English Bank Restricts Cash Withdrawals
HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals
24 January 2014
By Bob Howard Reporter, Money Box, BBC
Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. 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.
The bank says it has now changed its guidance to staff.
Stephen Cotton went to his local HSBC branch this month to withdraw 7,000 pounds 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 A year before, he had withdrawn a larger sum in cash from HSBC without a problem.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 pounds?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have 4,000 pounds?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for 3,000 pounds and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "
He asked if he could return later that day to withdraw another 3,000 pounds, but he was told he could not do the same thing twice in one day.
Peter from Wiltshire, who wanted his surname withheld, had a similar experience. He wanted to take out 10 000 pounds cash from HSBC, some to pay to his sons and some to fund his long-haul travel plans. Peter phoned up the day before to give HSBC notice and everything seemed to be fine. The next day he got a call from his local branch asking him to pay his sons via a bank payment and to provide booking receipts for his holidays. Peter did not have any booking receipts to show. The following day he spoke to HSBC again and this time, having examined his account, it said he could withdraw the 10,000.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25861717