I went into a Commbank to withdraw $5k.
The following things occured:
1) Handed the teller my debit card
2) Signed the receipt
3) Teller gave me the money straight away
Is this the usual process? Are they normally supposed to at least check ID for amounts over a certain threshold?
What are your experiences with this?
Yeah, similar experiences. In most cases it seems like they take you to a room further away from the doors so you don't run away with the money without signing anything. Or it could be to protect you from thieves, but clearly you are withdrawing a lot if you are going to a special room.
I'd rather smooth out my withdrawals and use the ATM instead.
10k will require extra ID.
@mattgal - I usually recommend you call ahead if 1) it's late in the arvo, 2) you're getting 8k+ or 3) it's a smaller regional branch.
Disclaimer - I work for a bank and my opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the view of my employer :)
If you go into the bank often enough that the tellers recognise you, they probably won't check anything. Each bank probably has different rules though. For example, my bank is supposed to have a $1,000 a day withdrawal limit… but I can get $10,000 out via cheque (not cash) by simply saying I want to… oh, buy a car or something. They don't do any extra checks though.
However if you DEPOSIT $10,000 or more, there's a government anti-laundering law that requires them to report the transaction to government. (Presumably because no-one in Australia should have that much in savings, because it should have been stolen by the government in tax by now.)
Wrong. Banks are required to report suspicious transactions to AUSTRAC in addition to any domestic transactions (withdrawal or deposit) greater than $10,000AUD. Foreign transactions are also reported to AUSTRAC.
They also report withdrawals between $9k - $9.9k because people think they're being clever and avoiding the AUSTRAC reporting threshold.
Ok, $10,001 then. ;-)
I have never been asked for ID although I have not asked for that amount in cash. I would imagine withdrawing as you did if there was an error then it would be at the Bank's, not yours, risk. I think asking for identification is probably at the bank's discretion. When I buy cars etc. I always ask for bank cheques anyway. You can set a daily debit limit if you like too if you are concerned about security. If you set a daily limit of $2,000 (which would cover most emergencies) you may feel safer. You can do this online too. If you needed more then I am sure it would only be a 24 hour wait (update online or in person) or perhaps a personal visit to the bank itself under extenuating circumstances.
I think banks must have some alert system set up though. My mother received calls from the bank for confirmation when her credit card was used to make a couple of cash advances (my brother) at a hotel. I believe they can set up alerts by sms too if required. She cancelled her credit card after that episode.
Thanks for the input guys!
I just think it's so easy to forge a signuature that I'd hate to think that amount of money could so easily be withdrawn by a thief…
I'd hope they ask for ID if someone withdraws money from MY account.
Reminds me of the bank teller who said to me, sorry sir, we were robbed earlier today, and unfortunately it was your money we handed over.
That's worrying. NAB asked me for ID when I went to DEPOSIT 6k into my account.
Clearly you are on NAB's blacklist and your account is being monitored. What did you do?
They probably did a signature check, when u made a withdrawal. The only time when they are obliged to ask for id is when you make a cash withdrawal of 10k plus . Hope that helps =)