Must one inform the bank before receiving a large sum?

j813ys

Would I be flagged for fraud if I were to receive a payment 50 times larger than a monthly salary?

Brie

They might put a freeze on your account if they suspect money laundering.  Frankly I have always advised my bank or credit card co if I'm going to do something way out of the ordinary so they can put a note on my file in advance.

wmb194

j813ys said:

Must one inform the bank before receiving a large sum?

Would I be flagged for fraud if I were to receive a payment 50 times larger than a monthly salary?

No. It's a waste of time talking to it anyway, the bank will say that pre-advice cannot be given. You should be prepared to answer questions about where it's come from but you might not have to do this.

DullGreyGuy

j813ys said:

Would I be flagged for fraud if I were to receive a payment 50 times larger than a monthly salary?

Depends... 50x salary could be a modest or vast sum depending on what your salary is. 

If it's flagged will depend where the money has come from, how out of character the transaction is etc. 

If there is a particular reason why you think it may be flagged then probably best to get it put into a secondary account in another bank so your main account still functions normally whilst checks are done. 

friolento

You can do but it won’t protect you from the automated AML checks. If it did, money launderers would always advise larger payments, wouldn’t they.

Even if you don’t expect an unusual payment, having at least one other account, at a different bank or building society altogether, with some emergency funds is always a good idea. Alternatively / additionaly, keep some cash under the mattress etc. Something can always go wrong with any bank, for different reasons.

EssexExile

I've done this recently. I phoned Santander to pre-warn them but they said everything is automatic so there is nothing they can do. I transferred in about £100,000 last week and nothing untoward happened.

Yet.

Rawrzy

I think they'd be more worried where the money goes when you send it out rather than it coming in, unless the source was somewhere they were really questioning. Never had any questions over money coming into my account, but I've had questions when I've then tried to move it out to a savings account or something after the fact.

I don't think contacting them really helps since it's all automated these days, and they'd still have to talk you through their fraud checklist if you do get hit by a check.

Ayr_Rage

I sold shares last year and Nationwide didn't bat an eyelid when £287,000 appeared in my account.

Getting that money sent to where it was needed was another story, NW put a lower payment limit for transfers out for some payees despite assurances on the phone that the normal £100,00 would apply.

No manual override was available so I registered a complaint.

Shortly after the manager of the local branch called and invited me to visit and find a solution.

That ended up as several free CHAPS payments done there and then in the branch.

Great service by NW Irvine.

friolento

Rawrzy said:

I think they'd be more worried where the money goes when you send it out rather than it coming in, unless the source was somewhere they were really questioning. Never had any questions over money coming into my account, but I've had questions when I've then tried to move it out to a savings account or something after the fact.

 

Sending and receiving banks / payment services providers will need to shortly share the compensation for APP scams. Unsurprisingly, they will try to limit their risks by increasing the checks they are making. Incoming checks are therefore likely to increase significantly.

https://www.wearepay.uk/app-authorised-push-payment-reimbursement-policy/

robatwork

Not since about 1990 when you may have known your bank manager. I had a similar situation with large sums going out my account recently. From discussions with their fraud team (every time I got locked out) there's nothing they can do to whitelist anything. A "note added to your details" proved about as useful as it sounds.

I seem to remember also having an option advising the same bank I was going abroad, but that also disappeared some time ago. 

Hoenir

What's the source of the funds?