Lump sum cash withdrawal denied: EBS

M

moneymad2011

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Hi

I have a lump sum (circa 25k) on deposit with EBS (normal account, not locked in). I queried them about withdrawing it all in cash (giving them prior notice).. they said they would only allow me to take out upto 5k in cash, and to get that, they would have to ring the regional manager. When I asked if that was a daily limit, I was more or less told no, that was the total amount they would actually give me in cash from my account... they would write me a cheque for all of it, but thats not what Im looking for.

Is this normal standard practice for EBS / Irish banks and institutions in general?

Rgds
 
I am interested also to hear other reponses to this question...I have heard rumours recently that banks have been putting restrictions on withdrawing cash...have no concrete example of this...just hearsay so would like to know if people have been refused withdrawing their money.
 
There's a sign in my local EBS branch which advises customers that the branch only receives a cash delivery once a week, so all orders for cash withdrawals have to be made before a certain time on a certain day.

There's something about a limit as well (can't remember the amount).
 
(Relatively) New security restrictions are in place in a lot of branches to reduce the cash on premises with the aim of reducing the incentives for tiger kidnappings, I would imagine this is the case here.
 
Tell them you are going to stand outside the bank with a sign saying "this bank cant give me the money I'm owed" and that you will send the photo to all the media. You will be paid or they will close in an hour.
 
Was in there Waterford branch recently and note pinned to desk read max cash withdrawal €1,300 or round that amt.
 
It's a perfectly reasonable precaution on the banks' behalf.

It's in everyone's interests that the banks don't carry huge amounts of cash. It's probably in the customers' interests as well.

I was in AIB recently and the guy at the next cashier was trying to withdraw €18,000 in cash as he was going travelling and didn't want to pay currency charges.

I think a €5,000 limit is reasonable. You will just have to withdraw that amount each day for 5 days.

Brendan
 
Hi Brendan,
The point is, that they told me that I couldnt withdraw the 5000 euros in cash each day... They said that they would only give me one 5000 in cash and the rest in cheque... They would not give me anymore than that in cash from the account regardless of how many days I went in.
I must say, I'm getting quite concerned about this, this is not a situation that I want to be in given the current uncertainties around the place.
 
I agree that a 5,000 EUR limit in cash per day is fair in this day and age from a bank that does not offer full service banking.

A requirement for cheques in these days is rare. EBS have very old systems.

Can you move the money via cheque to a current account and take out the cash from there?
 
It's not unique to Ireland, many of the UK banks have similer restrctions. It's not just for security reasosn, under money laundering regulations, banks are obliged to report large cash transactions to the Gardai.
Note as well that on some EBS accounts, their T&Cs state that withdrawals can only be done via an EBS Cheque (eg, on their regular savings account)
 
Bronte said:
You can also presumable make 5 withdrawals in 5 days for 5K.
Click to expand...

Nope, from OP:

moneymad2011 said:
The point is, that they told me that I couldnt withdraw the 5000 euros in cash each day... They said that they would only give me one 5000 in cash and the rest in cheque... They would not give me anymore than that in cash from the account regardless of how many days I went in.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry missed that. Well take the cheque to another bank to cash, or lodge and cash their daily limit until you have the cash. Bank draft would be better I guess.

This must have something to do with money laundering. Wonder what the OP needs 25K in cash for.
 
Meh, thats not really relevant IMO, its their cash and say they want to stick it in a mattress they should be able to do so.
 
I have never heard of this either. And I have no idea why that would be a rule and why they are not explaining it better to you. I would def persue this if I were you. Sry I could not help more
 
moneymad2011 said:
Hi Brendan,
The point is, that they told me that I couldnt withdraw the 5000 euros in cash each day... They said that they would only give me one 5000 in cash and the rest in cheque... They would not give me anymore than that in cash from the account regardless of how many days I went in.
I must say, I'm getting quite concerned about this, this is not a situation that I want to be in given the current uncertainties around the place.
Click to expand...

I had the following experience re withdrawing more than 5k in cash from an account (BoI) last summer

Wanted to withdraw 10k in cash. Was told would need to make a request 48 hours in advance (for reasons that other posters have given related to limiting amount of cash in the branch on a day to day basis). I did so, but was also asked to state why I wanted to money in cash rather than as a bank draft (this alledgedly to do with anti-money laundering legislation) and there was a general reluctance and lots of I'll have to go and get the manager' before I was finally given the cash. Rather bizarrely, they also asked me where I had got the money in the first place (err, look at your records, I saved it up via regular transfers from my current account which you I have held in your branch for 15 years and into which my salary has been paid all this time ....)

As I say, I eventually got the money but only after being made to feel like a deeply devious criminal off to commit nefarious criminal deeds with money from the proceeds of criminal activity ...
 
Hello

Assuming this is a "demand" based savings account and not a fixed term account or some sort of investment product etc....

Can you take the €5k in cash and transfer the rest to another bank on the same day, from where you could then withdraw it at a late date without this problem arising again ?

We all respect the security reasons for the branch not wanting to hold a significant amount of cash on the premises. However, if this is a clear breach by the EBS of the rules which applied to the account when you deposited these funds, then they would want to quickly rethink their strategy imho ....

Call the Financial Ombudsman on this and register a complaint immediately, if you cannot get satisfaction by going around to them tomorrow morning.

financialombudsman.ie
 
It's obvious why people are made to feel harassed and guilty when they want to withdraw their own money. The banks don't really want to give it to them and really won't actually have it if people had the same idea at once. I was spoken down to like I was a child when I went to withdraw money from the EBS myself. I also had to visit them every day to collect 5 Grand and also had to go to a few different branches over weeks. Enjoy these hoops you have to jump through as you extract your cash. It's part of the mechanism which holds the bank open enabling you to make your withdrawal.
I've been told by my EBS branch that they had no cash yet I've seen piles of cash behind the counter. Previous to the threat of a run on the banks I would have felt somewhat reassured that my money would be difficult for a passbook thief to withdraw all at once but it really calls customer treatment and status into question. There cant' really be any excuse apart from them not having it for institutions not to be able to arrange at a specified date for the cash to be there if a customer of verified identity wishes to withdraw his own money. On the plus side it felt much safer to leave a branch with 5k at a time. That money is now all in hard assets like property outside of the Eurozone with a non Euro income coming in but its' no picnic either to feel constant paranoia at a houseful of cash before it got reinvested. It's just a different and even more immediate type of worry.
 
The EBS will have to get the cash from their local bank and incur a charge in doing so. They will also have to deal with the security of transferring the cash from premises to premises. Some branches can have sufficient amounts of cash on certain days during the week when their own business customers make lodgments. I would suggest that you have a word with your branch manager who might be able to direct you to a local office that might be trying to offload cash on certain days and glad to get rid of it.
 
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