Monese shut my mother’s account... and kept £3,000

Ms V.A. writes: Card company Monese ruined our Christmas. On December 7, Monese emailed my mother to say it was closing her account and she should supply details of a bank account to receive her balance of £3,068. She immediately replied with those details, but despite calls and emails, Monese did not transfer the money. This was the only money she had available in the run-up to Christmas, but Monese said there was nothing it could do about that.

YOU have told me that not only was your Christmas ruined, but by January your mother owed payments for rent, council tax and utilities. Your mother never contested Monese’s right to decide which customers it wants and which it dumps, but either way, it had no right to hang on to thousands of pounds.

With your mother’s consent, I approached Monese, and a few days later it released all her money. But it explained: ‘Due to our regulatory obligations, we cannot comment further on, or disclose, the individual circumstances regarding the closure of accounts. In regards to this case, we have acted in line with our legal and regulatory obligations.’

Monese lists 13 reasons why it might close an account, such as a customer running up debts, or being violent towards staff. But the explanation it offered only applies to criminal offences such as money laundering. I suspect Monese believed your mother was a crook but later changed its mind, though it will never confirm this.