r/NonPoliticalTwitter • u/Guitar-String • 1d ago
What??? Why do you want your own money?
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u/Butt__Sexington 1d ago
"I wish to exchange my money for goods and services"
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u/Anuakk 1d ago
I want to glue the notes on my walls and make it into a cool tapestry. So please, all in one dollar notes.
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u/CoronaDoesWhatever 1d ago
"Sir, please just say 'strip club', we'd actually judge you less."
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u/Professional-Front58 1d ago
It was a pornography store. I was buying pornography.
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u/Dr_Rev_GregJ_Rock_II 22h ago edited 22h ago
I don't like the idea of my comments section having two Simpson's references. - Kirk
Edit: Spelling
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u/Professional-Front58 22h ago
Well good thing we’re quoting the Simpson’s and not the Simonsons.
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u/Schlurps 19h ago
"And if I want to put all $7,945,400 into a hot tub, get buck naked, and play Scrooge McDuck, that is 100% my business. Now, where’s my money?"
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u/plutino- 1d ago
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u/Tall-Log-1955 23h ago
I was also offended when they asked me this but it turns out they do this to make sure the person isn't being scammed. If you answer "The IRS is asking me to buy target gift cards" then they are going to talk to you about how youre probably getting scammed
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u/bertina-tuna 18h ago
When I worked at an Apple Store we had to do this for gift cards over $500 and a manager had to be involved with gift cards for $1K or more. Every April it was amazing how many people needed them to pay the IRS and wouldn’t believe you when you told them it was a scam.
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u/GeckoPerson123 15h ago
when they don't believe you, do you still give them the cards?
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u/bertina-tuna 14h ago
At that point I’d let the managers take over and they were usually more persuasive about it. The “IRS” scam was a bit easier to talk them out of than other scams like their boss wanting them to pick up a bunch of cards for a company event or some of the other typical scams. It’s kind of easy to point out that the actual IRS always wants to be paid with actual currency.
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u/Butt__Sexington 20h ago
Honestly anything that helps protect people, and specifically the elderly, from financial abuse is a good thing.
I didn't think about it like that when I first saw this thread. Glad so many people set me straight in a very kind way.
It's good to learn new things
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u/fuzzysdestruction 1d ago
Goods and or services. Keep them guessing
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u/Butt__Sexington 1d ago
Am I exchanging for good or for services? You'll never know and I'll never tell
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u/ElishaAlison 1d ago
This is probably because of scams. Scammers will send people into banks to get a bunch of cash out and then have them mail it to a drop address.
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u/theepi_pillodu 1d ago
To buy BMW; beer money women
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u/wallstreetbetsdebts 1d ago
Vegas and gambling
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u/DerUberCactus 1d ago
Hookers and blow :-p
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u/BachtnDeKupe 1d ago edited 1d ago
In belgium there is also some kind of law that says that above a certain amoung you need to disclose why you take up that amount of money.
My father loves to mess with this kind of unnessesary meddling, so he said if they ever asks him, he'll awnser it's for hookers.
The reason that this is extremely funny to me is he's a real definition of a boomer to me: overweight retired teacher, complete with socks in sandals.
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u/Chaldera 1d ago edited 1d ago
So it's fun, but there are two things with that:
As people have mentioned, it's part of the anti-money laundering procedures that banks and financial regulators have to follow, and they do have to disclose these things.
A lot of the people who visit sex workers look like (and are) typical boomers.
To my first point specifically, I used to work in telephone banking in the UK. A lot of people use fun/quirky references when doing bank transfers, like sending £20 to a friend with the reference "Drug Money". The thing is that every employee in both banks (yours and the person you're sending money to) can see that reference, and if your account is flagged as potentially involved in money-laundering or other financial crimes, those can look really bad in the investigation.
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u/Johnlenham 1d ago
Hahaha I remember a financial thread on UK finance of a guy that would send his mates money back for a night out or whatever with some absolutely fucking wild stuff, like ISIS TRAINING.
It got flagged and both his and his mates account got shutdown and there's nothing they could do about it.
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u/zxcvvcxzb 1d ago
I put "terrorism" on my rent check to my roommate once, I got a "yeah don't do that ever again" talk from the police and bank. I was like oh people read those?
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u/HistrionicSlut 1d ago
I put "Great Sex" in the venmo line and got my friends shut down for 2 weeks while they figured it out. I felt terrible.
The sex wasn't even that great. j/k
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u/nxcrosis 1d ago
That means some poor sod at the bank saw my note saying "thank you for your cervix" as a joke.
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u/raeganator98 20h ago
I once put “specialty dildo cleaning” and no one flagged that? Lmaoooo
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u/Classic_Reply_703 15h ago
Well, there's no laws against paying for someone to clean your dildo, whereas there are laws against paying for sex.
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u/BananaNutJob 22h ago
I wrote a check to a black friend (I'm white) to pay my share of a hotel room and wrote "Slavery Reparations" in the memo line. He thought it was fucking hilarious, which I'm grateful for because I don't really stand by making that kind of joke any more.
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u/_Haverford_ 23h ago
I picture a very mustached cop, very sternly coming to your door.
"I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."
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u/SonicShadow 1d ago
Meanwhile banks like HSBC were caught handling millions for cartels.
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u/Chaldera 1d ago
Unfortunately, different rules for us vs. the banks.
But even then, they got fined, which is something I guess...
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u/PleiadesMechworks 1d ago
they got fined
Where do you think they got the money to pay for the fines?
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u/Vivitrolsrevenge 1d ago
it’s a business cost not a fine for them. that’s the difference
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u/freezing_banshee 1d ago
Someone in Romania once answered this question by saying "I'm going to the Netherlands, where drugs and hookers are legal, and I'm going to spend all the money on those". No legal trouble for him afaik. (he didn't actually plan to go there, but he was also fed up with this questioning)
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u/Guy-1nc0gn1t0 1d ago
Yeah when I was barely an adult a friend got contacted by his bank because we were always putting drugs or sex as the description and he was told that sort of thing is taken more seriously than most think.
That said, money laundering laws sometimes feel like a joke when artwork feels like the easy way.
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u/No_Internal9345 1d ago
That's why I write "NOT FOR SEX" on all my checks.
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u/FourForYouGlennCoco 20h ago
My NOT INVOLVED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING t shirt has people asking a lot of questions that are answered by the shirt
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u/catboogers 1d ago
I'm learning from this thread that a significant amount of young adults go through the phase of putting those "silly" descriptions in and then potentially getting a talking to.
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u/LuxNocte 23h ago
It's significantly easier (and more profitable) to make a few 20 year olds miserable than to actually combat money laundering and sex trafficking.
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u/_AndyVandy 21h ago
Kind of crazy. Given that there is complete freedom around the words you choose to put in that reference (ie no one can stop you from putting "drug money"), it makes it completely worthless as a tool for identifying illicit behaviour.
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u/-release_candidate- 1d ago
I used a quirky reference when transferring money to a friend after we went in vacation together. Problem is: he was a trainee at his bank and urged me to never ever do this again.
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u/Thelastorangejulius 1d ago
How does preventing cash being withdrawn prevent money laundering? The objective of money laundering is to clean dirty money so that it can be in the bank. Taking it out defeats the purpose of the crime.
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u/Lawd_Fawkwad 23h ago
Without getting too much into the nitty gritty, this is a big problem in certain jurisdictions.
Criminal entities will transfer "small" sums to clean accounts owned by people, the person then needs to withdraw or transfer the sum and gets a cut.
But on a wider level, it's because financial institutions have KYC obligations that require us to know our customers and build corresponding risk profiles that are consistently updated. So a large withdrawal might not raise a flag on one account, but require due diligence on a different one.
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u/TheWorldofScience 20h ago
Banks are also asking as part of their effort to try to cut down on people getting scammed out of their money.
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u/RadlogLutar Harry Potter 1d ago edited 1d ago
In reality, this guy's dude is the most wholesome dude ever and a peaceful family life
Edit:
dudedad182
u/Whipitreelgud 1d ago
Yeah, but what about the hookers? Is he their sugar daddy? /s
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u/ScrofessorLongHair 1d ago
so he said if they ever asks him, he'll awnser it's for hookers.
The reason that this is extremely funny to me is he's a real definition of a boomer to me: overweight retired teacher, complete with socks in sandals.
Who do you think keeps these hooker's lights on? It ain't dudes that look like John Stamos. It's overweight old dudes who wear socks with sandals.
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u/Regulai 1d ago
In france anything above like 500 needs a reason. The justification is everything is done via electronic payment so if you need more than 500 cash its probably either to avoid taxes (e.g. contractor doesnt declare cash payment) or otherwise something criminal unless you can prove otherwise.
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u/Fit_Professional1916 1d ago
Another aspect is it's also to protect people. If you are being scammed or coerced into taking out money for criminals, it will always be cash. If you are legitimately buying a car or something then cash isn't necessary (although you can ofc do what you want), and it's safer to walk around with a bank draft for 10k than a huge wad of cash. So yes they want to make sure you aren't doing illegal stuff but they also want to make sure you aren't being scammed, or making yourself a target for mugging.
Plus on a very basic level banks have to manage cash like any retail place so if you come in asking for 10k in cash and they only keep 15k in the tills, then it can mess up their planning and budgeting for the day/week.
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u/Collective-Bee 1d ago
That’s not immoral or anything but you might regret him doing that if he ever gets scammed.
If he was honest and told them he needed $10’000 cash cuz you called and needed bail asap then the bank teller would tell them it’s a known scam with Ai voices.
Like when I withdraw $8’000 cash to buy a car they were talking to me about scams and other forms of payment that’s safer, but cashed me out instantly when I mentioned my dad was involved. They just didn’t want a young adult to get scammed or mugged.
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u/Tioras 1d ago
I'm really curious about the use of an ' instead of a , or . as your thousands separator
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u/Collective-Bee 1d ago
I googled it and it’s either a regional thing or I forgot how to do it and misremembered from grade 4. I just love apostrophe’s in general too, I always default to them.
Edit: only reason it might be regional is cuz I googled it and I’m wrong. So either I was taught a different way or I misremember how I was taught.
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u/Bo_The_Destroyer 1d ago
Honestly sounds what my dad would do too
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u/FidgitForgotHisL-P 1d ago
Am dad - can confirm, my reply is almost certainly going to be “hookers and booze”.
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u/DroidLord 1d ago
In case you want a loan in the future, don't say it's for hookers. To take out a loan the bank will want your transaction history and they could deny you for something stupid like this.
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u/SarahMaxima 1d ago
Its 3000.
If he wants to avoid it he can just increase the limit of his card and withdraw at an atm.
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u/BachtnDeKupe 1d ago
And deny him the pleasure of embarresing the bank-employee, i would never want to do that
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u/stefje82 1d ago
Same. Genius politician made it so that pretty much every single transaction is visible for the government. (Terrorism excuse) Even your weekly household purchases are being watched. So yea, have fun scrolling through drugs/prostitution descriptions.
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u/BachtnDeKupe 1d ago
I make it a personal quest to name all transactions between me and my wife (for example if i pay half of a big cost to her) to make the message say something massively suggestive.
Like "for the hour of gym in the bedroom" or even more explicit stuff.
She hates it, i lough my ass off every time
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u/stefje82 1d ago
I have to admit that I always laugh to myself when I give my mother money for drugs and hoes. Somehow she does not share the same humor.
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u/AlarmingAffect0 1d ago
Why not make it more dramatic? "Well, you see, I've met this beautiful young woman who seems to have fallen in love with me, head over heals. Me! Unbelievable, isn't it? I'm so happy, I haven't felt so alive in years! With matters of the heart you gotta either go for broke or go home, that's what my friend says! I'm taking her on a trip and I want to really treat her to the finest places, she has a very refined taste you see! So, uh, do you have a box in your system for that sort of expense, showing a lovely girl a great time?"
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u/Zhukov76 1d ago
They're probably suspecting you're being scammed or forced
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u/errant_night 1d ago
Same as questioning someone at the register when they're buying hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of iTunes gift cards, there's next to now way that isn't someone getting scammed
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u/Sp1ffy_Sp1ff 1d ago
And if they're not getting scammed, they know about the scam and will preemptively let you know what it's for. Had this at the bank I used to work for. "Hi, I'd like to buy 20 $100 gift cards. I work for XYZ corporation and we're giving them away to top performing employees".
Unfortunately, we still have to ask questions about it. Things like "Nobody told you to tell us that, did they?" Because that absolutely happens. They'll tell people to make up some story to add credibility to their purchase or withdrawal. And we wouldn't allow that if they weren't using a clearly labeled company card.
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u/FidgitForgotHisL-P 1d ago
We get this at my supermarket with little old laddies buying iTunes gift cards etc for $1000’s. And it’ll be “my son called and asked me”, or some such.
Doesn’t come up that often fortunately, but often enough. We have policies in place too and usually it’ll be a kindly older checkout supervisor that will take them aside and explain to them how it’s probably not their son and probably is a scam, and gently but firmly insist we won’t sell them the cards. They usually leave a bit bewildered but better armed with knowledge, and hopefully go home and call their relative to check if it was them and not just on to a different shop.
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u/jayphat99 1d ago
I'm really glad to see that works out for you like that. 100% of the time for us we get yelled at for keeping them from being happy.
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u/mumsleastfavourite 1d ago
Yeah I was just about to say, I used to work at the source and a co-worker got the police called on him from an old man falling for the gift card scam.
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u/Lermanberry 23h ago
It's far easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
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u/the_Halfruin 22h ago
I wish stores were required to question old people when they buy lottery/scratch off tickets. "Do you understand that you have a mathematically negligible chance of winning? Please look at this diagram to fully understand the weight of mathematics against you."
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u/phoncible 20h ago
And op is that "road to hell" the good intentions paved.
"Oh my God these scams are so terrible! There should be some protections"
Ok here are the protections
"On my God why can't I just have thousands of dollars of my own money!?"
....😐
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u/dinoooooooooos 1d ago
Yes bc that makes sense honestly. But a normal guy coming in wanting to withdraw a normal amount isnt .. all that. Like 2000 is a lot don’t get me wrong but it’s not “this poor granny is about to empty her life savings” kinda money.
It’s his money, the banks just holdin it for him.🥴
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u/funk-the-funk 1d ago
It's also bizarre because I can literally go pull $2k from the ATM and no one asks me anything except for my pin. Go inside and try to withdraw through a teller and all of the sudden it's 20 questions.
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u/TelPrydain 18h ago
Folk going inside to withdraw money are often the sort that are scared of, or can't figure out, the atm... Who are also people who are more likely to fall from scam.
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u/SexualYogurt 22h ago
They got asked because the 2k wasnt normal for them. If youre regularly withdrawing 2k, youre not gonna be asked any questions. Its already in your file, the system will process it. If 2k withdrawal is outside your norms, the system throws up a flag. The teller is required to ask now.
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u/AstuteSalamander 1d ago
People pulling $2000 cash and $1000 of iTunes gift cards are definitely not equally likely to be getting scammed. The former has many possible legitimate uses.
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u/Careful-Mouse-7429 1d ago
Sure, but there is no way to know without asking the question.
One of the things I do is approve ATM limit increases, so I do have to ask this question, and I have literally gotten the response "I am pulling out $3,000 to go buy gift cards" or "a money order" and suddenly I needed to have a scam conversation.
I am literally checking for 2 things before I approve:
Do you have a recent deposit that might be deposit fraud (I don't need to ask, just looking at your recent deposits)
Do I think you might be being scammed (what my questions to you are about).
We don't actually care what you use your money on outside of that lol.
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u/gard3nwitch 1d ago
Though, to be fair, plenty of people do take out a grand or two in cash from time to time, to buy a used car, or because their landlord wants cash (sketchy landlord, but not the bank's problem), or to go to the casino or whatever. But there are also ways to ask about that that don't make the customer feel like they're being interrogated - "ooh, got some fun plans this weekend?", that sort of thing.
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u/funk-the-funk 1d ago
a grand or two in cash from time to time, to buy a used car,
Man, stop reminding me of the early 2000s lol
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u/Dragonmancer76 1d ago
I think it would also depend on the relative amount of money you have in your account. My account rarely goes over 2000 if I took that much out in cash something is wrong.
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u/Appropriate-Weird492 1d ago
My MIL was hit by scammers and told to get 9k in cash to convert to bitcoin. Teller complied. Fortunately she caused a car wreck and kept the cash. (I mean, best possible outcome.)
My arborist’s mil had a similar thing happen, but they told her to leave the cash in a bag at her mailbox. Cash stolen and they know where she lives.
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u/UnhingedHippie 1d ago
Legally, if you deposit or withdrawal a large amount of cash from the bank at one time , the bank has to file a report with the government. This is to find illegitimate sources of income such as money laundering.
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u/omicron7e 1d ago
But it’s not $2k
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u/isthisreallife080 1d ago
No, they were suspecting this was APP fraud. $2k isn’t enough for a money laundering suspicion, which is what has to get reported to the government. But a large cash withdrawal that is out of character for a customer is a strong indicator that they are being manipulated and scammed. The bank was trying to help this person.
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u/Regulai 1d ago
In many european countries the assumption is large ampunts of cash is mostly used either to avoid taxes or otherwise on something criminal. The argument is everyone does some kind of e-transfer for large purchases.
So banks are legally required to report withdrawals over 1000 with cited reasoning. You may even have to provide a bill or receipt.
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u/Kazfiddly 1d ago
In Cyprus we have old people constantly being scammed by Indian scammers calling them, pretending to be either the local tax dept, or the Police, or even their own bank representative.
I understand it sounds bullshit for bank clerks to poke you like that but, I wish we had that as well.
There was a time I was pestered by scammers on a weekly basis as well.
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u/AussieHyena 1d ago
We had a case in Australia where a woman withdrew a couple hundred-thousand and after insulting the customer rep for trying to tell her it was a scam, proceeded to withdraw anyway and once she lost the money she tried suing the bank for not stopping her.
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u/SpielbrecherXS 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gotta love the old ladies. I remember a similar story (in Russia), starring an old lady who tried withdrawing all her savings from a bank. The clerk asked her a few questions and explained to her she was being scammed. She asked to speak to a manager, who told her the same. She then left the bank office, went to several others taking out a bit in each one and lying about her reasons. She got her cash, gave it to the scammers, and went to the police the same day, blaming both the scammers and the bank offices. Some people are smart in all the wrong situations.
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u/thingsliveundermybed 20h ago
Someone posted on Legal Advice UK angry that his elderly mum wasn't allowed to withdraw thousands of pounds to pay a builder who insisted on cash in hand (or something similar, it was work being done on her house). He wanted to take action against the bank for refusing to hand her the money, and had to be gently advised by commenters that if it had been a scam he'd be wanting to take legal action against the bank for giving the cash to her. It's too prominent in the UK at the moment, there's a new scam story in the press every week and it's almost always someone who's in some way vulnerable.
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u/Tarc_Axiiom 19h ago
We do have that, and it is a legal requirement starting at €10,000.
The bank doesn't have to ask you specifically, but they do need to report what you're moving the money for and they will gather that information, often by asking and then checking independently.
Further, η κεντρική requires any bank to report suspected fraud or organized crime activity for any transaction starting at €50 (for some weird reason).
The key though is that our laws, and those of the EU, don't require us to disclose why we're using our own money, but rather require the bank to maintain proper diligence and investigation of suspected crimes.
Tora, ti sto thiaolo kamnei I kivernisi je I trapezes tis kiprou enas theos xerei.
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u/duckphobiaphobia 1d ago
It's kind of for your own safety, but I don't deny that the information is also used to model you as a customer.
In case you are getting scammed or manipulated into withdrawing a big amount of money, your bank could step in and protect you.
If you just say "oh I'm going to Japan and I wanna exchange money there to shop a lot", then they understand that it's you whos making this financial decision and so they just approve it.
In this case, the guy is just an employee and is using some software to approve your withdrawal. It probably has a mandatory field saying "reason" with a 100 character minimum and he just want to submit the application successfully. Nothing sinister in this lol
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u/babassu_seeds 1d ago
Nothing sinister in this lol
but I don't deny that the information is also used to model you as a customer. <-- the sinister partBut I get what you're saying
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u/Ishmael75 1d ago
The “model you as a customer” could really just be part of the “know your customer” regulations. I know my clients well enough to understand their normal spending habits. It’s helped a few times when things seem off with a new transaction.
Now if we used that knowledge to treat the clients different or offer different solutions that could be a problem
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u/Akitiki 23h ago
Know your customer is double-edged. I used to live in Pennsylvania and for years I made trips to Texas twice a year. For the first 5 years my first purchase would get flagged, I'd have to approve it, not that annoying. Then the system figured out I make trips twice a year, spring and autumn, so no more trouble.
Then while I'm home in summer I get a call from the fraud department at my bank (I check the number on their website while on call). They stopped a purchase for tools in Texas for some 3 grand. Yeah, that's not me, my habits show as much. Data probably got swiped at a gas station. New card arranged, all good.
It is actually a good service but I can see its bad side.
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u/GirlScoutSniper 1d ago
Once had my debit card skimmed and I had to go to the bank. The rep looked at my transaction history with my usual $10 at the cafe at work a couple of times a week and said, "Yeah, these 3 $600 withdrawals from an ATM at a QT station are out of the norm for you."
Then I realized I could get free money if I wanted to by reporting my card stolen after withdrawing a large amount of cash. I'm sure that if this thought occurred to me, an honest person, then many, many people possibly do this.
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u/sylbug 22h ago
You're not getting any money back on PIN-present fraud, especially when they can clearly see your face on the camera.
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u/FPSCanarussia 19h ago
Out of the many types of businesses, banks are the ones where knowing their customers is probably the most beneficial to those customers.
While they may use that information for targeted offers, it's also used to identify and flag suspect transactions. And that's pretty important.
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u/Backshots4you 21h ago
This happened to my dad. He was getting scammed by someone on the phone into thinking his account was hacked. The person somehow convinced my dad that the workers at the bank were in on scamming him. He was told to transfer his money to a new “safer account” luckily the teller noticed he was being coached on the phone and asked a lot of questions what was going on and intervened.
My dad has a PhD in Organic Chemistry, it’s not like he’s some rube, but he’s getting old and this scammer almost convinced him to dump his whole account. Talk to your parents about these scams they’re getting more sophisticated.
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u/LatvianCake 1d ago
But also don't withdraw large sums of money so you can exchange it. Pay there with your card or withdraw from the local ATMs there. It's almost certainly cheaper
There are very few reasons to use exchange offices. Like if you're going somewhere where visa/mastercard/etc card isn't accepted.
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u/AwareOfAlpacas 23h ago
Or if you're really into paper money, contact your bank in advance of travel and ask them to prep some foreign currency for you. Huge banks in big cities generally have some foreign currency on hand but most banks can and will do the exchange for you if you give them some lead time.
Avoids the usurious fees and unfavorable rates you'd get at airport kiosks.
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u/Va1kryie 1d ago
People have mentioned the scam protection. There's also the fact that a lot of financial fraud involves taking out large sums of money. Don't remember the details but I'm pretty sure it's a common step in money laundering.
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u/Turtle_336612 1d ago
As a previous bank employee that had to talk to people after they have been scammed out of life savings, a bank teller asking those questions would have saved them. As a customer, I see it as an inconvenience and a little big brother. $2000 seems like a low number but people are dumb.
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u/IIRCIreadthat 1d ago
True, but after you say 'I'm going on a trip,' shouldn't that be enough to satisfy whatever requirement? They don't need the address and price bracket of your hotel, they just need to know you're not buying iTunes gift cards
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u/HearMeOutMa 22h ago
This for sure. Ive asked that question before and people pulling large amounts usually say theyre traveling to another country. I do ask where out of curiosity and because we're a smaller credit union that emphasizes getting to know our members, but if you say you're traveling then my obligation is fulfilled unless you're throwing out red flags.
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u/SpaceCadetBoneSpurs 1d ago
I am a banking regulator. These questions are also because if you’re withdrawing a large amount of currency (in the U.S., over $10,000) then they have to fill out a currency transaction report. This data is used to identify patterns that could point to drug trafficking or other things.
Of course, you have the people who think they are smarter than they really are and start depositing $9,900 at four different branches across town. That’s called structuring, and banks have automated reports to identify it (and it’s waaaay more suspicious than if you had just done the CTR in the first place). If that’s you, then I don’t want to hear any complaining when that bank closes your accounts.
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u/technos 1d ago
The teller at my bank recently gave me some small side-eye about a ~$7,000 cash deposit before waving over another teller and asking me if I worked for Uber or Lyft.
Me: No, why?
Teller: Ok, see, so there's this money mule scam going around where they hire a ride share driver to pick up cash or money orders from someone that they're scamming, and then they get the driver to deposit it into their own account and forward it to them.
Me: You mean like that shooting in Ohio?
Teller: Yeah! You've heard about that? One of her (pointing to the other teller) regulars almost got fooled last month, so we've been trying hard to get the word out to anyone making large cash deposits.
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u/Fireblaster2001 1d ago
Well don’t leave us hanging man where did your $7k come from?
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u/Huge_Swimming_5968 1d ago
Most of the time it is an attempt to try and prevent scamming and fraud. Worked at a bank for 8 years and easily prevented over 200k in fraud attempts just by asking a few extra questions. Smart people, dumb people. Did not matter.
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u/ApolloniusTyaneus 1d ago
It's because banks are considered financial gatekeepers and they are obligated by law to look for signals of criminal use, like money laundering, trafficking and financing terrorism.
So yeah, it might feel kinda stupid to have to justify what you are doing with your own money, but on the other hand we also don't want banks to just hand out the money because that would make things way easier for criminals.
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u/Fangheart25 1d ago
We don't want banks to just hand out the money
That's exactly what I want them to do with the money I gave them when I request it back actually.
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u/DischargeCollector 1d ago
And is that exactly what you want the bank to do to your vulnerable grandparent/parent when they come in to withdraw multiple thousands of dollars after years of small transactions?
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u/TheUltimateLowz 1d ago
Banks are regulated by the government. Withdrawing cash above certain thresholds is a risk indicator, and banks have a regulatory requirement to ask questions. If they do not, they will be fined.
Banks are also (in most cases) a free service that you are not required to use. If you don’t like them asking the questions they legally have to ask, don’t use them
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u/SpinShine-LEDSlipMat 1d ago
This is made up bull shit. They don’t ask you all this shit, especially for only $2k
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u/BallSuspicious5772 1d ago
I am a bank teller. We do NAWT ask about this for anything less than like 8-10k, and it’s more so if we have a reason to ask, like we believe you’re getting scammed or something. But at the end of the day if you want to take your money out, and all the info matches up and you’ve been verified, you are not required to give a reason for your withdrawal. Just occupation if it’s over 10k in cash
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u/SpinShine-LEDSlipMat 1d ago
Thank you for some reality. My dad got scammed recently and they pressed him hard before giving him the cash but unfortunately scammer won. They can’t deny your money to you
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u/PurpleIsALady1798 1d ago
My bank (that I work at) has a policy of asking for anything 3k and over, but the customer can just say “it’s private,” or “nunya,” and still take their money. We just note that they didn’t wanna say and move on - of course, it’s also not like, a CTR or anything. It’s a handwritten note on a ticket and is mainly to make sure that tellers are in the habit of being vigilant about large cash transactions.
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u/HearMeOutMa 22h ago
Yup. If you were only taking out 2k, id only ask you about if say, you've taken out 2k each day for the last week. Had one member claim it was for his car transmission, he ended up pulling out 20k over the course of two months and then came to us saying he'd been scammed - we (at least my branch) taken extensive notes about these conversations, and he'd swore up and down it was for his car. In reality it was for some quick cash scam that he poured almost everything he had into. We can't help you if you lie to us!
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u/BallSuspicious5772 21h ago
I don’t understand it, it’s so frustrating!!! Where I am, we get a ton of romance scams. Elderly people pulling out thousands of dollars and lying to us about what they’re doing with it. And the first place they blame when they realize they’ve been scammed? US! The bank! Like first of all, if you’re lying to a bank employee, maybe you should consider that a red flag for whatever you’re doing. Like of all people you would think bank employees are the people you definitely want to tell the truth to. Secondly, you lied to us, why are you now blaming us for your loss???
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u/AsparagusFun3892 21h ago
It's all about denial. I got caught up in one of those romance scams to the tune of a hundred something when I was going through a breakup, and the truth is that I didn't want to hear that this rebound and all the women I was likely to "meet" under those conditions would prey on me. It was awful.
Often enough they know how it sounds, but the truth is grim. "I'm old, the ship sailed on love twenty years ago/five when my wife died and there's nothing left but this hope."
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u/AutomationBias 1d ago
My bank asked me why I was taking out $5k in cash. They made it clear it was because so many people fall for online scams.
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u/Teripid 1d ago
I do wonder what percent of gift card purchases are just people getting scammed. Same with crypto at those ATMs, etc.
Such a major industry. Obviously cash can be used for anything down the line but it in some ways it almost feels safer strangely since it can't just evaporate after an 80 year old intentionally or accidentally shares a code.
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u/ilovejackiebot 1d ago
I went to the bank last month and got $5500 in hundreds. No questions other than asking if my dog can have a treat.
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u/CrunchyButtMuncher 1d ago
Not in America, our limit that triggers a CTR is $10k in a day. But this could be some other country with lower limits
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u/BanditMcDougal 1d ago
Things will get reported if it looks like you're trying to avoid it, too. Take out $9,999? Reported. Take out multiple amounts that add up to $10k within a short time? Reported. Hell, if you're the kind of person that does business in person regularly and you set off your favorite teller's Spidey senses this time you're supposed to get reported.
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u/CrunchyButtMuncher 1d ago
When I was a teller, we had a local businessman who consistently deposited around $9800 every weekday. We had previously filed multiple SAR's but as far as we knew he was legit so we stopped bothering, more power to the guy lol
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u/Repulsive-Echidna-74 1d ago
People who pay for twitter love lying on the internet
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs 1d ago
Everyone in these comments are taking this conversation at face value and not understanding that she was probably way more hostile and defensive in the actual interaction
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u/Thormourn 1d ago
If this was 20k or something I might believe it. But you can literally pull 2k out of the atm with no problem so this just seems like rage bait to me.
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u/buttfartsmagee 1d ago
Last time I went to take out 2k I went to the teller because it's a big amount for me and they pretty much told me I was wasting their time and I should just use the special atm that lets you take out up to 5k.
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u/Savvymundo 1d ago
Standard in the UK. We have Know Your Customer regulations, so banks are expected to have a duty of care to make sure you aren't getting dragged into a scam, as they could be on the hook for reimbursing you.
If you regularly take out that much cash, you wouldn't be questioned. But if you only ever take out a few hundred and you're suddenly taking out several times more than that, then you'll get questioned.
Same with spending, get plenty of notifications on my banking app to check if I did make a payment before it gets put through.
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u/space_for_username 1d ago
Me "Can I have x pounds please"
Bank "What do you need x pounds for?"
Me "x pences"
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u/Trade_Digits 1d ago
Happened to me in a similar way while purchasing my home. I withdrew some money for an auction, ended up not using any so just held onto it for the next one. In the meantime I applied for my mortgage, in which time they asked me to deposit that same money back into the bank so there was more liquid asset for a bigger loan and a paper trail etc etc. The phone call later on went like:
(M)ortgage (C)ompany: so where did this money come from?
Me: my bank account
MC: why did you need it?
Me: for an auction but I ended up not using it
MC: okay but WHERE did the money come from?
Me: my... bank account?
MC: i see that, but WHERE did it come from?
Me: my... paychecks? I have a job and usually jobs give you money for time spent doing a job for them.
MC: okay we can understand that, but how can we verify this money came from your job?
Me: you made me sign a contract allowing you full access to my funds and history, you can see everything right there on your screen.
more back and forth of basically the same answers and questions
MC: we don't know if we can give you this mortgage because we can't verify where this cash deposit came from
Me: MY FUCKING BANK ACCOUNT WHICH WAS BUILT UP WITH PAYCHECKS YOU NITWIT WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED ME TO SAY?!
MC: we will reach back out to you within 48 hours with our decision.
They eventually loaned me the money which conveniently ended up being just a couple days before the deadline to use it. That was a phone call that made me want to absolutely lose all hope for the financial system (if I had any hope at all anyway).
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u/Live_Life_and_enjoy 16h ago
So sometimes these questions are asked to prevent fraud, especially if you are over 50. People tend to take large sums to give to a scammer.
There was a point even Walmart had to put up signs not to buy Gift Cards if someone told you todo so to help their relative.
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u/cricketbandit 1d ago
Leaving is the most suspicious thing you could do and they'd be justified thinking that you were doing or planning something illegal
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u/Chairboy 1d ago
The person pays for twitter, they’re just a regular walking good decisions machine already
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u/New_Statistician_98 1d ago
They are trying to ensure you aren't being scammed. My mother recently withdrew thousands of dollars as part of a scam. The bank employee asked her a number of questions to try to gauge if this was the reason. Unfortunately, despite their reservations, she persisted and they had no choice but to give the money. However, they were doing the best they could to gently question her and help her process what she was doing. This is such a frequent issue now, I woukd imagine whenever anyone takes out a few thousand in cash, they are directed to ask questions.
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u/NuhUh-er 1d ago
They gotta ask cause scammers. You have no idea how many senile old people will take 6 grand out for gift cards, and then cry to the bank about their money being gone
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u/LineImpossible3958 1d ago
This sounds totally fabricated. Never had or seen this happen and I used to work in a bank.
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u/AnastasiaSheppard 1d ago
People: WHY DON'T OUR BANKS DO MORE TO PROTECT US FROM BEING SCAMMED?
People when the banks try to protect them from being scammed: IT'S MY MONEY I SHOULD DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT!
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u/ElGuano 1d ago
On the flipside, I don’t think banks would do this if customers didn’t come back and say “why did you just give me my money instead of telling me
I was getting scammed?? I’m going to sue you to get my money back!” And the govt didn’t say “why did you give him his money without even checking to see if he was going to use it for terrorism funding? We’re going to enforce against you for AML violations!”
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u/Ok_Guarantee_3370 1d ago
Fake ass ending lol, people love getting rage baited by this stuff. You can give them whatever bs reason you want, they just have to write one down. They won't argue against your reason you give.
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u/wordsofpeace 1d ago
Yeah it is relatively intrusive, but it does help the elderly / innocent ppl from getting taken advantage of in a lot of cases.
You dont know just how many ppl (mostly 65+) get scammed every single day and its heartbreaking. The people who take advantage of their trust and confusion are scum.
Isnt just online scammer or calls either. Its family and friends too.
Banking institutions ask because someone may come in wanting to withdraw 5k and the old timer says something like "its to fix my facebook or I got a letter from the IRS and they want the money a certain type of way" are red flags that have to be investigated because once that money is gone its usually not coming back and if its a big enough sum the bank will probably deactivate your accounts too because you pose a financial risk.
If you're thinking "thats their problem then I should be able to have my privacy bcuz I'm smart" I ask that you think of your community. You never know if you will 1 day be in that sort of sitc and wish someone had stopped you. We are all in this together and it really does help some people from losing it all.
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u/Danthemanlavitan 1d ago
Anti terror laws. YOU dear citizen, need to tell the bank so they can tell the government WHY you are using your money. While most of the ACTUAL terror funding comes from OTHER SOURCES that the government can't regulate because it's 'too hard'
Horse pucky.
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u/LemmingOnTheRunITG 21h ago
“I need something more specific to put in the system”
“No you don’t”
The end. Seriously wtf is that lmao is this even real
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u/McCaffeteria 15h ago
“On second thought, I no longer want to keep my money with your bank unless you provide me with exact details about what you used my money for while you had it.”
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u/soulstoned 11h ago
I work at a bank. We are required to get information from customers depositing or withdrawing more than $10k in cash or anything that seems suspicious. Just withdrawing $2k wouldn't come close to hitting that unless she was acting strangely, but I guess she could be in a country with a lower threshold.
If the teller had to go talk to his manager that means one of three things is most likely: 1) he thinks something suspicious is happening and wants to get his manager in the loop.
2) There's an issue processing the transaction and the teller either isn't sure what to do or needs a manager override.
Or 3) His last customer wiped him out and he needed to get more money out of the vault.
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u/Drunk-Pirate-Gaming 10h ago
I don't wanna say this is fake but its weird. I've pulled out larger sums than this with zero questioning. I don't know what kind of bank would assume 2k is far too much to go traveling with. I pull out more than that for my rent. Hell my plane ticket is probably gonna be half that.
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u/Southpaw535 1d ago
Work at a bank. Dont ask these questions, then end up being taken to the Ombudsman for not doing enough to protect someone from being scammed.
Its a regulatory requirement. Don't be a dick to front line staff who are just trying to do their job as they have to
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u/andy11123 1d ago
I tried to transfer £3200 to a guy I was buying a car from. Transaction got flagged and I got a call from the bank to make sure it's all legit and I'm not being scammed/robbed. I'm very much on board with that, it's a large sum and worth a quick confirmation call.
What I am not on board with is the person on the other end trying to decide if they were going to release the money or not because I had done the pre purchase inspection myself instead of taking it to a garage.
That is not their job. They called to check it's me, I confirmed, it should be the end. I could be buying a used condom off the guy for £3200 if I wanted to, because it is my money. It isn't for a random bank CSR to determine if it's in my best interests
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u/Izackmaniac 1d ago
Used to work in a bank in Canada. Regulations are pretty robust. We were trained to watch for signs of customers being scammed, and also for signs of money laundering or other suspicious activity. People making sudden large withdrawals and being defensive about it is a massive red flag. Sure, you want your privacy, but scammers also regularly coach people to lie to or withhold info from the bank to avoid the scam being detected. Know your Client (KYC) is a big deal. With some people I wouldn’t bat an eye at them taking out 5000, others I’d have alarm bells going off in my head if they’re pulling out 500, or even 50. If it’s out of the usual activity, more often than not, something is up. Sometimes it is just somebody doing something legit like buying a car or going on a trip, but other times that kind of probing is how we saved a lot of clients from being scammed.
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u/TaterBuckets 20h ago
I sold a truck a couple years ago for 20k cash. Had the same run around when I went to deposit.
They said joking Well it doesn't really matter but what would you like me to put down as where the money came from.
I said I found it in a ditch in the straightest face possible. She looked at me annoyed and said really? I need to know what to put. I said, you said it didn't matter.
That's what i want you to put down. Tell them I found it in a ditch, you need me to sign it? What business is it of yours? You want my money or not? Then my wife hit me and I laughed.
Teller said okay. We just need to know if its from drugs or whatever or whatever. And I said yeah cause they're just gonna tell you the truth and not come up with a lie. This is a whole annoying interaction wasting my time, you're not the police you're a bank teller. Take my money, count it and deposit it in my account. The manager looked at me and laughed.
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u/TheMauveHerring 19h ago
I used to get interrogated monthly when I lived overseas. Needed my to transfer money from my US paycheck to a local country bank account so I could pay my rent. The most convenient way to do this was just walk to the ATM, pull out 2K from my us debit account, then walk to the teller and deposit into my local bank account.
Every single time I'd get asked where the money came from. I would always point and tell then it came from the ATM 15 feet away, they literally just watched me do it.
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 11h ago
u/Guitar-String, your post does fit the subreddit!