International transfers from UK

[JohnDee]

Hi All,
I hope you are well.
I am attempting to transfer some money under 2k to abroad (EU).
I opened an account on my name abroad as I study there and have to pay tuition.
At that foreign bank I have indicated that I am a UK tax resident, provided my NI number.

I was looking for the UK currency broker that gives me the best rate.
I make a transfer to them to find out the next day that the bank has froze the transfer and is bombarding me with emails, texts and phone calls during my working hours.
I call them to find out there is a suspicion of scam/fraud but after confirming my identity several times the line of questioning is to make me a fraudster. I can tell there is nothing to do with preventing fraud e.g. some external entities stealing from my account.
The bank is only concerned about the deposits on THEIR accounts and they use this fraud/cyber-crime boogeyman to make people's life harder, ideally them not to touch their deposits to much just get some cash for food and bug off.

They blocked my account to the point I was not able to even cash out at a cash machine.
They won't return money to the account and unblock my Internet banking so at least I can use it in UK.
They just won't unblock it unless I provide all the details they want regarding that transaction.

I have provided them the reason for transfer however their questions are quite invasive - they even want to know the name of the university and perhaps in the next question they want me to provide my student ID. I stopped right there as I don't think we live in the Soviet Union. I was triggered because the man from this security team at the bank literally repeated all I said while typing it into the system like I was in Soviet Union.

I decided not to proceed any further and simply closed the account. Imagine this is my current account I have for over 10 years where my salary goes in.
Luckily I had another account the money could be transferred but all the direct debits had to be restored manually.

As I have to pay the tuition urgently I checked for the best rates and went for a different currency broker.
I transfer to them 1k, they received the money.
The following day I got an email from them that they closed my account but conveniently do not provide any more details.

What is going on here?
Is there something wrong with the banking lately or am I on some sort of a blacklist database now they will block all my transfers? Is this maybe to do with a poorer credit score?
This is very worrying but I can see the trend at least in the last 3 years. The banking stratifies.
The high street banks don't trust challenger banks even if both have banking licenses.

Please advise.

[atticus]

You need to speak to your bank.

[PallasAthena]

Nothing to do with credit scores. This all stems from the current legislation on money laundering, fraud and terrorism. They monitor using AI all transactions flagged up are investigated in the way you have experienced. Freezing your account while the investigation takes place is usual. The normal advice is to give full co-operation and answer all their questions. You made life harder for yourself by refusing to do so.

[JohnDee]

You need to speak to your bank.

so we live in the Soviet Union disguised under "the current legislation on money laundering, fraud and terrorism" like there was no money laundering, fraud before they implemented the AI but then I was still able to transfer the money before all those hoops.

I understand for the transfer to bounce back but to freeze the current account of a regular citizen? and for the currency broker to close the account without providing any details? It is outrageous.
Apart for the fact that the currency broker as usually asked for the reason of transfer and later didn't even asked for more details, just terminated the account.
It came to the point where the banking of a regular consumer in its efficiency goes back to 19 century.
Each time I waste ~10 minutes to make a payment/transfer, type in all the passwords and codes then to waste another 3h on the phone to get nowhere because NKVD has to write everything down because they assume everyone is a potential criminal. Exactly that's how it was in the Soviet Union.

The advise is to never make an international transfer from your main account regardless if you provide them the details or not. They will render your banking inoperable. It is easier to just take the cash abroad.

[atticus]

That rant is as it may be, but have you spoken to your bank?

[JohnDee]

That rant is as it may be, but have you spoken to your bank?

Yes, I did talk to them several times over the phone and been twice at the branch but this was before I closed the account.

Now tried the transfer from a different bank account (different bank of course) it was blocked as potential fraud BUT this time the client experience is much different (much better) and I can say the security team does a good job trying to confirm my identity and do it not like NKVD and I can still access my Internet banking. Perhaps they locked it but at least I can see the statement.
Unlike the other bank who focused on the transaction itself I can see they verify my identity from every angle.

I think all banks are paranoid and even if you pass all the security checks they still don't trust you which is weird because in the age of technology it supposed to be easier to do things but it's not. For them I am just a number among millions of other numbers. Their default comprehension is that there could be anyone using my Internet banking and the mobile app.

The mobile banking apps which I don't like using seems like their last stronghold.
Otherwise I have to go to the branch to check my balance and make some payments directly from the machine.
I think the Internet banking is falling out of favour.
I think in the future the branches will get bigger and have coffee shops inside so for the customers the experience is not like they just waste time in the queues.

I think the regulations are in place but from bank to bank it's a different experience how the security team will approach you.
I hope these "3rd parties" they use to do the ID verification are not selling my data anywhere.