Moving large amounts of cash savings from one bank to another

JSmith321

I have quite a lot of savings in one bank and due to interest changes I wish to move to another bank with much a much better interest rate. I found I have a limit of £20K per day I can transfer so have to move my savings over several days. During my first transfer I was contacted by the fraud department which I appreciate is a valuable safeguard. Out of interest (no pun intended) what do others do who wish to transfer large sums of cash. Thanks

flaneurs_lobster

Is CHAPS a payment option offered by your bank? Acceptable to your recipient bank? Might be free, might be a chargeable extra.

Don't know how much you are shifting, but is your (IMO) commendable attitude to security checks going to seriously inconvenience you?

Brie

I contact the bank directly.  They should be able to do more to assist and will at a minimum log the fact that you have already discussed what is happening with them which might make their fraud department happier.  

JSmith321

flaneurs_lobster said:

Is CHAPS a payment option offered by your bank? Acceptable to your recipient bank? Might be free, might be a chargeable extra.

Don't know how much you are shifting, but is your (IMO) commendable attitude to security checks going to seriously inconvenience you?

Yes CHAPS available though I probably feel safer moving smaller amounts in case the transfer goes wrong. 

flaneurs_lobster

JSmith321 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Is CHAPS a payment option offered by your bank? Acceptable to your recipient bank? Might be free, might be a chargeable extra.

Don't know how much you are shifting, but is your (IMO) commendable attitude to security checks going to seriously inconvenience you?

Yes CHAPS available though I probably feel safer moving smaller amounts in case the transfer goes wrong. 

At £20,000, your definition of "smaller amounts" and mine differ somewhat....

Ayr_Rage

I've found contacting the bank in advance to try to override daily limits or advising I was planning to move my own money for a better rate an absolute waste of time, that has been the case with Nationwide, Chase and Santander.

The operators have no authority to do anything and if their system subsequently flags the transfer for a hold and investigation having prior contact is irrelevant.

My most recent experience was with Chase, all sorted with a call once the transaction was advised as held.

During that chat I mentioned I'd be doing the same the next day, they said it's all automated so expect the same.

Next day had to call again.

All the above relates to accounts that have passed CoP and are in my own name.

A right PITA but that's the way it is these days.

PS. Chase are very good, I once had a transfer held whilst in Thailand and didn't have roaming access to my UK mobile number, I explained that in the messaging section of their app and they called me back on my Thai mobile number to sort it.

GeoffTF

It depends on the bank. They all have different limits and can apply different limits to different customers. I have not done it recently, but I have been able to transfer £100K by Faster Payments over the telephone with Santander, even when the receiving bank was not a member of CoP. Lloyds Faster Payments limit is £250K in branch. I am able to make payments of £50K by debit card with Santander.

SiliconChip

I tend to have my nominated account for savings set as my Nationwide FlexAccount, which has a £100K limit for online transfer (although lower in some circumstances), so I don't have any issues transferring to a new savings account as I keep below the FSCS limit in any one institution. i've never had any fraud contact while doing a transfer but if I did I'm sure it would be reasonably easy to pass any checks that were requested.

Spelunthus

We had to transfer £200K to family member for property purchase.  Called bank, booked a physical visit. Took account details & passports. 10 minute discussion and it's done.  Bank needs to reassure itself re money-laundering and to be sure we are not being scammed. .   Not a big deal and quite reassuring actually.

EssexExile

It seems to depend on the bank and on what is deemed as normal for a particular customer, I regularly move larger amounts with no problems but others have problems with much smaller numbers.

JSmith321

Of course all this would not be necessary if the bank in question offered a competitive interest rate. The system is almost designed to deter customers from transferring to better interest rates. It's become like musical chairs with risk and potential fraud involved in each move.