ubank Closed My Bank Account

Leppingnsw on 20/03/2025 - 13:14
Last edited 20/03/2025 - 13:21 by 1 other user

Hi, I want to know if anyone has experienced this before.

Today, I received an email from UBank stating that they are going to close my account:

UBank regularly reviews customers’ accounts, and upon our review, we have determined that we’ll be closing all your account(s) (other than any loan accounts you may have).

What this means for you:
You will have the next 30 days to withdraw any remaining funds in your account(s). If your account(s) have not been closed within 30 days, we will close your account(s) for you. If there are funds remaining in your account(s) at that time, for UBank to return these to you, we will need you to nominate an account held with another financial institution so that we can transfer the funds to that account.

I called UBank customer service to ask what was happening with my accounts. The representative told me that I had breached their general terms and conditions but could not explain exactly what I had breached. She said that the internal business team made the decision, and no one could clarify which specific terms I violated.

I then spoke to a manager, but they provided the same response.

I have been with UBank for more than a year, and this happened unexpectedly today. I would appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

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Comments

  • askbargain on 20/03/2025 - 13:19
    +55

    You know what you did

    • jv on 20/03/2025 - 13:47
      +4

      Opened another OzBargain account?

    • Yummy on 20/03/2025 - 15:09
      +5

      … last summer.

  • CodeXD on 20/03/2025 - 13:19
    +10

    Just take your money out and move to another bank.

    • jv on 20/03/2025 - 13:21
      +7

      and make sure you do not breach the other bank's T&Cs…

    • boomramada on 20/03/2025 - 15:02
      +2

      Open an account in mebank?

      • CyberMurning on 20/03/2025 - 15:08
        +2

        Ubank mebank theybank ourbank duh not so creative

  • jv on 20/03/2025 - 13:20
    +3

    It sounds like you breached their general terms and conditions…

  • CaptainJack on 20/03/2025 - 13:21
    +4

    Unfortunately, it's probably their prerogative to do so even if the reasoning is non-sensical. Do you have anything they might consider dodgy, such as transfers to crypto exchanges?

    Honestly, ubank has become a bit shit, not the end of the world.

    • KangaDrew on 20/03/2025 - 16:01

      How is sending money to a crypto exchange "dodgy"? 🤦🏻‍♂️

      FWIW I've been using ubank to onramp for over a year… hundreds of transactions and not a hiccup.

      • CaptainJack on 20/03/2025 - 16:46
        +4

        That's why I said they might consider dodgy.

        • KangaDrew on 20/03/2025 - 17:33

          Why would they consider transfers to crypto exchanges as dodgy, but only for a subset of their customers and not others?

          • iDroid on 20/03/2025 - 19:34
            +2

            @KangaDrew: Could possibly be transfering money to/from exchanges that don't abide to the Know Your Customer regulations,

          • b0rnwithabeard on 21/03/2025 - 09:22

            @KangaDrew: Because a lot of people use crypto for "illegal activities". Not saying you are, but if you're performing actions that are similar to this KYC profile, they'll immediately block you, as obviously they don't want to be linked to it

          • CaptainJack on 21/03/2025 - 14:02
            +1

            @KangaDrew: I'm not affilitated with ubank but I can google it for you.

            Furthermore, there'll be patterns of usage that may come into it. Payments over $10k get reported to AUSTRAC. Open a new account and try to send 10k somewhere as your first/only transaction, well good luck. Least of all to a 2 bit crypto exchange or something.

            If you have an account you've been using for yonks for everyday expenses and salary, and you send $100 to coinbase at some point, they might understandably be less concerned.

    • Viospeed on 21/03/2025 - 12:57

      I've sent about $200k to crypto exchanges in the past 16 months from my Ubank account and haven't heard a peep from them so nothing to do with crypto.

      I also signed my parents up to an exchange and they transferred money from their Ubank account to a crypto exchange and after separate verification call for both my parents they allowed crypto transfers. This happened in the last 3 weeks.

  • valuer on 20/03/2025 - 13:24
    +6

    notubank

  • eppingnsw on 20/03/2025 - 13:24
    +4

    This is my regular saving accounts, I use for transfer money to wise and deposite $500 every month, that's all

  • Downvoter on 20/03/2025 - 13:26
    -4

    “I want to speak to a manager!” Righto Kareneppingnsw.

    • iDroid on 20/03/2025 - 19:38
      +4

      "I want to speak to your manager"
      Rep: "Why"?
      "You don't get paid enough to take the shit I'm about to dish out."

    • us3rnam3tak3n on 21/03/2025 - 13:10
      +1

      If the representative you're speaking to can't find the answer that is a legitimate (ie non-Karen) reason to ask for their manager.

  • test8888 on 20/03/2025 - 13:26
    +4

    mine just got closed due to long time no activity.

    • McFly on 21/03/2025 - 01:47
      -1

      Yeah, I hear that can be a problem with some people's wife's legs.
      Lucky my uBank account is still valid.
      But I've said too much already…

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 20/03/2025 - 13:30
    +1

    Macquarie Bank do the same thing for no reason.

  • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 13:33
    -5

    AFCA

    • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:09
      +12

      I work for a Bank - Bank's can make a commercial decision to accept a customer just as a customer has the right to use a bank. AFCA cannot do anything about that. They also cannot compel a Bank to disclose the reason for the closed account.

      • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 14:26
        +9

        It still costs them money to deal with and causes them a bit of headache. OP has nothing to loose.

        • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:27

          Costs the bank nothing if its outside of AFCAs rules…so just wasting their own time

          • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 14:29
            +2

            @Mulgabill: It wastes the banks time as well.

            • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:34
              +2

              @JIMB0: Petty, but OK. Imagine if a bank wasted a customer's time just because the customer closed an account…

            • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:10
              +2

              @JIMB0:

              It wastes the banks time as well.

              Which the customers end up paying for…

              • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 17:53

                @jv: They already fleece the customer for as much as they can. It ultimately comes off their profit.

                • jv on 20/03/2025 - 17:54

                  @JIMB0:

                  It ultimately comes off their profit.

                  Nope, it's a cost that they pass onto the customers through fees and interest.

                  • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 18:07
                    +1

                    @jv: They've already increased them to a level which maximises their profit.

                    • jv on 20/03/2025 - 18:14

                      @JIMB0: Yep, customers are paying for it so the banks can get maximum profit.

            • Seraphin7 on 20/03/2025 - 18:36
              +1

              @JIMB0: Not if AFCA chooses not to pursue the complaint for one of the reasons available to them to do exactly that.

        • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:10
          -1

          OP has nothing to loose.

          Except grammatical skills…

      • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:33

        UBank has given 30 days notice, much more than AFCAs recommended 14 days.

        C.2.1 AFCA may in its discretion exclude a complaint, if AFCA considers this course of action is appropriate.

        C.2.2 (c)
        If the complaint relates to a Financial Firm’s practice or policy and does not involve any allegation of either Maladministration or inappropriate application of the practice or policy;

        • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 15:36
          +4

          AFCA will have no idea if "the course of action is appropriate" until the bank actually discloses the reason for closing the account. Hand waving "they breached the T&Cs but we won't tell you which T or C or how they breached them" probably won't fly with AFCA.

          • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 17:08
            +1

            @tenpercent: The Bank will likely have referenced the T&C allowing them to close the account, not necessarily the exact reason though.

            From AFCA website
            Does the financial firm have to give me a reason for closing my account?
            It is helpful if a financial firm explains why an account was closed but there can be valid reasons for not explaining the decision to their customer. If so, we may be satisfied the financial firm acted reasonably even though it did not say why the account was closed.

            How will AFCA decide if the account closure was fair?
            In addition to the financial firm’s right to close the account, we will consider what is fair in all the circumstances.

            For example, it may be appropriate to give a customer living in a rural or remote area extra notice of the account closure so that they can make other arrangements. This might involve visiting a bank branch that is hundreds of kilometres away, which takes time and planning.

            What outcomes can AFCA provide for my account closure complaint?
            AFCA generally accepts that a financial firm can stop providing a financial product or service, so it is unlikely we will require the financial firm to reopen the account.

            If the financial firm did not provide enough notice and / or breached another obligation, we may require the financial firm to:

            extend the account closure date (if the account has not already been closed)
            compensate you for any loss incurred as a result, including claims for non-financial loss.

      • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 14:52
        -4

        So can they close someone's account if they dislike the person's lawful political free speech?
        How about can they close someone's account because they don't like their race or sexuality?

        • CyberMurning on 20/03/2025 - 15:10
          +2

          Because they can.

        • dtc on 20/03/2025 - 15:29

          No, because there are laws against making decisions for those reasons. Well, except for 'lawful political free speech' [sic], you are entitled to not provide a service to a person if you dont like their political views.

          • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 15:33

            @dtc: How does anyone know if they have made decisions for those reasons (and therefore breached the relevant laws against it) unless the bank discloses specifically their reason for closing the account (rather than fobbing off the OP with little more than 'oh you breached the T&Cs but we won't tell you which bit because we're petty and having a power trip')?

  • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 13:35
    +9

    All the banks are under pressure to prevent scams and money laundering.
    As a result they are closing accounts that are idle or have transaction patterns that are high risk.
    Open an account with your main bank for your savings, and never give ubank any more business.

  • Davo1111 on 20/03/2025 - 13:52
    +2

    they can do what they like. In the same way coles or WW can just ban you from the store.

    • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 15:22
      +1

      They have a license to print money from the government via the people. There is an implied social contract and social license to operate. It behooves them to explain why they are closing someone's account and that the reason be legitimate.

      • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:12
        +1

        They have a license to print money from the government via the people.

        You are confusing the bank with the Royal Australian Mint…

        • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 16:16
          +2

          Royal Australian Mint…

          You may be confusing the Royal Australian Mint with Note Printing Australia, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

          license to print money

          is just a figure of speech. They (commercial banks) don't actually physically print money. It's much simpler. They just conjure it into existence in a database on a computer screen every time they issue a mortgage. Something like 95% of all the money supply in Australia is conjured into existence in this way.

          • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:20
            -2

            @tenpercent:

            You may be confusing the Royal Australian Mint with Note Printing Australia

            no

          • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:21
            -1

            @tenpercent:

            They just conjure it into existence in a database on a computer screen every time they issue a mortgage

            Nope…

            Basel fixed that…

            • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 16:31
              +2

              @jv: Nope it didn't… Fractional reserve banking was not abolished. Not in the slightest. Basel III strengthened capital requirements and imposed stricter loan to value ratios, but the money issued to customers as loans is still conjured out of nothing. Ergo "license to print money".

      • Davo1111 on 20/03/2025 - 18:56

        It behooves them to explain why they are closing someone's account and that the reason be legitimate.

        why should they? lets say you are actually committing fraud, why would they tell you how they've caught you?

        They are essentially losing a customer for life by kicking them out the door, so they shouldnt be taking it lightly. (even though their current value may not be great)

        • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 19:50
          +1

          why should they

          Because…

          They have a license to print money from the government via the people. There is an implied social contract and social license to operate.

          .

          lets say you are actually committing fraud, why would they tell you how they've caught you?

          They wouldn't. But that's obviously not what has happened. If they knew a person was committing fraud they would provide the evidence to the police and let the police catch them out and press charges. OP wouldn't merely get their bank account closed without explanation. If OP was actually committing fraud then they would hardly waste their time with a forum post like this.

  • sghetti on 20/03/2025 - 13:59
    +4

    I'm assuming you've dabbled in sending money to Crypto exchanges. I used to do this from uBank but one day my account was locked and had to call them to discuss it. They said they'd unlock it but said to stop sending funds to Crypto exchanges (I was sending large amounts for investment) as they no longer supported it. I assume if I continued they'd close my account.

    I started sending funds to UpBank to send on to Crypto exchanges after that, I still have accounts with both banks.

    Edit: I'm not bad-mouthing them for this decision, I worked for banks as well and understand they have their risk tolerances. I stopped once they said no more.

    • CaptainJack on 20/03/2025 - 14:20
      +5

      That's good they told you why.

      • sghetti on 20/03/2025 - 14:23

        I think it was more that the transaction got held and the account frozen while their Fraud team investigated. If it was due to T&C's with the account then yeah, they probably wouldn't have told me.

        I was glad they did as I've still got the account and don't send to exchanges anymore, I just send out to another bank to do it from there :)

    • eppingnsw on 20/03/2025 - 14:27
      +4

      I'm not doing Crypto at all that is why I don't understand.

      • sghetti on 20/03/2025 - 14:30
        +6

        Banks don't close customer accounts for no reason. Having accounts and customers adds to their bottom line and financial reporting.

        To actively choose to close your account and tell you to move somewhere else, you're doing something that appears dodgy and opens them to risk.

    • KangaDrew on 20/03/2025 - 16:07

      They said they'd unlock it but said to stop sending funds to Crypto exchanges (I was sending large amounts for investment) as they no longer supported it

      How long ago was this? I'm using ubank predominantly to onramp and just recently sent across more. They definitely support sending $ to exchanges.

      • sghetti on 21/03/2025 - 08:24

        Under 12 months ago. I hadn’t had an issue up until that point. It was a large amount over the space of a couple of months though.

  • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:16
    +2

    I work for a Bank - I would say either gambling, crypto, lack of use or not happy with Wise (scams).

    • eppingnsw on 20/03/2025 - 14:30

      No gambling, no crypto, montly deposite, Wise is just buy some overseas currency for travel (is this recognizable as a scam?)

      • Mulgabill on 20/03/2025 - 14:32
        +1

        The Wise platform/service may be used for scams too?

        • interlocal on 20/03/2025 - 14:38

          I moved money from uBank to Wise regularly (yes, to buy crypto with Wise card), had 0 issues with that. Wise is pretty reputable payment system, I would be very surprised that bank would close accounts just because client uses Wise.

      • md333 on 21/03/2025 - 12:36

        While there is nothing wrong with Wise itself, it is a good platform for sending money overseas, which is the end purpose of a lot of scams, so I can see it triggering interest from the bank. You'd think there'd be some threshold of substantial amounts though.

    • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 15:40

      What business is it of a bank how a customer chooses to waste their money?

      • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 16:46
        +7

        AUSTRAC gives them a hard time if they turn a blind eye to money laundering.

        • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 16:51

          Gambling and investing are not money laundering.
          Do they hassle people who send money to share brokers or art auctions?

          • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 16:58
            +1

            @tenpercent: Edit: oops replied in the wrong place.

          • greatlamp on 21/03/2025 - 10:49
            +1

            @tenpercent: 'Gambling' is used to launder money. It's not about morality.

            It's an easy way to transfer money into a bank account and disguise the source by using a middleman account. Exactly the same as using crypto to launder money.

            • kiitos on 21/03/2025 - 11:42
              +1

              @greatlamp: Yep, look at the existential trouble Star is in now as a result of allowing large scale money laundering.

            • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 14:48

              @greatlamp: Gambling can be used to launder money.
              So can "selling" items that normally cost $10 for $100 on ebay/amazon/etc.
              So can buying or selling half-arsed abstract "art" for thousands or millions of dollars.
              So can plunging the dirty money into the stock market and pulling it out again 'clean'.
              There's many ways that could be used to launder money.
              Most of the time most people who are putting money into art, gambling, crypto, stock market, ebay are just doing the thing it says on the box though.

              I say again

              Do they hassle people who send money to share brokers or art auctions?

  • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 14:28
    +6

    Make sure to leave 2c in your account. Then they'll have to return it to you. I have a few uncashed 2c cheques.

    • plmko on 20/03/2025 - 14:55
      -2

      They don't. They can inform you with ample response period and then donate the money in your stead.

    • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 14:57

      Hurry up. Cheques are being phased out.

    • test8888 on 20/03/2025 - 15:43
      +1

      STG simply closed my account and "ate" 20c balance, on final bill just said "clean up".

      • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 17:51

        Lodge an AFCA case.

    • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:13

      Then they'll have to return it to you.

      Nope, unclaimed monies go to the ATO…

      • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 16:47
        +2

        Consolidated revenue, not the ATO.
        Unclaimed super does go to the ATO.

  • interlocal on 20/03/2025 - 14:35
    +8

    about a year ago or so uBank called me and said due to their AMLKYCWTF compliance stuff, they need to verify my account, so I need to upload my DL, take a selfie, and describe the nature of the last incoming transaction. I did all that, and transaction has pretty clear reference text like "Amazon Australia Pty Ltd invoice 123-456", so I explained that's Amazon Flex earnings that I receive as a sole trader. They thanked me and said all good, you can continue to use your accounts.

    Next day I got another message "you breached our general terms bla bla, section 12.3.4.a states that uBank accounts could be used for personal purposes only, and looks like you are using it for business, so you have 30 days to take your money and all your accounts would be closed." Thing is, I was receiving those payments for ~3 years there without any issues, so looks like their "compliance stuff" were pretty lax before (probably changed when they stopped being 86400 and were bought by NAB). And no, they do not have business account option, so I was forced to leave for CBA.

    • sghetti on 20/03/2025 - 14:39
      +1

      Strange. I was using my uBank account to receive large deposits from Paypal for online work I was doing. Quite a bit of money over a 6 month period and never received any warnings or anything. That was from about this time last year until September.

      • interlocal on 20/03/2025 - 14:40
        +1

        could be that was one-time off check at that time, as some requirement from NAB during acquisition, idk

    • Massive Flog on 20/03/2025 - 17:16
      +4

      Ubank asked me to verify my account about the same time. I'd had an account with them for years. No, bugger that. I just withdrew all my money and went elsewhere.

      I'm guessing I would have had some kind of "breach" if I'd bothered complying with the verification request.

      Interestingly, I recently had to verify my identity with Westpac on an account I've had for roughly 25 years. This time I did comply, as it would have been a huge hassle to change various automatic payments.

  • bobbieb on 20/03/2025 - 14:37
    -2

    It must have been your crypto transfers.

    Did they do anything to discourage you beforehand? I had ING completely lock my access to online banking when I did a exchange deposit,

    I had to jump though hoops to just find the right person who knew what was going on.

    They made me verbally agree that they would not be liable for any crypto scams before they'd unlock my accounts.

    I took the hint and didn't do it again.

    CBA delays all crypto deposits for 24 hours. I originally thought that was harsh, but it seems moderate now compared to others.

    • plmko on 20/03/2025 - 14:54

      ING is the best for crypto. You just got unlucky or were using some really dodgy site.

      • bobbieb on 20/03/2025 - 15:06
        +3

        Strangely, it was Coinjar. Not exactly out-there on the dodgy scale.

        They seemed confused that I found it funny that they'd block a measly $100 transfer. My jokes about Nigerian princes seemed to go over their heads.

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