To think it’s nobody’s business what I do with my money?

[ToffeePennee]

I went in to my bank to withdraw a large amount of cash. I explained to the cashier what I wanted to do and she proceeded to ask some security questions - all fine.

One of the questions was what I wanted the cash for so I said I was having building work done. She then started saying that I should pay by bank transfer, it was tax avoidance etc. etc. When I insisted I still wanted to withdraw the money, she sighed and rolled her eyes and I felt really judged and like I’d done something wrong.

I’m glad now that I didn’t admit the real reason is in case the banking system collapses and it’s now stuffed under my mattress.

Please tell me I’m not wrong to think she had no right to judge me and if she did, she should have been professional and not passed comment?

They can block your account?! Wtf. And I suppose they cannot tell you why, either?

I have heard this in the bank

The man blithely said it was xmas gifts for all the grandchildren

I would be annoyed by the question. I'd probably say I'm off down the bookies 😂

What sort of amount would prompt the question? I don't often use cash.

@VanGoghsDog

“They can refuse to give it to you actually and put a block on your account until they investigate.”

On what grounds and how long do they block it for, and how exactly do they investigate?

Is it actually under your mattress though? If I was a burglar the first place I would look for a money stash is under all the mattresses. It's such a common hiding spot for cash that it's not even a hiding spot anymore Personally I would hide it somewhere no-one would think to look, like underneath the kitchen cupboards (if your kickboards are easy enough to pull off) or buy a safe and hide it in the loft, or pull out a drawer in a chest of drawers, hide it in there and put the drawer back etc. there are loads of better places than under the mattress.

As pp have said, it’s an anti-money laundering issue.

@AutomaticMoon

Yes, and regular people have their bank accounts blocked and it would be ‘tipping-off’ to tell them what the problem is, it’s Kafkaesque.

If people are lacking capacity to manage finances, why are they not being supported with this? It’s absurd to treat all of us as lacking capacity. Many just seem to want to be nannied like this.

How does asking why someone is withdrawing money equal treating them as if they don't have capacity?

You seem very exercised by a basic procedure to try and help stop people being scammed.

Those saying ‘box tick’ tell me - if you are scammed / defrauded would you expect your bank to refund you?

Marqueses "Did he live in the shop?"

Lots of business owners live in the same building as the business.

It's safeguarding. Too many people fall prey to scams so they are trying to help prevent that.

Safeguarding is asking why then checking, maybe, do you know and trust the builder. Safeguarding isn’t asking if you are paying cash so the builder can avoid paying tax. I can’t believe the shit people will accept in the guise of “safeguarding”

They are covering themselves in case you are being scammed. If they have discussed it with you and advised you not to do it, you will not be able to cry and get a refund if you lose the money to a con artist.

HMRC make them do it as anti money laundering regulations, I had to register with them as at one time was a self employed accountant.

A distant relative was conned into paying scammers several £1000s to have her roof tiles painted to protect the roof.

Maybe she believed them, maybe she was scared & paid to have them leave her alone. We’ll never know.

She paid by cheque so there were no checks to be made.
If she’d gone to the bank for cash & been asked some questions, this ridiculous scam may not have happened.

I was asked that a few years ago, why was I taking that much money out at once, I said excuse me I think you will find my name on this account not yours , so none of your business.

@BoredZelda

It's safeguarding. Too many people fall prey to scams so they are trying to help prevent that.

Safeguarding is asking why then checking, maybe, do you know and trust the builder. Safeguarding isn’t asking if you are paying cash so the builder can avoid paying tax. I can’t believe the shit people will accept in the guise of “safeguarding”

Flipping this. I’m ‘exercised’ by this because I’ve lived under authoritarianism before and don’t appreciate the tiptoe into totalitarianism. My bank is also calculating my carbon footprint (very badly) when I don’t drive, never go on holidays and live in a damp slum rental. They must be using my high energy bills (wind blowing straight through rotten sills) and I don’t want to live in a CCP style autocracy with social credit score and the like. Things were bad enough as they were.

If the cashier thinks there is something unusual going on with your account she may want to raise a SAR (suspicious activity report). If you do not usually withdraw large sums of cash with any explanation this could potentially trigger a report. Of course as the cash is now in your hands they have no way to know what you are actually going to do with it, but they can build a profile on your account if there is future unusual activity. This is to help prevent against money laundering.
As others have said they also want to make sure that you are not being scammed. If you were and they can get the details of the scammer they would be able to raise this with their FIU (financial intelligence unit) and details could be passed on to the NCA to help build evidence against scammers.

@ToffeePennee

I went in to my bank to withdraw a large amount of cash. I explained to the cashier what I wanted to do and she proceeded to ask some security questions - all fine.

One of the questions was what I wanted the cash for so I said I was having building work done. She then started saying that I should pay by bank transfer, it was tax avoidance etc. etc. When I insisted I still wanted to withdraw the money, she sighed and rolled her eyes and I felt really judged and like I’d done something wrong.

I’m glad now that I didn’t admit the real reason is in case the banking system collapses and it’s now stuffed under my mattress.

Please tell me I’m not wrong to think she had no right to judge me and if she did, she should have been professional and not passed comment?

Same here!

I went into my bank branch today to withdraw £600 cash.
I was cross questioned about what I wanted the money for. (It was for rent to my landlord who is very old and unwell and said could I get it in cash for him this time, and I said yes, of-course).

I said to the cashier, why are you asking me what I am going to do with my own money? She said it's money laundering laws - I have to ask you. I said I could have pulled that much out of a cashpoint on two cards from my bank without question, so why question me when I come into the branch? She couldn't answer that.

It's stupid, intrusive and none of their frigging business and made me realise - is it actually my money if they dictate the terms of when I can have it? They don't like people using our own money in cash. My vet no longer takes cash.

Even when I asked the bank for a new chequebook for the window cleaner, handyman, coalman and milkman, I got cross-questioned by the bank - "why do you need it?" No mobile phone signal where I live so I can't use that to pay for anything.
I honestly wish they would all eff off and from now on, cash is king for me and I am getting what little I have out of my accounts and leaving in the bare minimum.

I did tell her I’d used the builder before and was happy with the work but she was being quite insistent that I should use a bank transfer, mentioning this several times. Of course I don’t mind them ensuring I am not being scammed etc. but I draw the line at them moralising over the way I spend my money.

@Nanalisa60

I was asked that a few years ago, why was I taking that much money out at once, I said excuse me I think you will find my name on this account not yours , so none of your business.

Love this.

@Nanalisa60 But did you see the PP who said they can block your account and refuse to give you your own money?

You are being ridiculous. Answer the questions and don't get shitty with me for asking. If I asked and I got a stupid answer you absolutely would get an eye roll.

I didn’t think it was relevant to the thread so didn’t mention it but I was told I had to order the money and collect in a few days even though I’d read up on the maximum withdrawal in branch and ensured it was under the limit.

I’m wondering if a SAR has been raised or something else but I guess they’d just refuse to let me withdraw in that case? I guess I’ll find out.

As for paying a tradesperson in cash well yes the cashiers have a duty to not facilitate tax evasion...however it is the responsibility of the tradespeople to ensure they have paid the correct tax. So no need for the eye roll

@VivX

It's an anti-money laundering thing. The cashier is obliged to ask about large or unusual cash withdrawals.

Although the logic is a bit bonkers when you think about it - because who in their right mind is going to admit that the reasons they're using cash is so that they can engage in money laundering.

It’s like when they ask you if you’re a terrorist on your ESTA application

Withdrawing an amount under cash reporting thresholds can definitely raise a concern

I did answer the questions! She just wouldn’t accept that I wanted to withdraw the cash and use it for paying builders so kept insisting I do a bank transfer.