Bank asking the purpose of a withdrawl?

[Lefty]

Is it just me or is this a bit off?

Went into my branch of RBS today to withdraw 9 grand to buy the mrs a new car. The teller had to fill out a large payemnt form and asked me what the money was for.

Why do they need to know? Do you tell them? If it was for some nefarious purpose, surely a person would lie - the bank have no way of checking.

She was a bit y when I asked why she needed to know and just asked if it was a car. I replied that it was a gift (it is). She then asked if I wasn't going to tell her! I said no and she wasn't impressed but didn't press it any further.

Frankly, I couldn't care less who knows what it's for, I just told the interweb after all. But she pissed me off. Nosy old cow.

I should have told her it was for coke and hookers, I know.

[RicksAlfas]

I had this some years ago. Is it to do with money laundering regs? Like you say it's a bit intrusive but I just said it was for a car and they seemed happy. Thing is if you'd done an online transfer they wouldn't have asked and I'm sure if you were paying it in they wouldn't say "Ooo, where's this come from?"

[Lefty]

RicksAlfas said:

I had this some years ago. Is it to do with money laundering regs? Like you say it's a bit intrusive but I just said it was for a car and they seemed happy. Thing is if you'd done an online transfer they wouldn't have asked and I'm sure if you were paying it in they wouldn't say "Ooo, where's this come from?"

Quite. They don't ask for a grand or £200. They don't ask when you pay and you can transfer up to £9999 online in one transaction.

I reckon she was just being nosy. I don't really know why it annoyed me to be honest, it just did.

[ali4390]

I seem to recall there being a thread on this where someone had been asked the same question in a bank, or they had been asked where the money had come from when they were depositing money. I can't remember the details but seem to think it does have something to do with money laundering.

[APanda]

It's just a fraud check, say if you were caught off guard or were blatantly nervous, they may just keep an eye on your accounts for a little while to make sure you were who you said you were. It's not bullet proof at all, but could possibly flag up potential fraud.

[Deva Link]

Lefty said:

I should have told her it was for coke and hookers, I know.

There was a story in one of the papers where a guy did that and the bank closed his account!


This issue has spawned several threads on here over the last couple of years.

[surveyor]

But if you said you were going to pay those men standing menacing in the corner perhaps you would have been glad for what is not really that intrusive an enquiry - it's not like you were told to provide proof. Maybe you were going to say that you'd won the Spanish Lottery, but needed to provide fee's or whatever.

Certainly enquiries like these have stopped some of the conmen builders preying on older people over the years.

Some people must fall for scams to make them worthwhile

[Hoofy]

Shoulda said, "Cheltenham."

[eliot]

When i was asked i said "to buy things with" - which she wrote down and didn't question.

[Gulzar]

I wouldve said I ran out of toilet paper.....see how that floats. lol

[Output Flange]

I had the same question asked when I deposited £12k in cash into my account over the counter of a small branch - they asked where it had come from.

Not unusual for larger amounts of cash.

[chris7676]

It's more reasonable of them to ask when you pay larger amounts in, but now I know they may ask when paying out too. I wonder whether they were doing the same during Northern Rock bank run or they just knew ?
I don't think you would want to state an illegal purpose (as a joke) as this will likely trigger certain authority action you may not be happy with.

[pilchardthecat]

I get the same thing with shops asking you for your postcode when you buy something.

I always refuse. Nosy fkers.

[chris7676]

pilchardthecat said:

I get the same thing with shops asking you for your postcode when you buy something.
I always refuse. Nosy fkers.

It's different, they do it for marketing purposes, banks do it as they are required in certain cases.

[pilchardthecat]

chris7676 said:

pilchardthecat said:

I get the same thing with shops asking you for your postcode when you buy something.
I always refuse. Nosy fkers.

It's different, they do it for marketing purposes, banks do it as they are required in certain cases.

If you refused to tell the bank what the money was for, would they refuse to give it to you?

[Output Flange]

pilchardthecat said:

If you refused to tell the bank what the money was for, would they refuse to give it to you?

Not 100% sure, but I don't think so, no.

If they're worried about money laundering then they're obliged to report it, but aren't allowed to make the person they are reporting aware.

[eliot]

It probably works on these lines:
They ask the purpose and it just gets recorded - regardless of what you said.
But if you keep pulling 10k every week for a few months - then it probably triggers a human to pay a little more attention to your activities.

[V8mate]

The local branch of my bank - in a busy, major town centre - introduced a new rule at the start of the year that it won't pay out more than two grand on demand. You have to give a day or so notice.

[Cogcog]

Perhaps she had you made out as a frail old pensioner with two burly travelling builders outside frog marching you to pay for that roof repair?

[APanda]

eliot said:

It probably works on these lines:
They ask the purpose and it just gets recorded - regardless of what you said.
But if you keep pulling 10k every week for a few months - then it probably triggers a human to pay a little more attention to your activities.

Exactly this. It looks like money laundering if this happens.