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?

@Youngatheart00 “A bank rescue package totalling some £500 billion (approximately $850 billion) was announced by the British government on 8 October 2008, as a response to the global financial crisis.”

This is why the money was ‘safe’ in the bank, it was all taxpayer money.

@AutomaticMoon I’m not disputing that or excusing banks historic conduct but what I’m saying is that even in the direst of circumstances no one lost their money.

I work in financial services and I can say it’s a very different place to 15 years ago. So much focus on financial crime prevention

Exchanging banknotes for gold

We publish details of a selection of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the information we disclose in response.
Date released: 9 April 2015

Disclosure:

Since its foundation in 1694 the Bank of England (the ‘Bank’) has issued notes promising to pay the bearer a sum of money. For much of its history the promise could be made good by the Bank paying out gold in exchange for its notes. The link with gold helped to maintain the value of the notes, although the link was sometimes suspended, for example in wartime.

The link with gold was finally broken in 1931 (see in particular The Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 and The Gold Standard (Amendment) Act 1931) when the UK came off the gold standard, and since that time there has been no other asset into which holders have the right to convert Bank of England notes. They can only be exchanged for other Bank of England notes. Nowadays public faith in the pound is maintained in a different way - through the Bank of England's operation of monetary policy, the object of which, by statute, is price stability.

The Bank Charter Act 1844 and the Currency and Bank Notes Acts 1928 and 1954, provide for the establishment of a distinct Department within the Bank of England - the Issue Department – and for the issue of banknotes. This legislation also requires notes issued by the Bank to be backed by securities (the concept of securities was broadened by the Finance Act 1932 and is now reflected in the amended 1928 Act) held in the Issue Department and confers legal tender status on Bank of England notes.

I love how there's so much misinformation rife on this thread.

Yes, cashiers should ask about large or unusual transactions - it's part of their job role and not 'nannying'.

Yes, they can block your account for as long as it takes to investigate and they don't have to tell you why. If they did, it could be considered 'tipping off' and the cashier could face a fine and 2 years in prison.

For those joking about big banks and caring for consumers. The banks do have an obligation to ensure consumers are protected as well as they can from scammers, phishing calls and emails and dodgy tradespeople.

I used to work in a retail branch and it's not always the old or vulnerable who fall pray to clever cons. I now work in financial fraud detection services.

@Penners99

What do you want the money for?

Mostly drugs and strippers, the rest I will just waste.

Same!

@StylishMummy

“Yes, they can block your account for as long as it takes to investigate and they don't have to tell you why. If they did, it could be considered 'tipping off' and the cashier could face a fine and 2 years in prison.”

And how is the person supposed to live, without access to their own money, for up to 2 years, without so much as an explanation of what or why it’s happening? That seems fair to you?

@AutomaticMoon I didn't say it was fair, I said they can.

They have to allow you to withdraw any state benefits, but you usually have to visit a branch with ID to do this each time.

They also have to allow the payment of essential bills and enough money to pay for food/fuel.

It's money laundering law, fairly easy to look up if you're interested in knowing the details.

@WhatIsThisPlease

I inherited quite a large sum of money and after it had been deposited into my bank, they rang me and asked me where I'd got it from!

I told them I'd had a win on the horses 😂

This is a perfectly normal thing for them to do. They are supposed to know the source of funds. It is crime prevention. You lying and making a joke of it helps nobody and is a silly and childish waste of time.

@NumberTheory

Last time I transfered a large amount of money and got similar questions and insinuations about it obviously being dodgy I just said "That's rich coming from a banker" and raised an eyebrow.

How very witty and droll. A bank worker is definitely a banker and is definitely the ones responsible for dodgy moving of millions around...

That's almost as clever and hilarious as going to the checkout operator "oh the items doesn't scan? go on let me have it for free ha ha ha"

[quote AutomaticMoon]**@VanGoghsDog* I said he didn’t ask the bank for the money back from themselves but he did tell them this happened. PP said ‘you’d ask the bank for your money back’ but he didn’t do that. He asked them if there’s anything that can be done to get the money back from the scammer*

Make sense now, or is it still odd?[/quote]
What's odd is that you e been scammed yet you object to the banks trying to actively stop you getting scammed.

I think, on balance, you're an outlier here.

My mum has full capacity but is often on the verge of falling for scams, she's clicked on email and text links which so far have luckily not caused any issues, but one will work one day.

And she's regularly being over charged by tradespeople.

It's not that much of a stretch to see her falling for something where she loses a lot of money. I can't do anything about it. But luckily the banks do at least try to check.

@onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad

Like fuck do they care if you are getting scammed by someone

Being scammed can destroy people's lives - over £300 million has been lost in scams in one year.

I work with victims of fraud - it is quite shocking 1. how clever and manipulate scammers can be and 2. how easily victims are tricked.

Most UK banks are signed up to a voluntary, banking code which means they have a duty of care to protect their customers from getting scammed and are required to detect high risk payments, identify vulnerable people and freeze payments while they investigate if they think you may be the victim of a scam.

If they don't do enough to protect their customers (are negligent) while the customer has done enough to protect themselves (are not negligent) and the bank refuse to refund the customer's money in the event they have been scammed - the matter can be taken to the Financial Ombudsman (easy to do via an online form) who will allocate an independent advisor to look into the case.

If they find the bank has been negligent while the customer did enough to protect themselves - they will order the bank to refund the lost funds. I have known banks forced to refund as much as £200k, which is a loss to them. That's why they ask the questions.

When I listen to a vulnerable person, who has handed the entirety of their bank account over to a scammer, sometimes I wish they'd do more.

Thanks for this post. I'm finding most of the responses on this thread, really quite disturbing, in that people don't seem to have a clue.

This isn't remotely about staff being nosy. Why would they care? The teller has no curiosity about you as a person, whatsoever. But they do have a job to do, and would feel some responsibility if they themselves handed over thousands to someone who they later found out had been scammed.

On the one hand people who lose money will scream that the bank should have protected them, and on the other, when the bank tries to protect them, it's "IT'S MY F*ING MONEY AND THEY CAN KEEP THEIR NOSES OUT"

As I had to order the money, I’ve been back to get it and it was a much more pleasant experience. Same questions from a different cashier in a chattier tone and I was handed my money without a side helping of shame or judgement. Happy customer

I appreciate the concern from PPs and the financial advice. As I mentioned, my issue was with the judgement rather than the security questions - I understand why they have to do this and I was happy to answer them. This is not my life savings, just an amount that helps me feel secure to have on hand.

A few years ago, during the whole ‘no deal’ brexit threats, I read an article about the normalcy bias, the notion that people do not see the collapse of their country coming until it’s already underway. With the way things are going, I do not trust the government or institutions and I feel they are becoming more controlling of the poor while the rich get away with more and more. I’ve been an avid Prepper since and feel this was a prudent part of my planning. I know the money will be worthless in the event of a banking crash but there will be a small window before it happens where everyone will be trying to withdraw their money so this way, I’m ahead of the curve. Obviously, I hope it never happens, it’s an insurance policy just in case.

This thread has hardened my feelings on the matter and I can see why we’re sleepwalking into a cashless society with all the unforeseen consequences, where the wealth of the poor is even more tightly controlled by the rich and powerful.

Anyway, I’m off to dig a hole in my back garden

That entire posts just screams out, "I need help."

@ToffeePennee

As I had to order the money, I’ve been back to get it and it was a much more pleasant experience. Same questions from a different cashier in a chattier tone and I was handed my money without a side helping of shame or judgement. Happy customer

I appreciate the concern from PPs and the financial advice. As I mentioned, my issue was with the judgement rather than the security questions - I understand why they have to do this and I was happy to answer them. This is not my life savings, just an amount that helps me feel secure to have on hand.

A few years ago, during the whole ‘no deal’ brexit threats, I read an article about the normalcy bias, the notion that people do not see the collapse of their country coming until it’s already underway. With the way things are going, I do not trust the government or institutions and I feel they are becoming more controlling of the poor while the rich get away with more and more. I’ve been an avid Prepper since and feel this was a prudent part of my planning. I know the money will be worthless in the event of a banking crash but there will be a small window before it happens where everyone will be trying to withdraw their money so this way, I’m ahead of the curve. Obviously, I hope it never happens, it’s an insurance policy just in case.

This thread has hardened my feelings on the matter and I can see why we’re sleepwalking into a cashless society with all the unforeseen consequences, where the wealth of the poor is even more tightly controlled by the rich and powerful.

Anyway, I’m off to dig a hole in my back garden

If people are sleep walking into a cashless society (which i think is deeply problematic) and then there's a crash of some kind, having cash isn't necessarily going to help you.

If the supermarket no longer accepts cash, it wont suddenly switch to taking cash again. The cash you have will be worthless anyway because its only worth something if its accepted as currency.

We are more likely in a apocalyptic type scenario be seeing looting / bartering. Or if cash is accepted, the criminal targeting of anyone who looks like theyve got cash.

As its been said many times before, prepping only works if you also have the means and ability to defend yourself and your property. You are actually better cultivating good support networks and community culture for this reason.

If things go that badly tits up, working and having safety in groups works better than in an every man for himself scenario.

I think preppers tend to do the opposite.

Talking to a wholesale jeweller once who took stock home, he had a drainpipe plastic sealed at one end a drain cover on the other end dug into his land. He said that was safer than in the house.

We were burgled the mess. They pulled back carpet corners looking for loose floor boards emptied every drawer in the bedroom, shoe boxes, bathroom cabinet, freezer, food cupboards. This was while I was doing the school run. They'd been watching the place police said. They did a number of Homes in our road. Never caught.

They even gave the dog a bowl of milk

Cheeky cow. As you say, nothing to do with her...she's asked her security questions, she said that it's not advisable yadda yadda, and in doing so has ticked all the boxes for anti M-L etc...so what's with the eye-rolling and sighing?! I'd have pulled her up on it tbh and caused a scene. but then I'm menopausal and raging atm...

"I rather fancy a Waitrose apricot flan. Have you seen the price of those things?"

@justasking111 can just imagine how this would pan out with our dog. For milk, she'd let them in and then guard the house against us when we got home.

Op I think you need help, the banking system is not going to collapse and your money is much safer in the bank than under your mattress.

What will you do if you are robbed?

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

Op I think you need help, the banking system is not going to collapse and your money is much safer in the bank than under your mattress.

What will you do if you are robbed?

Yes. The problem is, the chances of you being robbed are about a billion times higher than the chances of global societal collapse.

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

Op I think you need help, the banking system is not going to collapse and your money is much safer in the bank than under your mattress.

What will you do if you are robbed?

My parents neighbour had a gardener. Retired bloke, insisted on cash but it was only a couple of hours light gardening/mowing a week. He didn't trust banks and only had a bank account to receive his pension and tried to pay everything in cash if he could. Every week he would clear his account and everyone knew he kept all his savings at home. He lived a very frugal lifestyle and everyone assumed he only had maybe a couple of thousand there. One night a couple of burglars broke in and threatened to beat him up if he didn't tell them where the cash was. So he did, it was in the attic. £30k, his entire life savings, gone and not covered by insurance.

Yes, I have also found bank cahiers can be very bossy. I went to withdraw money and got 'told off' by cashier for having too large an amount in my current account and told I should put most of it into savings account or ISA. I explained it was for deposit on a house and would be needed in a few months and she called over another person, who also told me I was in the wrong.

@caringcarer this is a sales technique and was even being touted back in the day when I was a graduate trainee at a now defunct building society almost 30 years ago.

They do it to my DPs as well. We do rather well out of it as DM goes oh yes there is too much there and transfers some to DS savings.

Well the chances are that if you had put it in a cash ISA you would have had a little bit more when you come to spend it 🤷‍♀️