Sky: Banks ‘may be wrongly closing accounts or silently marking them for fraud’, consumer group warns

Banks may be wrongly closing customers’ accounts or silently marking them for fraud concerns, a consumer group has warned.

Data, obtained by Which?, shows the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received more than 1,380 complaints about current account closures in the year 2022-23.

A quarter of the complaints were upheld, according to the data.

Which? says the figures show banks are not always taking sufficient care to avoid closing down the accounts of innocent customers.

The consumer group also warns that banks may be silently applying markers against customers’ names on the Cifas national fraud database if they suspect fraudulent activity.

This could leave customers unable to open new accounts or access other financial products, without them knowing the reason, Which? warns.