something wicked this way comes... something wicked this way comes...Over the years, I’ve read that at least some banks in the US question customers who want to make large withdrawals, particularly if the customer is older. They do so in an effort to protect their customers from being scammed.
Based on the story, that’s what this UK bank is doing, although they seem to have gone overboard.
Connecting it to a possible “bank run” seems a little excessive based on what is presented. If an effort to prevent bank runs is suspected, the story ought to cover more than one bank.