer loyalty. Fortunately, I had other accounts, so I wasn’t locked out of the financial system.

Out of a mix of curiosity and outrage, I called EverBank and managed to speak to a due diligence official. While he told me that he couldn’t comment on the reason for the bank’s decision to close my accounts, he confirmed that it was because of certain transactions in one of them.

I think the suspect transaction was a wire transfer to the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, where the Nestmann Group is an international marketing agent for the country’s citizenship-by-investment program. It took weeks to get the transfer credited. EverBank officials made several phone calls to the receiving and intermediary banks to trace the payment. Naturally, EverBank needed to pay the employees who followed up on the transaction. Their involvement probably triggered an alert that all my accounts should be closed, because the bank’s relationship with me no longer met its profit targets. Read the rest of this entry »