Absolutely FUMING with Abbey

gatita

I wanted to withdraw £2.500 from my current account, I was told I would have to 'order' it two days ahead. hmmmmmmm I ordered MY money for today at 1pm.
First I was asked for 2 kinds of identity, then name 2 direct debits, then for the last pay in, then for my date of birth, then for the last 3 digits of my telephone number, then where did I open the account, then WHY did I want the money!!!!! at this I almost EXPLODED:mad: what the HELL has it got to do with them what I want MY money for. How DARE they treat customers like this.
I understand the need for caution but in my opinion they have just gone too far. I live in a very small town in Devon, have had the account for over 20 years, and I am known to the staff.
I find this so intrusive not to say down right RUDE.
Needless to say I shall be CLOSING my account with them.
Sorry about the rant but I couldn't contain myself anymore:o and what better place than this to let off steam:p

1andrea

gatita wrote: »

I wanted to withdraw £2.500 from my current account, I was told I would have to 'order' it two days ahead. hmmmmmmm I ordered MY money for today at 1pm.
First I was asked for 2 kinds of identity, then name 2 direct debits, then for the last pay in, then for my date of birth, then for the last 3 digits of my telephone number, then where did I open the account, then WHY did I want the money!!!!! at this I almost EXPLODED:mad: what the HELL has it got to do with them what I want MY money for. How DARE they treat customers like this.
I understand the need for caution but in my opinion they have just gone too far. I live in a very small town in Devon, have had the account for over 20 years, and I am known to the staff.
I find this so intrusive not to say down right RUDE.
Needless to say I shall be CLOSING my account with them.
Sorry about the rant but I couldn't contain myself anymore:o and what better place than this to let off steam:p

If you had told them you wanted the money to waste on drugs, alcohol and loose women I wonder what they would have said??

They couldnt have refused to give you it cos its yours!

I know you didnt want it to waste on drugs, alchohol and loose women but it would have been funny if you said you did to hear their reaction!

gatita

:T good idea Andrea.......I told the cashier that I intended to decorate my front room with it:D , and did he have any problem with that!
(I am STILL fuming)

skyrider007

OMG, that was appalling! I think providing them with a form of photo ID is more thane enough to verify your identify! Good for you to have closed the account, I can't believe they did that to a loyal (20 years) customer like you.

P.S. I bank with HSBC and had to withdraw similar amount of cash in branch once. I know the cashier at my local branch very well and was only asked to show a driving license. I requested the money 2 days in advance though.

dunstonh

what the HELL has it got to do with them what I want MY money for. How DARE they treat customers like this.

Money laundering requirements as well as fraud prevention. Unusual cash transactions require the bank to ask questions.

If you acted negatively towards the questions then you may find that the clerk reports you under the Money Laundering rules for you to be investigated for potential money laundering.

gatita

dunstonh........... Just suppose for one minute I was 'money laundering' SURELY it would be for an amount far higher than £2.500? also if I was asked the question "what do you want this money for?" I would hardly tell them it was to buy drugs, or for some other fraudulent cause, I would invent something totally plausible, so in reality the question is a total waste of time.
In other words what you are implying is that we really do live in a police state, and what we have worked and saved for is not really ours unless we jump through the hoops they decide to invent. Its totally invasive and disgusting, and I know no other bank that goes to such extremes

Schwade

dunstonh, which begs the question, if you were planning to use it fraudulently, would you actually tell them???

The questioning is weird. It is like someone buying a knife and the salesgirl asks "what are you using it for?" - it is not like the guy is going to tell them it is going to be used for committing a crime?!

They only need to check identity and THAT SHOULD BE IT. Just like what happens if you were to transfer £2500 via internet banking.

DGJsaver

gatita wrote: »

dunstonh........... Just suppose for one minute I was 'money laundering' SURELY it would be for an amount far higher than £2.500? also if I was asked the question "what do you want this money for?" I would hardly tell them it was to buy drugs, or for some other fraudulent cause, I would invent something totally plausible, so in reality the question is a total waste of time.
In other words what you are implying is that we really do live in a police state, and what we have worked and saved for is not really ours unless we jump through the hoops they decide to invent. Its totally invasive and disgusting, and I know no other bank that goes to such extremes

Natwest asked me why i was withdrawing 2k once

I told them , "because its all ive got to go and buy a crap car i dont really want , is that ok?"
They just looked at each other

[Deleted User]

I can totally understand your frustration but on this one I have to agree with Abbey and dunstoh.

If your money was given to someone else then you would be the first to ask "What ID did you get ? Why didn't you ask them more questions ? ...." Unfortunately, there are constant fake passport, d/licences and the amount of people commiting fraud is getting bigger every day. I would say at least 1 person a day comes into my branch to log transactions/transfers they don't recognise.

And no they wouldn't ask for more than 2500, they would want to ask for "lower amounts" so that it would look totally genuine.

The reason they ask you what the money is for is to protect the cashier. If let's say you were laundering money then the cashier could say this is what the customer told me. Imagine if the cashier was in on the scam. The genuine cashier couldn't care less about what you're going to do with your money.

If you were to say it were for drugs, then even as a joke, then you would probably be reported without you being made aware of it . I know it's sad but it has become like that.


Unfortunately, a lot of rules don't make sense but it's only to protect you.

And unfortunately all banks are required to do more or less the same.

novagirl

I can't see what Abbey has done wrong either. They were only following the procedure that all banks follow like some other posters have mentioned.

I happily provide ID and answer any questions if I want to withdraw a large sum or in fact ANY amount of money. I'm glad that my bank protects my money for me.

snails's_pace

ive withdrawn a large cash amount once before and went through similiar questions, it was slightly embarressing as a queue of people behind me, i felt like id done something wrong, when she said whats the money for i felt like saying "im having a boob job,is that ok with you and would you like to see the evidence afterwards?" but i didnt