Does a bank assistant really need to know my employment status when requesting a postal bank statement ?

[Lardlizard]

So been in the bank this morning to request a postal statement as I want it for ID

Anyway she asked me if I’m still a homemaker?
I said well I’m doing voluntary work for a charity now but just keep it on there as homemaker incase of any changes

Then when she selected he time period to print off, so could obviously see my bank details, said oh you’ve got a lot of money for a home maker

Which was a bit cheeky and nosey

But really I can’t see why she asked what my employment status is just to post me a statement

Of course I could understand her asking that if I was apply for a mortgage or something

The trick is to not get drawn in and to feign real concern for a perceived real problem. It infuriates them when you don't bite.

You wouldn't! I would have made sure that you weren't involved in my business as such a cf, and nosey parker.

You are seriously hilarious

...and no, professionally no-one worth their salt makes a cf comment about it

They have teams dedicated to possible money laundering and sophisticated algorithms to alert them. I very much doubt they rely on a nosey, indiscreet teller who's only handing over a record of already-approved transactions

Completely wrong.

Frontline staff - those in branches and call centres - are the banks first line of defence in money laundering. These ‘nosy’ cashiers will be having regular training about what to spot and how to spot and report it.

A huge amount of fraud and ML is picked up by people, not computers - and the banks know and use this.

ANY interaction with your bank - even just requesting a statement- may cause your account to fall under scruitiny or invite further questions from bank staff.

It’s the way it is now - and refusing to answer is usually IME the quickest road to you facing a nightmare of account blocks as refusal to give details is a major red flag that will be reported.

Completely wrong.

Bollocks.

refusing to answer is usually IME the quickest road to you facing a nightmare of account blocks as refusal to give details is a major red flag that will be reported

Lol.

Hi, can I get a bank statement for the past 3 months please?

Sure
Oh, that's a lot of money. What's your occupation?
None of your fucking business. Sweet smile.
It's just that we have a policy of checking out the accounts of housewives with over 20k.
Fine. I'll close my account. You nosey jobsworth.

It’s rude because it’s a judgement. Who gets to decide how much a ‘home maker’ should have?

Most people who are at home with their kids have worked or share money with the person who is working in the family. So yeah, very rude.

@happyhillock I think most banks have a policy that the cashier has to ask what it's from or for if you're depositing or withdrawing over a certain amount in cash (if I recall correctly the tipping point was 3k when I worked as a cashier about 17 years ago.) If you tell them to mind their own business they might not let you do the transaction - they could potentially lose their job for not checking.

and refusing to answer is usually IME the quickest road to you facing a nightmare of account blocks as refusal to give details is a major red flag that will be reported

If someone made such a comment to be I would probably get flustered and uncomfortable while I tried and failed to come up with a clever answer while not being rude.

I might sometimes look like I'm 'up to something' because I do all the little tricks recommended by moneysavingexpert to squeeze at least some interest out of my savings so have several current accounts, several credit cards and have money coming and going from here there and everywhere. All completely innocently btw, unless you think it is immoral to take the money that Santander will let me put on a credit card with no fees and interest and put it other banks current accounts that pay 3-5% interest.

I hardly ever go into banks these days, but I don't miss their nosy comments and questions, such as 'oooh are we treating ourselves today', when I was withdrawing money to pay for the flowers at a relatives funeral, or the constant attempts to 'beat my mortgage rate with their totally shite fantastic deal when I had sorted out a low interest lifetime tracker all by myself years ago and no they couldn't beat it although they were welcome to try.

I'm afraid it's drummed in to bank staff that we are all responsible and liable for money laundering. Any unusual activity, withdrawals, more cash in the account that makes sense etc.

We also have targets, which can include putting "fresh" money (new money to the bank) into savings.

So loads of personal probing questions are here to stay but cheeky is going to far. Sometimes it's a difficult boundary to draw.

Having worked in the financial services industry for 20 years I can assure you that every member of staff of every bank is going to have to ask awkward questions at some point. Doesn't matter if you switch banks you will still be subject to answering the same questions. It is to protect you, the customer, from getting defrauded. If you do have a lot of money in a current account the cashier may well suggest moving it to another account with no card you can get access to in case you are ever subject to plastics (card) fraud. Think about how you'd feel if the ladies/gents in branch or over the phone didn't do their job and you were defrauded of thousands. Not only are you out of pocket at least short term, but if the bank staff didn't report it they could be fined thousands, and/or sent to prison.

Not the point of the thread , I know, but how are tellers going to know their customers when branches are closed and even the ones that are open employ someone whose sole job is to direct you away from the tellers to the machines.
Allow your customers to get to know you would be better

Fair enough nrp but there was no need for the comment about the OP being a home maker, that was the inappropriate bit.

The cashier could have just said that there was quite a lot of money in there and she may earn more interest in a different account or it would be more secure and left it at that.

However, I disagree with you about it being unsafe to keep money in a current account and that staff are responsible for reporting this to avoid being fined or imprisoned(!) as my own current account provider actively encourages people to keep up to £20k in their current account by paying market leading interest rates on that amount.

I don't have that amount of money in there at the moment, but I have in the past, and while I accept that the card presents some risk, as long as I don't divulge the pin, I will not lose that money, and in fact, it is probably online fraud that is more of an issue these days, rather than people using cards to withdraw large amounts of cash.

Money laundering regulations. You are supposed to ask questions if something could potentially be suspicious, and try not to raise suspicions in the customer. Awkwardly phrased by her, but she'# doing her job.

@BarbaraofSevillle totally agree it sounds like the staff member asked in the wrong way but still valid to ask.

Yes a certain bank does encourage large balances with their account but having seen first hand what plastics fraud can do to someone, even short term, I would never keep large balances in my current account, and I would actively discourage anyone too.

Likewise Apple Pay is also very insecure and I wouldn't use that and will discourage anyone from using it.

@hazell42 any bank contact - branch, online or telephone

Agree with PP who is lol at money laundering 'explanations'!

Oooh you've got a lot of money for a homemaker is not a question in any way shape or form!

It's rude and unprofessional and not a question.

It's also potentially dangerous if said at till where others can hear, as till person has announced op is worth robbing. People get followed out of banks and robbed after drawing out lots of cash its not uncommon. If have thought the people on the tills would be aware of a bit more discretion!

She was nosey/ trying to flog something.
It wasn't a question but an observation. One not appropriate to make at a public till.

Money laundering = where is money from if paying in large amount of cash / what's it for if taking it out.

OP was asking to switch to paper statements. This is not a money laundering opportunity.

She wasn't asked a normal question. Till person observed that she had a lot of money in her account for homemaker. That is a shitty thing to say.

I mean someone could have followed OP out made her use cash point.

Which is bigger risk, she is trying to clean dirty money by means of switching to paper ststements
Or some dodgy fucker will hear

Both unlikely
Of the two though, second option more likely

Money laundering regulations. You are supposed to ask questions if something could potentially be suspicious, and try not to raise suspicions in the customer

In what way is requesting a postal statement "potentially suspicious"?

Money laundering regulations are a nonsense. They've never stopped a terrorist anywhere getting cash or getting rid of it, and just cause unnecessary inconvenience because they are not implemented with common sense. Sames goes for data protection legislation.

@Costacoffeecup i was taking out 1K, i don't think it's anybody's business what i want that money for even the bank, they have my account on record and see who's paying in the money, it's mine to take out, what i'm doing with it is my business

@happyhillock tbh I probably wouldn't ask about 1K but a larger amount yes I would. It's not just to prevent you committing financial crime the questions can help stop you falling victim to financial crime,

It’s not the transaction that was suspicious but the person. Money Laundering isn’t just drug lords, it’s tax evasion too. A lot of rich men funnel funds into their ‘home maker’s name to avoid tax and in some circumstances even disguise the origins of it. It’s how a lot of funds for terrorism gets through the system.

I knew of a ‘volunteer’ who was a housewife. The only transactions into her account were 1k per month in cash her husband would put in directly into the account. It turned out many months later that there was no husband at all; the ‘charity’ was in her name and being operated as a business, and she was depositing the same amount every month in 5 or 6 banks to hide the origins of the funds.

@hazell42 any bank contact - branch, online or telephone

You can examine transactions but you cant examine conversations with a machine, because other than people swearing at them, there ain't no conversations.
It always amazes me that bank staff are actively colluding in their own redundancy when telling you to use the machine