Rant: My bank manager made me feel like a criminal over $12

Had a chat with my local branch manager last Friday in Columbus after they flagged my account for the third time this month. I was trying to deposit cash from a garage sale, like $350 in twenties and tens, and she lectured me for 20 minutes about structuring. I get it, I work in payments and know the rules but come on, it was just some old furniture I sold. She said 'we have to report anything that looks suspicious' and it hit me different because I realized how often regular people get treated like they're doing something wrong for normal cash transactions. Has anyone else had a teller or manager grill them over small deposits that were totally innocent? I'm starting to wonder if we've swung too far with all this anti-money laundering stuff.

2 comments

2 Comments

lane.joel3d ago

Hang on though, the bank is just following rules that exist because too many people actually do abuse the system. That $12 lesson might be annoying but it's better than letting real money laundering slide because nobody wants to ask a question.

ninah103d ago

oh man, this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me crazy. it's like the system is set up to treat everyone as suspect first, innocent later. i see it at the grocery store with those receipt checks, at the airport with random pat-downs, and now at the bank with your little garage sale money. we've built this whole culture where normal people have to prove they're not criminals just to do basic stuff. and the worst part is, the real bad guys probably know exactly how to game the system, while folks like you get lectured for twenty minutes over twelve dollars.