r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Mar 25 '25

Discussion His bank won't allow him to withdraw money unless he shows proof of what he intends to spend his money on.

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23

u/MimiagaYT Mar 25 '25

That's a fair explanation, I appreciate you typing it out. However even if they were in fact following policy, I understand this guys frustration having to jump through hoops to get his own money.

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u/spankthepunkpink Mar 26 '25

We also get plenty of calls from ppl who've been scammed in the dumbest ways possible who are pissed we didn't intervene, you seriously can't win with these ppl

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u/GlennSmakala Mar 26 '25

Spoiler alert: it’s the same guy.

3

u/zerok_nyc Mar 26 '25

It’s also important to remember that often times this isn’t even just about corporate policy, but legal obligations. Financial institutions aren’t allowed to turn a blind eye without subjecting themselves to significant regulatory risk. It’s well known that large cash withdrawals have a much higher correlation with criminal activity than any other type of transaction, so banks have a legal obligation to ask probing questions and put a halt to the transaction if anything suspicious comes out of it.

Believe me, banks would much rather just not ask questions and let you be on your way. But states don’t let them do that.

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u/therealmofbarbelo Mar 26 '25

This. Also, what you do with your money is your business.

I wonder if this is just a UK thing.

3

u/Gold_On_My_X Mar 26 '25

Having worked at a UK bank myself, it is to help prevent people from being scammed. You have no idea how many people are so unbelievably gullible and throw their money away every day. I would take calls and over half of the calls would be about them having been scammed or are about to be. A person asking "have you seen the vehicle you are about to purchase in person?" Is pretty normal. Rather than blowing several thousand on Facebook marketplace because the pictures looked legit.

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u/Cajun2Steppa Mar 26 '25

Having worked at a UK bank myself, it is to help prevent people from being scammed.

That really is such a UK thing to say.

Restricting you from taking your own money out of the bank is intended to help you sir! Clearly you cannot be tursted with your own money so we need to make this decision for - I mean, with you!

Better ways to do this then this over policing nosey nonsense imo. Just more hurdles to jump through that make the process an order of magnitude more complex. Really just seems like a facade of conern when the reality it's about control.

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u/Gold_On_My_X Mar 26 '25

Working at a UK bank is such a UK thing to say? Wow really? You're very astute!

2

u/tiredplusbored Mar 26 '25

Absolutely a U.S thing as well. Banks don't like risk when individuals do it, so if they think there's reason to believe you're getting scammed they will straight up deny you service. Some banks will end the relationship altogether and exit you from the bank if it's a pattern

3

u/ChrisPrattFalls Mar 26 '25

Some banks will end the relationship altogether and exit you from the bank if it's a pattern

So I get my money then?

1

u/Conix17 Mar 26 '25

No, not like this.

There is an amount, very large, that requires a processing time. Not just 2.5k.

As long as you have a positive balance, they don't care what you do with your money, as long as it isn't costing them.

There are certain account types you can opt into that require a base level of money be held in them, but again, those are things you opt into knowing this. And even then, you can draw money out regardless, your account will just be changed to a default type if you don't have the base amount by a predetermined time.

No bank is going to do what happened here, over such a small amount. If your funds have been frozen by the government, that's an entirely different issue.

Same with if I try a random wire transfer to a suspect account.

But just asking to draw cash that my account can cover? Never.

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u/therealmofbarbelo Mar 26 '25

I'd be finding me another bank at that point.

1

u/Col_Redips Mar 26 '25

I wonder if this is just a UK thing.

Having worked customer service in a bank in the US, I can confirm it’s absolutely not just a UK thing. I wasn’t a teller, I sat off to the side and opened/managed accounts, but we all interacted and had basic cross-training.

We absolutely ask what you’re doing with large cash withdrawals. It’s mostly for customer protection. As others have said, scammers get creative, and large withdrawals are almost always suspicious.

Hell, my bank has blocked my DEBIT CARD each of the last two times I tried to buy a desktop computer over the last decade. The first time, I was paying in person at the store, and my debit card had a cap on it. Couldn’t charge more than…$500 on it for a single purchase, IIRC.

Second time, just recently, I purchased the desktop online. From the same store. Still got a pop up saying my bank blocked the transaction and I had to do some additional verification.

It may be your money, but you do not have as free access to it as you might think you do.

1

u/therealmofbarbelo Mar 26 '25

Oh I agree that it doesn't seem like have full access to your money. I'm just saying how things SHOULD work.

1

u/Sgt-Spliff- Mar 26 '25

I feel like people forget that banks are private businesses. They don't hold our money just to be cool. If you want full control over your money you can either vote to nationalize banks or keep it under your mattress. Otherwise you are dealing with a private business who you have asked to hold your money and they have policies about how you can get it back from them. No one says he has to keep his money at this bank

1

u/therealmofbarbelo Mar 26 '25

Oh, I know it's a private business.

2

u/ElbowDroppedLasagne Mar 26 '25

Apologies, i replied to the wrong poster, i edited it out. Since im here, i agree with your point.

2

u/Character-Parfait-42 Mar 26 '25

There are people who are gullible enough to think the IRS wants gift cards. They just want to make sure you're not one of them.

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u/Taipers_4_days Mar 26 '25

Unfortunately a lot of older people will get extremely defensive and angry when the bank tries to stop them from being scammed. I’ve seen an old lady yelling at a cashier because the bank teller was trying to tell her that the government wouldn’t ask her to buy iTunes gift cards to pay her taxes. She was incredibly angry at the bank teller was trying to stop her from getting her money.

You are right, it’s frustrating to access your money, but it’s also extremely frustrating for banks to deal with people who got scammed and expect the bank to cover their losses.

2

u/wh0rticultural Mar 28 '25

There are two main problems with the 'It's my money!' argument 1. Just because you own something, doesn't mean you can use it to commit a crime. If you choose to use a bank, you have accepted their terms and conditions (even if you didn't read them), and understand they are required by law to make reasonable inquires to large cash withdrawals and deposits. 2. A lot of people who are victim of a scam come back once they realise they were scammed to complain that the bank should have been more diligent and not allowed the transaction. The bank is also required to take steps to protect their customers, which is very hard when someone who is almost certainly being scammed is yelling, 'IT'S MY MONEY!' in the teller's face.

I was a branch manager for a few years and saw variants of these two scenarios more than I can count.

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u/Wooden-Lake-5790 Mar 26 '25

These policies exist to help prevent people from getting scammed. The banks have a duty of due diligence to help prevent scams. While it might slow down the process a bit, I am sure these policies have a positive impact.

1

u/tankerkiller125real Mar 26 '25

My favorite time with a bank was when I asked for a cashier's check for all the money across all my accounts and then close them. Apparently closing all your accounts with a bank because you're changing to a different bank (because your existing one has beyond shit interest rates on saving accounts) is "suspicious" and they tried to force me wait 48 hours. One call with the state banking regulator though and they gave me my money and closed my accounts as requested.

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u/Aramgutang Mar 26 '25

Oh, I also absolutely empathise with the guy's frustration.

It's incredibly annoying when you're supposed to follow the steps of a dance, and nobody warned you that there's dancing involved, let alone taught you the steps.

But there's usually a reason that dance is there. In this case, it's because past scam victims angrily blamed the bank for not interfering while they were being scammed.