Bank teller asks the wrong question

[njhowie]

Cash deposits over $10,000 will require more paperwork - trust me.

Wells Fargo cashiers check. And they still put a hold on the bulk of it...even though the status this morning is that the funds have cleared.

 

[Car-Guy]

Well, they are legally required to be attentive to potential money laundering. I personally don't mind questions,

Cash deposits over $10,000 will require more paperwork - trust me.

I don't mine the CTR's or even SAR's being filed behind my back, but I do mind the questions. YMMV

 

[athena53]

I don't mine the CTR's or even SAR's being filed behind my back, but I do mind the questions. YMMV

And if they're looking for money laundering, I doubt anyone would be clueless enough to tell the truth about their plans for the money.

 

[Car-Guy]

And if they're looking for money laundering, I doubt anyone would be clueless enough to tell the truth about their plans for the money.

Yep, like I'm going to tell them something like that. It's usually not a problem for me since most of the tellers at my local B&M bank know me and don't ask. They know I'm legal and don't pry.

 

[Trailwalker]

(snip)

The teller says, "Mr. njhowie, I see you're depositing this to your checking account. Do you have any plans for this money"? Taken aback, bewildered that the teller was being so nonchalant and blunt, I politely and calmly replied, "That's none of your business". She says "Sorry"? I politely and calmly repeated myself for her.

Is this typical for other folks that still walk into their local bank?

Yes, I've been asked a similar question, along the lines of "you can earn higher interest by talking to so-and-so." My response is "the money isn't going to be here long."

An assistant bank manager also told me that it's mainly old people who walk into banks. In-bank traffic is way down from twenty years ago. My local bank used to have four tellers working. Now it's one teller with an assistant manager chipping in when things get busy.

 

[Spock]

..
An assistant bank manager also told me that it's mainly old people who walk into banks. In-bank traffic is way down from twenty years ago. My local bank used to have four tellers working. Now it's one teller with an assistant manager chipping in when things get busy.

You should be in a bank the morning of a government benefit day in the poor(er) corner of town. There is a line waiting for the doors open. All teller windows are staffed. And the line doesn't let up until about 1PM.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I actually thought of asking that, but as others have posted, the reason was quite obvious, to attempt to sell me other bank products. However, there was really no need to continue a discussion that had zero chance of going anywhere or wasting any more of my time. Shutting it down immediately was the best approach.

Agree that shutting it down is the best approach. Understandably, from your perspective the question seemingly came out of left field, but for the teller it was merely a sales inquiry.

I've found the best way to deal with awkward questions is to mirror the person and, rather than answer, I ask them a question back. Mirroring is a well known negotiating tactic. It takes a bit of training to recognize the appropriate situation, but can be quite effective. In your case, I might have answered, "What would you do with the money?" This mirroring is a delaying tactic that can let you evaluate where the conversation is going and gather your thoughts for an appropriate response.

You can practice mirroring techniques with telemarketers. Most sales calls start off with questions which means you can mirror the caller immediately. It can be quite entertaining at times and you will get in a lot of negotiating practice!

 

[W2R]

I would have assumed that it was a required question, since I gather you were depositing a large amount of money, and the bank probably wanted to make sure it wasn't related to some nefarious activity like drug dealing. Don't they have regulations about that? I'm not sure. I don't normally deposit large amounts of money, sadly.

 

[FiveDriver]

Back in the day, I brought a large-ish deposit into my local TD Bank branch. I wanted to stage this in local checking and then EFT it up to Fidelity.

The teller must have pushed the silent button under her desk, because two of those older gents in the 'advisor row' came out of their private offices and started walking slowly towards me.

"What would you like to do with that money?'

It was like a scene from a bad zombie movie !

 

[Texas Proud]

Did not read all the replies but one of the other things they are supposed to be checking for is theft...



Lots of old folks are having money stolen due to phone scams and other things... there are many articles where the teller saved the day by asking this question and getting an answer that alerted the bank to call the cops...


I also agree that there was a sales component to the question but we will never know...

 

[Spock]

Did not read all the replies but one of the other things they are supposed to be checking for is theft...



Lots of old folks are having money stolen due to phone scams and other things... there are many articles where the teller saved the day by asking this question and getting an answer that alerted the bank to call the cops...


I also agree that there was a sales component to the question but we will never know...

This was a deposit, not a withdrawal.

 

[jazz4cash]

My brother who goes into the bank regularly just had a similar experience at Truist. He thinks the tellers are required to ask ever since the merger.

In my experience it is a bit unusual at BofA. I recently moved a chunk to my BofA checking and needed a cashier’s check. I almost never go into a branch but I had to have that check. I went into a branch I had never been to and I was expecting a pitch. No pitch but the cashiers check was $15.

 

[OldShooter]

Did not read all the replies but one of the other things they are supposed to be checking for is theft...

Lots of old folks are having money stolen due to phone scams and other things... there are many articles where the teller saved the day by asking this question and getting an answer that alerted the bank to call the cops ...

Yes, this is a strong possibility as an explanation. DW was a megabank SVP and business unit manager and was vice-chair of our state Board on Aging. Elder financial abuse was always a big topic. Her number is that 80% of elders have been financiaily abused, usually by family or caregivers.

 

[Sunset]

Tellers are forced to ask, and years ago it worked on me. I was new to the bank and got sold a mutual fund with a five year back-end load

Now I'm smart enough to not fall for the sales pitch.

 

[Sue J]

When DH got an inheritance check he deposited it in our local bank. Within minutes of him getting home the bank called and asked if we wanted to talk to their investment advisor. No thanks. Did you know we have CDs yada, yada.

The purpose of that deposit was to get the money into a bank so that it could be transferred to Vanguard.

 

[badatmath]

I probably would have been quite rude honestly. My mind would have been on other things and and it would not have occurred to me they wanted to sell something as I don't think of them as a store. More of an annoyance of people who want to hold my money but not pay even a dime (checking account). I can't remember the last time I went into my bank. Years.

 

[Texas Proud]

This was a deposit, not a withdrawal.

Same question applies... they can write a check or other transfer on deposited money... no need to take cash...


To add... I do believe it was a sales pitch as I have had similar happen to me... but I only got mad at a guy who came by to 'help' me when there was a long line... he was a financial advisor and said he could 'speed up' the deposit... well, after going to his desk I saw it was a sales pitch and lit him a new hole... I would not do that to a teller...

 

[disneysteve]

it would not have occurred to me they wanted to sell something as I don't think of them as a store.

Many banks no longer call their locations branches. They call them stores. That’s really what they are. Since most people handle all of their banking online, the physical locations exist mainly to sell new accounts and services.

 

[badatmath]

I don't do any checking account banking online actually. Other banks yes, that one, no.

Banks are not my friends this week anyway. Hit a limit trying to transfer some money from one to another, got bad advice in chat, etc. Still not done. Supposedly overnight tonight.

 

[Spock]

... as I don't think of them as a store. ...

The CEO of Wells Fargo referred to their branches as stores so there is some perspective on how your bank views their role and you as a mark.

It gets even worse with the branches inside grocery stores.
My new criteria for selecting a brick-and-mortar bank is to see what the offices where I'll be conducting business are like. They gotta have walls. Wide open floor plan? nope. "Bull pens" with 5ish foot partitions? also nope. I get annoyed having to listen to the customers yammer in the next cubical and I don't want anybody else listening in on my business.
Another criteria is what does the bankers desks look like. I was in one office where a days worth of paper work was stacked up on the desk. With no effort I could read the names/addresses of other clients on a mortgage app while sitting there. I wrote a letter to the name/address exposed and let them know what all I could see...

 

[jollystomper]

The teller says, "Mr. njhowie, I see you're depositing this to your checking account. Do you have any plans for this money"? Taken aback, bewildered that the teller was being so nonchalant and blunt, I politely and calmly replied, "That's none of your business". She says "Sorry"? I politely and calmly repeated myself for her.

Is this typical for other folks that still walk into their local bank?

I have had similar things happen in the past. When I had a large amount of cash at my credit union, every few visits I would be asked something similar, with the intent of "if you are not doing anything with your money, perhaps we could interest you in some of our CDs?"

Knowing they had an incentive to try to sell them, I did not take it personally. Don't hate the playa, hate the game .

More recently (at our current local bank), when I have deposited a paper check, they have asked if I was interested in some program where I could get access to the check money that day. There was some additional cost. Since they clear most checks by the next day worst case 2-3 days, I said no thanks. Again, nothing personal. Since we keep a small amount in this checking account, I suspect they may have thought we needed the money whenever we deposited a relatively large amount.

 

[Major Tom]

Questions like that often catch me off-guard. I most likely would have replied with something like, "I haven't really thought about it yet." I wouldn't have been offended though.

 

[foxfirev5]

DM at 93 yo still goes to the bank once a month. When her balance was quite high, approaching FDIC limits, there was a constant effort to ensure her funds stayed in the bank. As a joint acct owner I took the online/800# route when her pathetic CD's finally matured. Her 25k minimum "relationship" checking was changed to zero minimum no fee checking. I then moved the big amounts to her VG brokerage and set up a T Bill ladder.

No call from the local branch or even acknowledgement from the same investment mngr when she makes her monthly transactions. I don't think they're quite as astute as they think they are.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't do any checking account banking online actually.

Really? I do everything online. And being able to deposit checks with my phone from home is the greatest banking invention ever. And online bill paying of course. I only write about 15-20 checks a year.

 

[dixonge]

Perhaps a less testy way of phrasing it would have been to respond with "Anything I want to" haha