With Central Bank Digital Currency you could be required to get approval for every purchase.
The answer he should have given was to change his request to close the account, taking the maximum daily counter limit in cash and the rest in a cashier’s check.
Would be nice to know what bank this was but it is not mentioned but if I had to guess it’s Bank of America based on the occupation question. I got a letter from them asking for that info and warning that they would close the credit card if my information were not complete by such and such date (a month away). So I called them up and cancelled the card.
This has been going on for a long time but really accelerated after 9/11. Banks are required to report to the Feds any transaction exceeding $10,000. Anyone who wants to make cash transactions is assumed to be involved in criminal activity. Now go look up Civil Asset Forfeiture to find out what happens if law enforcement catches you with a large amount of cash.
> She turns back to me and says that her supervisor wants to know what the money is for. <
This behavior is not uncommon. The same thing happened to a friend of mine who went to withdraw $2000 from his savings account.
Here’s the thing. Scammers from India are using phone calls and emails to convince people that they owe money to the IRS. Or that they must bond a relative out of jail. Or etc. There are many variations on the scam.
Once the victim has withdrawn the money, he is instructed to buy gift cards for the scammer, or deposit the money in the scammer’s Bitcoin account. It sounds ludicrous, but people are falling for it.
So it’s quite possible that the bank was trying to do the right thing, and prevent a fraud.
Even so, it’s wrong to hassle a customer that way. Much better if the bank would include a flyer with each withdrawal, warning the customer of the many scams out there.
I always get cash to go buy a used car or motorcycle or snowmobile from a private seller. No one takes checks or cards. My credit union never says boo.
Be nice to know how much cash he’s talking about, since banks generally don’t have a huge amount lying around.
Should have told them it was for more guns and ammo...
Zipties. The money is for zipties.