Nanny Knows Best

Nanny Knows Best
Dedicated to exposing, and resisting, the all pervasive nanny state that is corroding the way of life and the freedom of the people of Britain.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Nanny HSBC Blocks Large Cash Withdrawals


Sadly the Nanny state extends far beyond government and local authority rules and regulations, it is also highly prevalent within the private sector.

Nanny's chums in HSBC have taken it upon themselves to prevent customers from making large sum cash withdrawals, unless the hapless customers can provide evidence of what they intend to use the money for.

Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000.

HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November.

Stephen Cotton went to his local HSBC branch this month to withdraw £7,000 from his instant access savings account to pay back a loan from his mother.

A year before, he had withdrawn a larger sum in cash from HSBC without a problem.

But this time it was different, as he told Money Box:
"When we presented them with the withdrawal slip, they declined to give us the money because we could not provide them with a satisfactory explanation for what the money was for. They wanted a letter from the person involved."
Mr Cotton says the staff refused to tell him how much he could have: "So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "

He asked if he could return later that day to withdraw another £3,000, but he was told he could not do the same thing twice in one day.

Hardly "instant access" is it?
 
He wrote to complain to HSBC about the new rules and also that he had not been informed of any change. 

The bank said it did not have to tell him. "As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account, we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change."

Such arrogance!

Now that this has become public, HSBC has buckled (as Nanny always does when she is exposed to ridicule and contempt) and is changing the policy:
"We ask our customers about the purpose of large cash withdrawals when they are unusual and out of keeping with the normal running of their account. Since last November, in some instances we may have also asked these customers to show us evidence of what the cash is required for.

The reason being we have an obligation to protect our customers, and to minimise the opportunity for financial crime. However, following feedback, we are immediately updating guidance to our customer facing staff to reiterate that it is not mandatory for customers to provide documentary evidence for large cash withdrawals, and on its own, failure to show evidence is not a reason to refuse a withdrawal. We are writing to apologise to any customer who has been given incorrect information and inconvenienced."
So long as the customer can prove his/her identity and so long as Nanny does not have reason to believe that the withdrawal is being made under duress, then it is not Nanny's business what the money will be used for.

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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:47 PM

    If a bank did that to me, my next visit would be to close my account.

    Oh, that's what happened with Midland about 20 years ago when they messed me around about money transfers. Admittedly, that was ignorance and screwups as opposed to policy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tonk.2:16 PM

    This country gets worse. I can understand having to give notice to a bank that you wish to withdraw a large cash amount the next day, because if, say twenty people all wanted to withdraw say £25,000 on one day, the bank may not have enough cash to cover it but, I really fail to see why a bank would think they have the right to ask for the type of information they have asked for in this piece.

    If I banked with HSBC and I went in to withdraw a large cash sum and they started to give me the third degree as to what I was going to do with it, I would say I was withdrawing it to put it into an account with another bank that doesn't treat its customers with suspicion or like criminals.

    I would like HSBC to name and shame the silly suit that thought this was a good policy and was within the banks remit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Toy Trumpet5:51 PM

    Haha! I read this story yesterday in disbelief. There is no way I would comply with the request. I would answer as to why I needed a loan. But why I need my own money? None of your business.

    If they insisted on an answer I would go with the George Best answer. "Most of it is for birds and booze, but the rest I will just squander."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lord of Atlantis10:47 AM

    What a cheek! If I was asked that kind of personal question by a bank, I'd answer
    "Mind your own business!" and, like you, Anonymous, and you, Tonk, immediately transfer my account to a bank that does not treat it's customers like criminals!

    ReplyDelete