What to do if your bank tells you to f*ck off?

Jamie Dimon, the chap that runs JPMorgan, has just stirred up a big debate about debanking by accusing Trump Media, the folks that run Donald’s Truth Social platform, of 'making up things'.

What things are they making up?

That they’ve been debanked by JPMorgan for their political affiliation.

The thing is that Jamie then poked his finger into the whole hornet’s nest that buzzes around when your bank dumps you.

In an interview on Fox News, Mr Dimon said: “People have to grow up here, okay? And stop making up things, and stuff like that. I can’t talk about an individual account. We do not debank people’s religious or political affiliations. We debank people who are Democrats. We debank people who are Republicans. We’ve debanked different religious folks, never was for that reason.”

What kicked off this debate is that the guy who runs Trump Media, Devin Nunes, attacked JP Morgan for cooperating with federal prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

But Jamie went on to admit that the rules around debanking are wrong and said that he appreciates the Trump administration are “trying to say that debanking is bad and we should change the rules. I’ve been asking to change the rules now for 15 years ... That’s why a lot of stuff takes place and it’s really customer-unfriendly and we’re debanking people because of suspected things or negative media ... Let’s take a deep breath and fix the problem as opposed to blaming someone who is put in that position.”

It's an interesting debate as, last year, UK Government reported that – just in the UK alone – 140,000 businesses were debanked. In that number, 2.7% of accounts held by small businesses were closed by their banks in 2023.

So, why do banks debank customers? Mainly because they have suspicious transactions or appear to be linked with terrorist organisations or other criminal organisations or are using their bank account to commit fraud or money laundering … the list goes on.

It’s all about:

• Regulatory Pressure:stricter AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing) rules mean banks must monitor transactions closely, leading to closures for perceived risks, even if unintentional.
• Algorithmic Triggers:system flag suspicious patterns like large single transactions, spending on high-value goods (jewellery, electronics), or dealings with crypto/high-risk users, often lead to freezes or closures, sometimes semi-randomly.
• Information Gaps:failure to provide requested customer info (KYC) can trigger closure under Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs).

Interestingly, a lot of these debates arise because of being a politically exposed person, or PEP. A PEP is someone in a high-profile public role (like heads of state, ministers, MPs, senior military, or state-owned enterprise execs) or their close relatives/associates, who poses a higher risk for bribery or money laundering, requiring financial firms to apply stricter checks (Enhanced Due Diligence) to prevent financial crime, but not implying guilt. PEP status is a regulatory designation, focusing on roles with access to public funds or influence, not personal criminality, with rules varying slightly by jurisdiction.

If you are a PEP, the rules applying to your bank account are far more stringent and studied than the general masses. A good example is Nigel Farage who got debanked by Coutts.

Should a bank close a customer's account because they disagree with their views?

But it is not just high profile figures. It could be you.

The next question is: What do you do when your bank says they want to debank you, and how long should the bank give you to find another bank?

Well, UKGov says it should be 90 days. Under new rules introduced in April 2025, the direction is that banks must give customers 90 days’ notice before closing accounts and provide a clear explanation as to why they are closing their account.

Probably the most interesting thing here is that it’s not the big, high profile political figures like Nigel Farage and Trump Media that suffer from debanking. It’s the masses too.

I’ve blogged several times about the Facebook groups who whine about Monzo and NatWest closing their accounts without explanation, and the real issue is if funds are frozen. In these cases, it’s not being a PEP but more to do with suspicious transactions. Too many cryptocurrency movements from Binance and Kraken; too many large cash payments; too many monetary movements from blocklisted countries; and so on.

And so what to do if you are debanked?

Well, it’s easy really. Don’t depend on one bank for your financial needs.