Here's What Happens if You Withdraw $10,000 From Your Bank Account

The Motley Fool ^ | July 9, 2024 | Dana George

[where's_the_Outrage?]

KEY POINTS

The Bank Secrecy Act has been around since the Nixon administration.

The law was designed to stop criminal enterprises, large and small.

Unless you're breaking the law, you have nothing to worry about.

It's your money, and generally, you have the right to withdraw as much -- or as little -- as you desire from your bank account. However, under a law called the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), banks must report any deposits or withdrawals of $10,000 or more. Here, we'll cover why the BSA exists and if it's anything you need to be concerned about.......

During the Nixon administration, the government decided to pursue financial fraud at the banking level. To catch money launderers, drug dealers, and other bad players, they needed the help of financial institutions. And so the Bank Secrecy Act was born.

Under BSA, banks became legally obligated to report any deposits or withdrawals over $10,000.

In all fairness to the government, $10,000 was worth a heck of a lot more in 1970 than it is today. In fact, a deposit or withdrawal of $10,000 in May 1970 was worth $81,365 in today's money, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI Inflation Calculator. If someone made a deposit or withdrawal that large back then, it was worth noticing.

What's interesting is that the $10,000 threshold hasn't changed. Because $10,000 doesn't have the buying power it once did, there are more Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) being sent to the IRS than ever before.

[MAGAthon]

“Because $10,000 doesn’t have the buying power it once did, there are more Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) being sent to the IRS than ever before”

sounds like a cover-up of the Biden’s SARs!

[Kathy in OC]

There must be more to this story. The filing of a SAR does not instigate an arrest, but prompts an investigation. If there is no illegal activity associated with the deposit that is the end of it. There is no law against large cash transactions. What was she charged with?

[Drago]

Yeah, I remember $300. then $500. daily limits on my Credit Union’s Debit/ATM card, but in the last few weeks they upped the daily limit to $1,018. which is a strange number since you can only get $20. & $50. bills from the ATM. Hard to make $1,018. with those bills!

I must be old, I remember when ATM’s were loaded with $5. and $20. bills!

Bidinflation biting hard!

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

I owned restaurants for 25 years my weekend deposits were massive AND a pain in the ass to deposit, if I made a deposit of 10,000 I had to fill out paperwork SO I split up my deposits to 8,000 increments and went to the damn bank EVERYDAY until the weekend deposits were in the bank THEN started the whole thing all over again for the next week!! Now everyone uses debit cards so I imagine it is a whole lot easier on small businesses not nearly the amount of in person deposits!!

[Eva]

I am having trouble with Wells Fargo and I don’t know if the threats are real or just mistakes. I don’t know who talk to unravel all the problems. We went into the local bank to ask about it and the woman just laughed about the letters and said don’t worry. Now, they. Are telling me that they are making changes to our other account and that we have to deposit $250,000 in the account and maintain that balance. It sounds like a scam! Do they just want us to leave the bank and go somewhere else? We already took our mortgage out of there because of fraudulent charges. $14,000 worth, which were returned. I just don’t know who to talk to. Maybe I should just move banks and stop worrying about it.