Halifax Stopping Customers Withdrawing Funds Online - UK Brexit Banking Crisis Starting?

Companies / Financial Crisis 2019 Jul 21, 2019 - 04:22 AM GMT

At least some customers attempting to transfer funds OUT of the Halifax are being met with automatic rejections of their transfer requests in apparent attempts by the Halifax to hold onto customer funds which could be an early sign that the UK is experiencing a new banking crisis starting in the tax payer bailed out bank.

A request to transfer funds to other banks is being met with the following screen with the transactions effectively being cancelled which all but makes Halifax online banking unusable as payments can no longer be made.

This follows on from customer experiences earlier in the month where online withdrawal of funds were being met by accounts being blocked and customers asked to call a Halifax number.

Following which customers are asked to visit a branch. However even after such time wasting exercises, at least some customers still are unable to withdraw funds from their Halifax accounts.

These could be the early signs of a Brexit induced banking crisis that is emanating out of the Halifax, a bank that spectacularly blew up in September 2008 with the stock price crashing towards zero, only saved by first a Lloyds TSB forced resuce then a tax payer bailout that contributed towards a decade of stagnation as the price paid for tax payers bailing out the banks.

A similar crisis hit the banking group earlier in the year when hundreds of thosuands of customers of Halifax, LLoyds and Bank of Scotland were unable to transfer funds out of their accounts online at the time the bank blamed IT issues.

The bottom line is that this once more illustrates that it is not safe for customers to have only one current account as the risks of banks in crisis holding onto customer funds remains high. Therefore the first task for bank customers is to open a second current account, even if it is largely kept dormant, in case a crisis at one bank effectively freezes ones ability to manage ones funds as it can take upwards of a month to MOVE ones current account to another bank.

Furthermore Halifax customers with funds in excess of £85,000 FCA protection should with immediate effect seek to transfer their funds out of the Halifax even if it means going into a branch in person and instructing the bank staff to do so given that they may be prevented from doing so online even after visiting the bank so as to ensure their hard earned savings remain protected should the UK be about to experience another banking crisis focused on the likes of the Halifax.

And remember that Halifax remains part of LLoyds Group curteost of the shotgun weddding of September 2008, so the max £85k protection is for all accounts held with the Halifax, Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland.

More info here of what to do if your bank is refusing to let go of your money https://www.fscs.org.uk/

Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 30 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.

Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

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