Prove it: Bank blocking some customers from making large withdrawals

[Will]

Do you want to withdraw a lot of your own money?  Prove why you need it (and maybe still won't get it):

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/prove-it--bank-blocking-customers-from-making-large-withdrawals-without--evidence--of-spending-need-222425920.html

[olivia]

WOW that would fill me with rage.

[Richard3]

As much as I enjoy bank bashing, this is probably more about compliance with stupid anti-money-laundering policies than anything else.

[ch12]

Cotton says the bank wouldn’t even tell him how much he was allowed to withdraw under the new policy, which was not announced to customers when taking affect last November.

I get that we should protect against money laundering, but I also think that it's legitimate to require banks to disclose what level it's at to consumers. The anecdote from the guy says that it was still there when he asked to withdraw 4k pounds, while earlier in the article it says that it kicks in at 5k pounds. That's strange.

I'm just glad that I primarily bank with Simple.

[pdxcyn]

I've experienced difficulty withdrawing large sums of cash here in the US too. Not for security reasons, but because bank branches apparently don't keep as much actual cash on hand as you'd think. Several years ago I bought a very nice used car for $10Kin a private sale, and the owner had to pay off his loan on the car in order to sell it to me, so I had to meet him at his bank with cash to get the bank to sign off on the title. I had to go to 2 or 3 different branches to get the money. (The bank was Washington Mutual, now Chase). There was not a limit per se, it was just up to the discretion of the bank manager based on how much cash they had on hand.

[burly]

The comments are that article or even MORE antimustachian...

I actually do not like HSBC. I bought a suzuki gsxr600 a fews back and I had automatic payments come out of my chase account. They charged me 3 times and overdrew my account every month for 4 months straight. That's a 200 dollar payment turned into 600. They refused to fix it, so I just paid it off. Then it was a nightmare to get the title. Nope, I do not like that bank at all.

Banks cannot be trusted because they deduct funds from one's account on the day and the amount of what was agreed upon...

/end rant

[beltim]

The comments are that article or even MORE antimustachian...

I actually do not like HSBC. I bought a suzuki gsxr600 a fews back and I had automatic payments come out of my chase account. They charged me 3 times and overdrew my account every month for 4 months straight. That's a 200 dollar payment turned into 600. They refused to fix it, so I just paid it off. Then it was a nightmare to get the title. Nope, I do not like that bank at all.

Banks cannot be trusted because they deduct funds from one's account on the day and the amount of what was agreed upon...

/end rant

You're misreadig that comment.  That should read: "Banks can't be trusted because they deduct THREE TIMES AS MUCH MONEY EVERY MONTH AS IT SAYS IT THE CONTRACT, and won't fix it.

[jnik]

Wasn't HSBC just raked over the coals for money laundering? Like, known drug dealers coming in with boxes that *exactly* fit the teller windows, stuffed with bills? (Ah, yes, one article.) Sounds like they're reacting (and potentially overreacting, and potentially coming up with anything they can justify that they might want otherwise....)

[burly]

The comments are that article or even MORE antimustachian...

I actually do not like HSBC. I bought a suzuki gsxr600 a fews back and I had automatic payments come out of my chase account. They charged me 3 times and overdrew my account every month for 4 months straight. That's a 200 dollar payment turned into 600. They refused to fix it, so I just paid it off. Then it was a nightmare to get the title. Nope, I do not like that bank at all.

Banks cannot be trusted because they deduct funds from one's account on the day and the amount of what was agreed upon...

/end rant

You're misreadig that comment.  That should read: "Banks can't be trusted because they deduct THREE TIMES AS MUCH MONEY EVERY MONTH AS IT SAYS IT THE CONTRACT, and won't fix it.

That makes more sense! I figured she was adding in OD fees to make that $600 payment. Thanks for the correction!

[Jack]

If a bank ever asks me to "justify" a large withdrawal, my answer will be the following: "It was none of your goddamn business, but now it's to move my account to your competitor!"

[SwordGuy]

Back when I was a kid I worked for McDonald's.  The account my paycheck was drawn on was from the bank next door.

I went by there after work to cash my paycheck.

I waited, as the first one in line, for over 5 minutes before one of the 4 tellers deigned to serve me.  By now there was a long line behind me.

I went to the teller and said I wanted to cash the check.

She asked if I had an account with the bank.  I said no.  She told me they couldn't cash the check if I didn't have an account there.

That pissed me off.

So I politely made one statement and asked one question.  I did it in a stage voice so, although I wasn't yelling, I could be plainly heard by everyone in the store.

Statement: "But this check is drawn on this bank."

Question: "Do you mean to tell me the bank doesn't have enough money to cash my check?"

Now I'm standing there in my Gawd-awful lime green McDonald's uniform so I sure as heck don't look like a millionaire.

Then I repeated myself several more times.

By this point, all the people in line are REALLY PAYING ATTENTION because IF THE BANK DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to cash my piddly check it's time to PANIC!!!!

A manager rushed over and made sure to cash my check very quickly.

It's simply amazing how helpful a company can get if you just ask the right question...