Federal Limit on how many transfers I can make from savings?

An Announcement from My Bank ^ | 31 DEC 03 | ME

[tomakaze]

[the url is just a link to my bank, if I knew what the law was I'd hunt it up and link to it instead]
 
I went to check my account balance to see what I had to play with this evening when I noticed this in my accounts inbox:
Subject: Transfer from Savings LIMIT OF 6
Date Sent: 12/30/2003 00:00:00 CST
Alert ID: xxxxxxx
 
THE FEDERAL REGULATION STATES THAT WE CAN ONLY ALLOW 6 TRANSFERS PER MONTH FROM ANY SAVINGS ACCOUNT. This is not a credit union regulation. If you have questions about this regulation, please call the credit union and speak to eit
 

[Spiff]

That's because pseudoephedrine is a convenient starting material for basement lab synthesis of methamphetamine.

I'm aware of that. However, the WalMart policy - as programmed into their cash registers - is to disallow a purchase of more than 3 items containing pseudoephedrine. Doesn't matter how small the items are or whether the product could practically be synthesized into meth. No, instead they disallow anything over three - the cash registers refuse the transaction. I spoke to the manager of the WalMart today and he said that they've now programmed the registers to still refuse the transaction and to also spit out a piece of paper explaining the policy. He said that this is an agreement that WalMart has with the FedGov.

[templar]

. I'll make sure to make six $9,999.99 transfer next month, just to piss off the Palm County District Attorne

Bad idea. That is called structuring (removing money from an account in a manner designed to avoid the 10,000 dollar reporting requirement)). It's reported to the Federal Government. Been that way a long time and is even moreso now with the patirot act in place. You'll be on the list of suspected terrorists, drug dealers and underground economy tax cheats.

[madison10]

And the other day, when the entire family had the flu, my wife tried to buy a bottle of NyQuil, a bottle of Day-Quil, a bottle of children's decongestant, and a small box of 24 decongestant pills at WalMart. The clerk told her that she could not do that. So, she had to make two separate purchases. Some sort of regulation on PseudoEphedrine limited how many products containing it she could buy per transaction. Fact is, she probably broke some other law by breaking up the transactions.

Big Brother has Officially & Permanently moved in. Geez!!

[madison10]

Walked into a CU for a transaction two weeks ago. Teller said that it would cost $3 for her to deal with the transaction, but that there would be no charge to use the ATM & asked if I had an ATM card (nope) I didn't care at the time if I paid or not I needed the $$$.

Are they working on phaseing tellers out altogether?

[steve86]

Especially when my $15 transfer ended up costing me $105.

I had another painful lesson. My credit union actually changed their routing number. The old checks were no longer usable. I had thought I had discarded all the old checkbooks but missed one. Used it to pay 13 bills. Fees and penalties came to $390, and the credit card companies raised interest rates, etc. Fortunately, I got everything reversed except for about $25. At least 8 hours of work writing all the letters. The six-transfer limit has hit me too, even when transferring from my own savings to checking account.

[Protagoras]

Are they working on phaseing tellers out altogether

Some banks are. Other will cater to the demand for personalized service. It's just the typical ebb and flow of business.

[tomakaze]

re:If you have to dip into your savings account more than six times a month...you should do everyone a favor and be putting that money in a checking account.
 
Can you read?

[John Robertson]

Yes, I can read. Your TITLE says savings account, your post says savings account, then you start whining about the federal government intruding in your life. Maybe the banks are doing the intruding...because of nickel and dimers like yourself who use savings accounts for their piggy banks. You've gone and launched this whole thread because you were personally ticked off because of rules and regulations that you see not just as an inconvenience but as some grand conspiracy. Get a calculator, make a budget, stop wasting bandwidth.

[gitmo]

"Government is not the solution to the problem. Government is the problem" - Ronald Reagan

---

When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny. –Thomas Jefferson

---

"[Congressional jurisdiction of power] is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any." - James Madison, Federalist 14

---

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined . . . to be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce." - James Madison, Federalist 45

---

"This specification of particulars [the 18 enumerated powers of Article I, Section 8] evidently excludes all pretension to a general legislative authority, because an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd as well as useless if a general authority was intended." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 83

---

"No legislative act … contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 78

[tomakaze]

Maybe comprehension is your problem then. Stated several times in the thread I've got both checking and savings. the problem I referred to had to do with the limit on transfers from savings to checking internally. Money aint the problem,. I posted the thread to get info on what seemed like a new law (why else would they send out a memo on the 30th), which thanks to some good folks, I got.
I don't know who pissed in your wheaties but as far as I'm concerned you can pretty much spin on it.

[SoftballMominVA]

Back in the very early 80's I worked as a customer service rep for a Savings Bank---remember those? This was right after some sort of deregulation from the late 70's. I distinctly remember this being a regulation back then. It was explained to me that at one point it was put into place to protect savings and loans and to draw a distinction between checking accounts and savings accounts. If you NEEDED to make more than 6 transactions, you needed a checking account.There were plenty of customers that complained about it back then.

Also the time of guaranteed 5.25% passbook savings. Damn I'm starting to feel old.

All that being said, at least you can know that this is not new and not aimed at you. It should be spelled out in some sort of terms and agreements that your bank is required to give you. If they didn't give you that when you opened the account, someone is negligent.

[John Robertson]

Look, I get it, I really do. You're mad because you can't do what you want to do. So you've decided to stomp your feet in public. Fine, have your tantrum. If my thinking that anyone who has to transfer funds from savings to checking MORE than six times in a 30-day period really needs to take a basic home-ec course, then I plead guilty to a problem with comprehension. Why don't you ask the folks at your institution how to avoid this problem in the future. You will no doubt get a Duh! look and a recommendation to keep more than $32. in your checking account at any one time. There. Pissed on your passbook.

[Badray]

"They are in denial."

You're right. And then there are those that just like being in the warm embrace of a caretaker government protecting them from all of the evils of a capitalist society.

[Badray]

" After a brief period of separation, I believe the U.S. would've reunited ultimately - but adhering to a federal framework closer to what our forefathers specified in the Constitution."

My thoughts exactly.

Sic semper tyrannus.

[Badray]

They sound like interesting reading, but I may have to wait to the next life to find time to read them. LOL

[Badray]

"Is it illegal to tell me that if you told me it will be violating the law? Or is it just the initial telling me a violation?"

If I tell you that the bank is required to report a $10,000.00 cash withdrawal to the fedguv, they can construe that to mean that I was telling you to 'structure' the deal to avoid the report. Structuring is a crime and the feds can and have prosecuted people for it. Some car salesmen in the DC area about 10 years ago got a Club Fed vacation as a result.

[Badray]

"And, don't forget, the government establishes the timeframe you can use YOUR money without penalty by establishing the earliest and latest ages you can take distribution."

I was at a retirement planning seminar and as I listened to all of the 'you_have_to' and 'you cannot' BS with regard to MY money. Everyone is sitting like sheep nodding in accepting this. It just reinforced my distaste for government involvement in my life.

[Badray]

"Put your money in an account that allows you unlimited transactions.My money market account does restrict,so I transfer to my checking account to write several checks. Credit union accounts aren't obviously like a normal checking account."

You either just don't get it or you like the hand of government in every aspect of your life.

If the bank chooses to impose a restriction, I don't have a problem with that. If I don't like it, I'll switch to another bank. But the freekin' FEDERAL GOVERNMENT wrote this rule? They try to micromanage everything.

[Lurking in Kansas]

If I tell you that the bank is required to report a $10,000.00 cash withdrawal to the fedguv, they can construe that to mean that I was telling you to 'structure' the deal to avoid the report. Structuring is a crime and the feds can and have prosecuted people for it. Some car salesmen in the DC area about 10 years ago got a Club Fed vacation as a result.

I was being facetious with my remarks. But seriously, that is completely asinine to construe informing an individual of the regulations as assisting them in avoiding the report. I’ve had bankers tell me of the withdrawal regulation during transactions and it’s obviously common knowledge. The case of the car salesman would be an interesting read.

Seems another case of the Feds “twisting” the law to prosecute someone. *sigh*