bank refusing cash withdraw

ZeroSum

[Deleted User] said:

ZeroSum said:

[Deleted User] said:

boingy said:

They really do need to change the rules to let us take responsibility for our own actions. In the case of withdrawing cash it should be enough for the customer to sign a waiver/declaration that states they take full responsibility for the cash and that it is not going to be used for any nefarious purposes. For example, plenty of people still use cash for buying cars at the lower end of the price range. Paying 5K for a car in cash is actually safer than most of the other options because few people can spot a fake bankers draft and electronic transfers can be challenged and reversed. Cash and a handshake is still the best way for some transactions.

Of course. And this is how things were once done with no issues. That last time I bought a car from a dealer (Carcraft in the early 2000s) I went to the bank and asked for £17k. Five minutes later they'd handed it to me, in an envelope, without once insulting my intelligence or insinuating I was a drug dealer or a terrorist. When I turned up at the dealers I was ushered at once into a room ahead of those people applying for finance by a guy who told me, "Cash is king here." Now it's hello 2025, goodbye common sense.

Back then the Internet was in its infancy. Online banking wasn't a thing, scammers using the threat of bank accounts being hacked weren't a thing. Handling large amounts of cash is no longer a thing. So when someone asks for a large amount of cash, it's not unreasonable for banks to be suspicious.

It's not at all reasonable to be suspicious of someone using a bank for the purpose it's intended. If there are circumstances that genuinely raise suspicion then, under current legislation, the bank should put a hold in the transaction until they are satisfied one way or the other. A customer wishing to spend the money they earned on a service or item without wanting to share their private life with a bunch of randoms sitting behind a counter is not a sensible cause for suspicion, it's the expected outcome of living in a healthy democracy.

Laws that arguably have a role in preventing banks from being complicit in criminal enterprise have, like so much legislation, expanded into a vehicle for serving the agenda of government and big business, and as usual it's the sensible, law abiding citizen who gets the shaft.

In this day in age, people don't use banks in that way. A significant alount of the time when they do want large sums of cash it does involve scammers. So it's not unreasonable for banks to put safeguards in place 

[Deleted User]

ZeroSum said:

In this day in age, people don't use banks in that way. A significant alount of the time when they do want large sums of cash it does involve scammers. So it's not unreasonable for banks to put safeguards in place 

People tend not to use banks that way because it's been made so difficult that they've been forced to opt for other methods. Who really wants to be interrogated and treated alternately like an idiot and a criminal when they want to pay for a new car?

The overwhelming majority of scams are online. Add to that, in most cases it's relatively simple to detect whether a cash withdrawal is a scam with some basic, sensible checks. And for those that slip through, it's their own money and their decision.

GeoffTF

[Deleted User] said:

Who really wants to be interrogated and treated alternately like an idiot and a criminal when they want to pay for a new car?

Some of us are not bothered. We politely answer the questions and the payment goes through.

[Deleted User] said:
And for those that slip through, it's their own money and their decision.

It is not when the bank has to pay compensation if you are being scammed, or if there is any possibility of money laundering.

Hoenir

In this day and age who still deals in large sums of cash.  Other than someone who wishes to have no auditable trace of the transaction......... 

[Deleted User]

Hoenir said:

In this day and age who still deals in large sums of cash.  Other than someone who wishes to have no auditable trace of the transaction......... 

A whole host of people would like to, for various reasons, and that doesn't even include those who don't trust banks (an eminently sensible position to take) yet are now forced to use them. The idea that only criminals wish to use cash is absurd, especially when you consider that enormous criminal enterprises in the UK are more prevalent than ever, and apparently have no problems conducting transactions as they see fit.

ZeroSum

[Deleted User] said:

ZeroSum said:

In this day in age, people don't use banks in that way. A significant alount of the time when they do want large sums of cash it does involve scammers. So it's not unreasonable for banks to put safeguards in place 

People tend not to use banks that way because it's been made so difficult that they've been forced to opt for other methods. Who really wants to be interrogated and treated alternately like an idiot and a criminal when they want to pay for a new car?

The overwhelming majority of scams are online. Add to that, in most cases it's relatively simple to detect whether a cash withdrawal is a scam with some basic, sensible checks. And for those that slip through, it's their own money and their decision.

And that's what they're doing.

And I'm sorry but withdrawing £17k in cash to buy a car is quite suspicious. Common scam is to tell people their account has been compromised & they need to withdraw all their cash & hand it over to someone 

People tend not to use banks that way as it's both less secure & more inconvenient.

GeoffTF

[Deleted User] said:

GeoffTF said:
Some of us are not bothered. We politely answer the questions and the payment goes through.

That aside, if you read even the posts in this forum you'd know that jumping through their hoops is often not enough to gain access to your money.

It is usually obvious why they have had problems too. I am glad that I do not work in a bank.

Olenna

lee49 said:

the amount was 5k, the bank royal bank of Scotland but via a NatWest branch. I ordered the money and had valid ID. the demanding an invoice for what I was  using the money for.  yes Typo FCA not fcc

5k isn't a massive amount of cash.
Given you pre-ordered and took along additional ID, I would lodge a formal complaint and take it from there.

Desmond_Hume

If the general public would stop transferring thousands of pounds to secure their Ugandan lottery winnings, we wouldn’t need these questions or safe guards. But, here we are. 

boingy

It should not take 15 minutes of phone  interrogation to determine whether a customer is making a legitimate transaction. Anyone who thinks that is acceptable would presumably be happy for a shop to search their bag(s) at the exit and for a cop to search their car every time they park. The vast majority of people are not being scammed.