Any Bank Workers Around?

[NewPostNewName]

I'm still really upset over what happened and i think it would be good to see if anyone can explain this for me so I can move on and not worry about going in the branch again.

A couple of weeks ago I went into my local branch and tried to withdraw some cash. It was less than £3,000 and several months ago (February) I had withdrawn a higher amount with no problems just had to show one photo ID and signature.

This time a block was put on my account, the bank worker had to call a number. After several minutes of them talking they passed the phone over to me and the other person started asking questions. Why did I want it, who for, why couldn't I have a bank transfer etc, that i really needed to do a bank transfer not cash. They were quite aggressive and implied that if I didn't answer correctly I would be blocked until I did. I actually ended up in tears because I only wanted my money. They said they would remove the block this time.

I had 2x photo ID
My signature matched
I had both my debit and savings cards on me

It was the implied threat of no cash this time or next. There was no explanation of what I needed to bring next time to avoid this. There was no mention of scammers or fraud. It was also done at the counter in front of multiple customers who could overhear me.

It was actually quite frightening.

I wonder if they were concerned about social engineering type fraud? They were happy with ID but more worried you were not being pressured into taking the money out under false pretences. I used to work as a bank cashier and have seen similar happen occasionally.

And why are you not doing a bank transfer?

@wetwiped

but more worried you were not being pressured into taking the money out under false pretences.
You mean like those phone scammers who say someone has accessed your account, go withdraw it all and we will send a courier? They never asked if I felt coerced or under pressure or if a nonfamily member had asked me. That I could understand especially if it was over £10K. It was the you have to tell us everything or we won't unblock the account. It was under £3K!!

I was starting to think they would keep it blocked which would mean no ATM or a supermarket shop. It was a horrendous 15 minutes, very invasive.

This happened to a friend of ours. Treated like a criminal because he wanted to withdraw £5k in cash from his bank account. I don't know if he was a criminal himself, but the builder he wanted the money to pay certainly was, because of course, he was paying the builder cash so the job didn't go through the books so wasn't declared for VAT and/or income tax.

There's a lot of pressure now to stamp out tax fraud, money laundering and robbing the vulnerable because withdrawing large amounts of cash can be an indicator of one of these because, in reality, there isn't any need to use cash like this any more.

A bank transfer is safer - no risk of losing the money if you're mugged on the way home from the bank. If you're buying a car, paying a builder etc, you can do a bank transfer on your phone wherever you are - the number of people who can post on an internet forum but cannot access internet banking will be almost zero.

So, the question is, why are you not doing a bank transfer?

It will have been fraud prevention. There are very few legitimate and/or sensible reasons that people want that much cash, so they are obliged to keep tabs on it.

They were happy with ID but more worried you were not being pressured into taking the money out under false pretences. I used to work as a bank cashier and have seen similar happen occasionally

I was asked this when I transferred a large amount (£ 40K) but it was polite and professional. There are ways of doing this that don't embarrass a customer in front of other customers. This should have been done in a private room.

Complain, OP. The bank staff have discussed your private business in public and were aggressive to you - something that they don't tolerate in their customers. As this was in the banking hall it should be on camera,

And you don't have to tell people on here why you don't want/can't to make a bank transfer, either.

Was it Nat West? when I was working in banking there was zero surprise when NW was at the back of any fuckups, and that was the 90s.

They tend to be very strict with cash withdrawals because if it transpires you’re being scammed it’s next to impossible to get your money back as it’s cash. Most places accept bank transfers nowadays so cash tends to flag up. Also (and I don’t say this to offend) but if you’ve came across frightened and jittery they might have thought you was being forced into making the withdrawal maybe?
Maybe ask if you should order the cash next time? In my old branch the daily limit was £2.5k without notice (that was 5-6 years ago).

Clicked post too soon sorry.

It does sound like you’ve had some shitty customer service however, rather then take the approach of “we’re here to protect your money” they’ve gone on a power trip. Is there another branch you could visit.

I tried to transfer £2k to Spain online and my account was blocked.
I called the fraud dept as requested and spent around 15 minutes trying to convince them to let me do it!!
I fully appreciate that they have to be sure it’s legit and the questions were very in depth. At one point the person told me that the reason for the payment sounded dodgy (it wasn’t) since “that’s not how banks work” and I asked him how familiar he was with the Spanish banking system.
In the end I said that I fully appreciated their concern but I was very confident it was a legitimate transaction and I fully understood the risks if not and I was prepared to take full responsibility myself and I knew that the bank couldn’t help me if it turned out to be fraudulent.
Even that wasn’t good enough as they had to “protect other people”.
I got bored of arguing and asked if I could transfer it to a 3rd party in Spain who was already set up on my account and who I had paid several times previously so they could pay it for me.
They agreed and unblocked the account.
I know people get caught by fraud and it’s good that banks help people like this but sometimes it’s taken to ridiculous extremes that seem to just be arse covering

I think you are within your rights to complain about how they spoke to you. I do however think they should be questioning why such a large withdrawal is needed. But there are ways of doing this.

Customer service in this case has been very poor. However the number of scams out there at the moment are incredible. People are being groomed into taking out cash for scammers and the bank have processes to follow when someone walks in to take out a high cash value. There really are few legitimate reasons why you would need that much cash. If it's for a trades person, they're clearly doing a tax dodge. Arguably that's not the bank persons business but they do lots of training for what to do in these situations.

but they do lots of training for what to do in these situations

Clearly its not enough.

I think banks are in a difficult position. If they treat customers like children to prevent fraud then people get pissed off, but when adults get scammed, the first thing many do is try to get the bank to fix it or cover the loss.

There are no end of radio call-ins and news articles with people doing sad face because they, or a vulnerable relative, got scammed and they aren't happy with their bank because of it.

What if the OP had answered 'well I want to put it on horse number 3 at Wetherby' ? Would they have stopped them from withdrawing the cash?

@Thunderpunt

Depends on the bank and if you have made yourself known as a gambling addict - some banks do allow you to self exclude from certain types/ patterns of transaction to prevent problematic gambling.

@wutheringkites I understand that does happen- but assuming this wasn't the case. Do they have any right to make a moral judgement on where one chooses to spend their own money?

I’ve had my internet banking blocked by Lloyds three times in the last year for daring to transfer money to a reputable double glazing supplier, second instalment of the same, and my own Lloyds current account. It takes roughly half an hour to reach their fraud department, they never call you.

Their anti-fraud flagging mechanism is not fit for purpose.

Handy hint: if you complain enough they will give you £75 compensation.

They tend to be very strict with cash withdrawals because if it transpires you’re being scammed it’s next to impossible to get your money back as it’s cash.
Then they should have said that. Lay it all out and get me to sign a disclaimer or something.

Also (and I don’t say this to offend) but if you’ve came across frightened and jittery they might have thought you was being forced into making the withdrawal maybe?
I was perfectly fine until I realised they might never unblock it. It was the " you must tell us" approach.

The banks attitude is the reason I want cash.

No, they don't, but I've never heard of a bank doing that. Have you?

Part of this will be coming from the anti-money laundering regs too - HMRC put a lot of responsibility on banks to keep track of where large sums come from and go to.

Yeah that’s completely the wrong approach to take I fully agree. It should be more of a we’re here to help, please speak to us rather then threatening.

@wutheringkites I was asking a hypothetical question. Do you work in a bank? If so - are you able to answer whether they can refuse to hand over your cash if they don't like the reason you give?

I can understand that, but it was less than 3K. I won't say how much but some people could earn this particular amount in a fortnight. That's not that large.

Thanks all. I'm not sure if it was their refusal to unblock despite them accepting my ID or whether it was because I wasn't in a private room (I was right next to the open doorway so people were passing me to go to the next counter or leaving), or their refusal to explain. It was almost as though it was their money and I was asking for a handout.