Bank asked what my withdrawal was for

lunacyfoundme

Can anyone tell me if this contravenes the Data Protection Act or any or laws.

I got a large withdrawal of €6,000 from the bank today and they asked me what the purpose of the withdrawal was for. Naturally I told them to mind their own business. I was just wondering, are they even allowed to ask for that kind of information?

Paulw

They asked, probably out of a marketing reason.

You had no obligation to answer, and you didn't tell them.

End of story really. I can't think of any issue with them asking.

Bogger77

under money laundering legislation?

Our man in Havana

Nope. Amount is below any threshold for reporting.

abouttobebanned

The 3:30 at Sandown.

seamus

lunacyfoundme wrote: »

I was just wondering, are they even allowed to ask for that kind of information?

Of course they are. They can ask you whatever they want

Whether you answer the question is up to you.

I've withdrawn large amounts like that and been asked what they're for. Never really bothered me to say. Not really sure why they'd ask. I can only think of two reasons:

1. Customer retention, "I'm opening a new account elsewhere"
2. Customer protection, "There's a guy on my email who's offering me €10 million if I pay €6,000 upfront to release the funds".

careca11

you shoulda made up a made story ,

I took 6 grand out because I'm heading to Berlin , I'm going the Artemis br0thel because I've a dose of the bluesballs-united , so I want blow all the money to satify my needs ,

the bank offical wouldn't be long shutting up

lunacyfoundme

Next time I'll just say 'I'm on the prossies!'

32minutes

Actually it is in relation to Anti-Money Laundering regulations and a normal anti fraud measure (where they suspect that someone else might be perpetrating identity theft by impersonating a customer and making an unusually large transaction or what Seamus referred aswell to which by the way does happen), the bank is under an obligation to monitor ANY suspicious activity (6k I can assume would could get you alot of very dangerous items if you knew where to get them) that it may become aware of.

A good response might have been; why are you asking ? It may have been more productive given the circumstances...

No matter how much you might hate the banks they do have responsibilities too folks, and these do extend to the protection of their customers. I mean why do you think they were asking you ? Curiosity ? Customer retention (god forbid they want to keep your business) ? or just for the craic ?

Did the question necessitate being rude to a member of staff doing their job ? That's up to you I suppose

Paulw

I would have assumed it's for marketing, or to sell you services -

if you're taking it out to buy a car, they may offer you a car loan.
if you're taking it out to clear a credit card debt, they may offer you a new card with a credit transfer option at 0% for 6 months.

Things like that.

Banks are using every means possible to keep your money with them, and to also try to sell you new services.

If it was for anti-money laundering, surely answering is mandatory?

Our man in Havana

If it was for anti-money laundering, surely answering is mandatory?

You would certainly think so unless none of your business is a valid answer.

I doubt it has anything to do with ML as the amount is below any reportable level.

32minutes

Paulw wrote: »

I would have assumed it's for marketing, or to sell you services -

if you're taking it out to buy a car, they may offer you a car loan.
if you're taking it out to clear a credit card debt, they may offer you a new card with a credit transfer option at 0% for 6 months.

Things like that.

Banks are using every means possible to keep your money with them, and to also try to sell you new services.

If it was for anti-money laundering, surely answering is mandatory?

Even we ignore the constitutional right of the presumption of innocence which in most case allows people to refuse to answer any questions without inferring guilt, there is still no compulsion to answer any of these questions, it's your money and obviously your entitled to it, but the bank is not the Gardaí or the DPP, they can't carry out specific investigations and try to prove your guilt, all they can do is ASK POLITELY and REPORT.


I take what your saying about marketing on board but as I said before so what if the bank wants to keep your business ? report them to the financial ombudsman if they are improperly marketing and you had wished to opt out, the FR is waiting to pounce on them these days aswell.

And the balance of risk lies absolutely with the banks in this case, don't forget that these anti money laundering laws and anti fraud laws are there for great reason, really excellent pieces of legislative burden sharing.
Modern middle eastern terrorism started with the influx of Wahabi oil money, organised crime such as the mafia and dissident republicans have been proven to be ridiculously sensitive to measures targeting funding throughout history; if someone had of asked what they were doing when 30k stg cash was (allegedly allegedly allegedly) thrown in Berie Aherne's a/c in the 90's might have saved us a load of hassle.

In fact the banks would much prefer not to be involved with AML as much and lower their burden but the EU and international wisdom has said (rightly) that the banks are in the best position to REPORT suspicious behaviour in the first instance and so placed this burden on them.What if the banks did report the OP's withdrawal to the proper authorities, they considered that this was unusual behaviour, turns out he had a criminal record and gang affiliations (this is all hypo people), gardaí decide to keep an eye on him, turns out he was about to make a drugs buy with the money ? Good thing or bad thing ?

Also regarding the reportable levels of ML, organised criminals and terrorists are NOT stupid, do they walk into the bank, lob in 50k, xfer to Pakistan please, cheers, close my a/c there aswell, see you next week ? come on. large cash transfers are red flags, way too easy people, they spread it nice and evenly, use long standing customers, once off placements of funds, transfer into separate a/c's and then withdraw from a long term a/c that's been there for years even in another bank... they read the legislation same as everyone else and know the levels for automatic reports. And everything there is separate from small level financial fraud, which is widespread and I'm glad the banks are supposed to look out for it.

By saying they had no good reason to ask is to relieve them of any responsibility for money laundering AND smaller instances of fraud as mentioned, your cutting off your nose to spite your face.

P.S. they did this well before the 2008 also

amdublin

They may have been asking in order to assist you

Eg

You: I'm buying a car from a fella
Them: right, maybe safer if you take in bank draft rather than cash?

EarlERizer

Clerk:"And may I ask why your withdrawing this amount"
Me:"Its my money, thanks"
simples

Victor

Our man in Havana wrote: »

You would certainly think so unless none of your business is a valid answer.

I doubt it has anything to do with ML as the amount is below any reportable level.

While there are mandatory reporting levels, any unusual transaction can be reported.

If I normally take out €50 cash a week and put the rest on my card and have done this for years, but suddenly take out €6,000, that would tweak some interest.

Also, it is often not the answer, but the reaction that is sought.