What is debanking?

Debanking describes the loss of banking facilities, usually resulting from a review of risk profile by the financial institution.

Traditionally debanking was seen as a result of a credit risk, for example if a customer persistently breached their overdraft. In recent decades as banks have suffered ever more severe regulatory penalties after allowing their accounts to be misused, banks have applied “reputation risk” profiling to get rid of customers they are worried would invite adverse publicity or regulatory intervention. More recently this process has seen suggestions that customers have been removed because their beliefs and values do not align with those the bank wishes to associate itself with.