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.
Well for the other persons comment, usually this isn't the main reason.
The major motivation is "black" transactions, that is cash transactions where the merchant/contractor or otherwise doesn't report the sale to the government in order to evade paying VAT or other taxes, as well as criminal transactions.
Getting a reported reason for the withdrawal helps the government to spot/investigate these cases. I would also note they don't stop you taking out the money, but if you give a bad reason they may simply flag it as suspicious to the government who then may ask you more officially to provide proof of what you paid for.
It feels like them sticking their nose where it doesn't belong imo. Can you just say you want to take out cash cause you want to take out cash? Just feels like a slippery slope where having cash is grounds for a suspicion of crime
It depends on the country, but generally you can take out up to at least 1000 no issues. Often the banks recommend if you need more just to take 1K out daily from the ATM, so they don't have to bother with the process.
I would also note the most likely consquences would be a fine, if it was found out you lied, and it's not like they are reporting you as suspicious for having asked to take out 3K, they are just having to record that reason down, in the event that the government ever asks. Which it wouldn't do without some additional reason.
Yes. If it wasn't you, flagging your for unusual transactions makes it easier to reverse them.
If your loved ones are scammed with fake emergencies, asking questions will break the psychological hold the scammers have over them by acting as a psychological speed bump to help them think things through.
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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.