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

            • interlocal on 22/03/2025 - 11:35

              @paulojr: From bank's perspective, I transfer AUD locally to Wise AU payid, bank have no idea how I use Wise after that - could be for money transfer, could be for local payments. It's not really different to sending/receiving money to/from other AU bank.

      • md333 on 21/03/2025 - 12:36
        +1

        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.

        • 7ekn00 on 22/03/2025 - 12:49

          Most banks have a $10k accumulate limit on overseas transfers :/

          I am betting the OP hit the $10k AUD limit (so he has probably done 20 x $500 transfers) :/

          My bank flagged me for $10k of AUD > USD transfers (but they were reasonable, I provided them my greencard and showed that I have residences and bank accounts in both countries - so they allowed me to continue transfers)

      • gromit on 21/03/2025 - 15:26
        +4

        seriously you buy money for overseas travel every month through wise? while it might not be recognised as scam it would definitely come up as suspicious.

    • 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
        +13

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

        • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 16:51
          -1

          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
            +3

            @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?

              • greatlamp on 21/03/2025 - 15:21

                @tenpercent: You are taking it too literally. They aren't actually gambling, they are using the gambling platform to deposit money from one source and withdraw to a legitimate bank account.

                Obviously they don't ban all gambling transactions, only those that are flagged suspicious. That could be because a particular foreign gambling site becomes known as a soft target and is heavily used by criminals, then everyone who uses that same site and also has unusually high deposits is also flagged. Gambling sites in Australia follow KYC, they wouldn't be flagged. Gambling income is tax free so it is particularly attractive for this purpose.

                They aren't going to tell you which gambling sites, share brokers or art auctions are flagged as suspicious, that's why you never receive a reason why your account was banned.

                • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 17:51

                  @greatlamp: So are you suggesting OP could have had their account closed because of transactions to/from gambling platforms and the bank does not know for certain they are involved in fraud or money laundering or anything else nefarious? Theymay have just cut him/her off 'just in case'?

                  • gromit on 21/03/2025 - 18:01

                    @tenpercent: yes it is quite possible. They "may" have decided his transactions just fall into a too high a risk factor so they feel they are better off without them. Banks are a business and one of the business costs and risks is avoiding the attention of the regulators which cost them a lot of money when they get involved.

          • gromit on 21/03/2025 - 18:30

            @tenpercent: And yes they do hassle people that are doing transfers to art auctions as it is also another common method of money laundering. They don't really care what you spend your money on, be that art, gambling or debauchery, what they care about is do they have enough information to make the government happy so they don't get reamed for your actions.

          • paulojr on 22/03/2025 - 11:41
            +1

            @tenpercent: actually funny you mention that but the government was looking to mandate banks also do the same with gambling, I don't think it is legislation yet but the government diddles in every bloody thing, seriously we live in a nanny state.

            Definately above makes sense AUSTRAC knows that Australia is used for money laundering so any place where money is regularly moved between Australia and another country is monitored. That technologies that do the monitoring are pertty hopeless and generate lots of false positives so its not a great system.

            So answer is yes, our government definately feels its their business to spy into your accounts with the reason that they're protecting us. Its where that line is draw that is the real tricky bit.

            What next.. close your accounts if you place 5 racing bets in a row? Or close your account if you buy alcohol in excess of certain amount in the evenings. Our government doesn't consider these things "out of bounds" for them to explore doing.

      • gromit on 21/03/2025 - 15:28
        +2

        In fairness the bank really doesn't care and has no desire to make it their business. however AUSTRAC and the KYC laws demand they make it their business.

        • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 17:52
          -2

          And there's the rub.

        • LogicalJunkie77 on 23/03/2025 - 19:20

          ex-banker here. Absolutely correct, if a bank has reported alot of your transactions to AUSTRAC (thinking they're suspicious), once at a threshhold the bank will decide to just 'terminate the banking relationship' because youre no longer worth the hassle with AUSTRAC…..

  • JIMB0 on 20/03/2025 - 14:28
    +7

    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
      -3

      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
        +1

        Lodge an AFCA case.

    • jv on 20/03/2025 - 16:13
      -2

      Then they'll have to return it to you.

      Nope, unclaimed monies go to the ATO…

      • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 16:47
        +4

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

  • interlocal on 20/03/2025 - 14:35
    +10

    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.

      • gromit on 21/03/2025 - 18:14

        basically every bank is required to verify your identity at some point or freeze/close your account. It won't matter which bank you move to you will get this as they are now required to do it.

  • 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.

        • sghetti on 20/03/2025 - 15:14

          Doesn't matter what crypto exchange, to a bank it's risky. A scammer could get you to send money to any type of exchange as part of a scam and this is what the banks are concerned about.

          More and more responsibility is falling on banks to cover customers under scams, or to stop them occurring in the first place.

          • bobbieb on 20/03/2025 - 19:42

            @sghetti: My point was, the script that this dude was mindlessly taking me through was gearded at exactly the serious scams you're talking about.

            This was $100. Not exactly an "Evil bank let hackers take my money" a current affairs fare.

        • BuzzBuzzBuzz on 20/03/2025 - 15:34

          My jokes about Nigerian princes seemed to go over their heads.

          Because it's not funny. These people sit on the phone all day, everyday listening to person after person bawl their eyes out because they've just lost $XX,XXX+ to scam.

          I'm not exaggerating. All day, everyday.

          • stuffandthat on 20/03/2025 - 15:54
            +2

            @BuzzBuzzBuzz: It's a little bit funny.

          • bobbieb on 20/03/2025 - 19:49

            @BuzzBuzzBuzz: I'm guessing that suggesting that I was investing in bonds that I saw an ad for starring a freshly risen from the dead Shane Warne who guaranteed me 100% pa returns, was over the line too? 🤣

            • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 14:52
              +1

              @bobbieb: Are you sure the ad wasn't for hair plugs? 100% pa growth in hair.

              Some people have no sense of humour and just can't fathom that most people aren't complete dolts falling for scams all the time.

      • Viospeed on 21/03/2025 - 14:39

        Can you please tell me how much you're transferring to crypto exchanges using ING?

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 23/03/2025 - 18:02

      Im surprised by that. All my crypto exchange transfers go through immediately, albeit with warnings. CBA just sit on the transactions for 24 hours before processing which led me to just move everything out of there as punishment for deliberately enshittifying my accounts. ING have been great and no crypto delays to speak of as yet. All this could be easily solved by just having us sign a waiver and have them wash their hands of any responsibility. Leave the hoop jumping to the elderly falling for romance and various other scams

    • BuzzBuzzBuzz on 20/03/2025 - 15:36

      Source?

      • tenpercent on 20/03/2025 - 15:37
        -2

        Sauce

        • BuzzBuzzBuzz on 20/03/2025 - 15:38

          Thought so.

          • mskeggs on 20/03/2025 - 16:51
            -1

            @BuzzBuzzBuzz: Nigel Farage lost a bank account in the UK, so it was a big story in the non-woke media.
            Unlikely OP is Clive Palmer.

            • Cheapskate Paul on 20/03/2025 - 21:19

              @mskeggs: Farage got a significant amount of compensation from that bank.

              • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 14:54
                +4

                @Cheapskate Paul: Farage gave them a publicity nightmare. Not to mention had money and legal backing to threaten the bank. If they did it to OP or some other "nobody" it wouldn't rate a mention or get resolved like that.

            • smartazz104 on 21/03/2025 - 08:05
              +4

              @mskeggs:

              non-woke media

              Fascist media?

              • tenpercent on 21/03/2025 - 14:57
                -3

                @smartazz104: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini

  • Cluster on 20/03/2025 - 15:44
    +5

    Yes, these 'Computer Says No' answers are not satisfactory, but unfortunately the bank doesn't have to tell you what they don't like about you or what you did (or didn't do).

    What's interesting for me is UBank said they're closing everything except loans. I have an account with UBank that I never use, as well as a mortgage. I use the mortgage account effectively as a savings account by regularly moving money in and out of there.

    I guess if UBank is making good money on a product they'll overlook whatever the OP is doing (or not doing).

    • McMaferMur on 20/03/2025 - 16:25

      Yep same when rejecting credit card applications bank doesnt need to say why. Because then people can exploit that for future applications or tell friends

  • McMaferMur on 20/03/2025 - 16:28
    +1

    Ing called me as i was moving $20k exact amount each month in and out for 3 years straight.
    Also asked income i get from selling 2nd hand thinga on ebay making sure its not regular income.
    Weird …

    • Cluster on 20/03/2025 - 17:00
      +1

      Yes, that can be flagged. Also anything that looks like structuring: Send 3x $9990 instead of $30k in one go, etc.

      I sometimes wonder if ING will ever flag me for fulfilling the 5x purchases per month requirement on Savings Maximiser by running a few 2c to 6c transactions through supermarket self checkouts every now and then. I'm sure I'm violating some clause somewhere about 'legitimate transactions'.

      • ldcan on 21/03/2025 - 15:03

        why do banks care if ebay sales are going into a personal account rather than business account? if operating as a sole trader, personal accounts can be used for business income as well

  • Seraphin7 on 20/03/2025 - 18:39
    +4

    With the impending uplift in AML/CTF laws, expect a lot more of these "random account closures" to occur.

    Trust me when I tell you, this is not the banks "wanting" to close accounts, rather than them being utterly fearful of regulatory blowback if they don't.

    • Pigey on 20/03/2025 - 19:23

      Yes, banks have to look like they are regularly trying and doing sweeps with anything that looks slightly suspicious so it looks like they are actively trying to stop money laundering.

  • Wiadro on 21/03/2025 - 08:01

    CBA call me a few times for my first big transfers from Adsense and asked what it was about.
    I just had to transfer to a business account and it’s all good now

  • ozpat on 21/03/2025 - 08:01

    Some banks have Terms & Conditions that state if they don't like something you write on social media they can close your account. Like the NAB, for example.

  • jasiano on 21/03/2025 - 13:48
    +1

    you've done something dodgy. They can't tell you what specifically because it could actually be a legal issue/under investigation.

    if you want to cry foul to a commission/legal entity they will probably start digging even more and whatever 'breach' you did could become a bigger thing…

  • pandadude on 21/03/2025 - 14:47

    Just open an account with NAB.

  • depecid on 21/03/2025 - 16:05
    +2

    I have a mate who's son thought it was funny to transfer money to him with fake dodgy descriptions like "China white" or "hookers".
    It took a while but eventually his ING account got shut down in the same manner with no reason given. We all knew why though…..

    • johnwickspuppy on 21/03/2025 - 17:23

      That's quite funny but I'm not sure it's worth getting banned. Just to clarify, his account was closed but the son's account was fine?

      • depecid on 21/03/2025 - 18:49

        Yes that's correct. Pretty sure his son is with a different bank.

  • Poor Ass on 21/03/2025 - 17:16
    +1

    Today, I received an email from Ozbargain stating that they are going to close my account due to inactivity

    • Ooops on 22/03/2025 - 00:09

      username checks out.

      What happened, too poor for ADSL?

      • Poor Ass on 22/03/2025 - 04:42

        It was a joke because OP ghosted

  • Ooops on 21/03/2025 - 23:41
    +1

    uBank is shit. I moved to another bank after 5 years. I'm allowed to do crypto now!

    • Poor Ass on 22/03/2025 - 04:43

      What bags you got?

      • Ooops on 23/03/2025 - 01:32

        Some hessian. I use them for the worm farms.

  • Eeples on 22/03/2025 - 08:41
    -1

    Making regular payments of $500/month into you UBank and then making regular $500/month to Wise might look dodgy.

    UBank might be asking….. Why isn’t he just paying the $500 straight to Wise?

    Why aren’t you?

    • surfingedge on 22/03/2025 - 15:33

      Because ubank wants you to deposit $500 to earn interest

  • just-human on 22/03/2025 - 09:53

    None of this is financial or legal advice, but move banks. There's unlikely to be a way around this.

    They have closed you accounts and they do not have to tell you why, and especially in the case of an AML/CTF issue, it may be a federal offence to tell you.

    As others have mentioned, it is unlikely AFCA will do anything but its up to you if you want to go down that path.

  • StephenSyd on 22/03/2025 - 11:01
    +4

    I had the same issue with Macquarie bank, I asked them what the reason was, and they wouldn't tell me.
    they just said Well we don't actually need to tell you. sounded a bit rude but anyway no big deal.

    • Davo1111 on 22/03/2025 - 13:05
      -1

      sounded a bit rude

      what else can they say? You pressed them for an answer which they dont want to provide.

      • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 23/03/2025 - 00:44
        +1

        You’ve clearly never dealt with Macquarie’s phone support.

    • Notatightass on 22/03/2025 - 14:04
      -1

      How were you using the account?

  • gstfree on 22/03/2025 - 14:46
    -1

    It must have something to do with AML or KYC. Did you transfer any fund out regularly with some sensitive message? Did you receive large sum of money from overseas? In KYC what did you disclose what is your income source and what is the actual income source? Did you open the account overseas?

  • 4Flowers on 22/03/2025 - 23:57

    I left them when they decided that I wouldn’t get any interest unless I deposited $500 a month. Not everyone can do this!

    • JIMB0 on 23/03/2025 - 08:37
      +2

      It's not hard to transfer $500 in and out.

      • md333 on 23/03/2025 - 17:44

        $500 out and in is easier if you don't have much money.

        • JIMB0 on 23/03/2025 - 18:01

          $500 isn't much money.

      • 4Flowers on 28/03/2025 - 07:21

        It’s inconvenient. In any case I’ve found a credit union that’s much better than UBank.

  • Dreamcast on 23/03/2025 - 04:56

    "it's not me, it's U"

    Piss poor in not at least giving you the reason up front. If there's not much you can do, like any relationship, move on.

    • Davo1111 on 23/03/2025 - 07:30

      Except they didn't say it wasn't them. Or blame OP.

      "I want to end this relationship"

  • md333 on 23/03/2025 - 17:45

    I just had an email saying they would close my account if didn't respond to KYC questions in the app within a few days. I wonder if OP missed one of those.
    Hopefully my triple citizenship doesn't get me kicked out.

  • ProlapsedHeinous on 23/03/2025 - 17:51
    +1

    Ubank wanted me to jump through their KYC hoops when Ive literally only used it as a spare account. I laughed and ignored their repeated requests and threats for shutting my account. They can keep the few cents I had in there, plenty of other banks, no big loss. Just close it and open an ING online account. super simple, you'll be up and ready in about 20 mins.

  • LogicalJunkie77 on 23/03/2025 - 19:15
    +1

    Ex banker here - you've most likely made some payments that have flagged up as suspicious, which theyve reported to AUSTRAC.
    The transactions you've made hit a threshold where the bank no longer wants to risk you continuing to use their bank to continue making these transactions - and therefore determined its best to cancel your banking with them,
    The reason they wont tell you the reason for why they have terminated your banking with UBank - Section 123 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006 - telling you why they terminated your banking is deemed to be "tipping you off".

    Good luck mate.

    • tenpercent on 24/03/2025 - 20:27
      +1

      Are you "tipping him off" with this comment?

  • blackhorn on 23/03/2025 - 20:23

    You don't have to be directly involved with "money laundering" to be de-banked, as long as you transferred to someone who was tagged or the watch list, you're considered guilty by association. Unfortunately, you don't have zero chance to get your de-bank overturned.

    • leiiv on 24/03/2025 - 00:13

      That doesn't make sense really. How come those people on the watch list still have their bank account while OPs is forcefully closed?

  • UFO on 24/03/2025 - 01:04
    -3

    Yeah nah…. banks don't just close accounts for no reason.

    You're using that bank account in a suspicious manner. You're either transferring money or receiving money to an account that is concerning to authorities.
    My "advice" (because you're asking), is to stop what you're doing… because you're already flagged and relevant authorities are now monitoring you.

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