Banks Limiting Maximum Withdrawls?

I just received a rant from a friend of mine who is working in the US about his bank...

so i went to take out some cash from atm since my bank does not actually have a branch close to me. They f#$@in changed the max withdraw limit to 500 with no notification and they tell me they can't bump it up.

This is not a limitation of the machine as he has done this before, and it's not anything he's done (he lives on expenses due to constant travel, his pay just sits there for weeks at a time); it is the actual bank he deals with itself. I'm waiting to hear what bank it is that he deals with (soon to be past tense), but has anyone else heard of/experienced this?

This doesn't make any sense, any thoughts?


[edit on 31-3-2010 by [davinci]]

so i went to take out some cash from atm

that's just from a ATM, i thought a 500 dollar ATM limit was the norm, that's how most if not all the ATMs work in my area.

ATMs have a limited supply of money, if people were pulling out 3 grand at a time, the machines would run out of cash a lot quicker, and that wouldn't be convenient for anyone.



[edit on 3/31/2010 by Alaskan Man]

I'm not sure if it's the limit for atm's themselves or if it's the bank's. With my bank we can use our debit cards and spend as much as we want, but we can only withdraw $500 in a day with it. Called the bank once to ask about it when we realized we couldn't withdraw any more and I think they said it was their policy for atm withdrawals so you can't be cleaned out if someone steals your card and you have more than $500 in your account. That's been quite a few years ago so my memory on exactly what they said is fuzzy, but that was the gist of it.

Then there's the convenience part of it as Alaskan Man pointed out. Hardly convenient for everyone else if a few people are wiping out atm's cash supplies with one or two withdrawals. Plus they won't get to charge their nifty withdraw fees if only a few people can use the machine before it runs out of cash.

reply to post by Alaskan Man


I know what you mean, some of the third party machines have even more restrictive limits on a per transaction, per day basis. Part of that is so they can soak you for the additional service charges and part to keep the machine operational for longer.

In this case however it's not just the machine having a limit, it's the bank it's self: They will only allow him to withdraw $500 a day now.

Oddly, wire transfers are still much higher. After speaking with the bank he did the max transfer allowable to another company as the first step in closing his account.

most atm's Ive visited have max disbursement of
around 200 or 300 depending on bank atm.

But here's another suggestion:
tell him to go back tomorrow and
get the rest he needs

or
go to a branch

I've already taken all my money
out of my bank cept for less than
$20.00 to keep the account open.
So a bank limiting my withdrawal
wont effect me none.

But it's a good point.

If banks do start limiting withdrawals
then it's a sign, they cant back up
their depositors. Then everyone should
be standing in line for their cash.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by boondock-saint]

OK, got a response from my friend...

-The bank he deals with is Wachovia
-He went to the closest ATM to him and tried to withdraw $1000.
-It is a daily ATM limit

HOWEVER...

-He has made this withdrawl from this exact machine before. Today is the first time there has been a problem.
-The changes were made without notification by his bank. As a travelling businessman this could have seriously affected him had he been on the road at the time.


So there has been a change somewhere limiting transactions to $500 and there was no notification of it to the customers.

As I do not live in the US, I'm going to have to ask those of you who do for info on this.

Again, seems odd.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by [davinci]]

rationing money is a first sign
of monetary collapse

OMG u better get ur money out
NOW

Originally posted by boondock-saint
rationing money is a first sign
of monetary collapse

That's exactly what crossed my mind.

As others have mentioned, withdrawl limits are normal and nothing special/new...but to have them suddenly imposed without notice/warning?

I just checked my message log, he sent me the message 2 hours ago, right after he got home.

I've been witness and have had this happen to me before. About 6 months ago I pulled a HELOC loan out and had some $60,000 in the bank to help start up my business. I had come across a liquidator that had some equipment I needed at an awesome price, unfortunatly they needed cash as it was there last day at this site and they were flying out to the West Coast the next day. No problem, my friends had done business with them before and I knew they were not a fly by night operation. I go to the bank and attempt to withdraw $11,000 dollars. No one in the entire bank could help me with that 'large' amount. They said I would have to notify a regional branch 48-72 hours ahead of time and they could have it ready for me but according to the teller/assistant manager/branch manager, they just did not carry that much money for public comsumption. I was pretty beside myself to say the least and asked if the vault was just for show then. After nearly flipping out and threatening to close all my accounts with them, they made some calls and got it done but this lady went through HELL over the phone to get it done.

Around where I live, ATM's have a limit of $300 cash. There are two ways to see if the ATM withdraw limit is from the bank itself or from that particular ATM machine.

1) Call the bank, and ask if there is a limit to ATM withdraws on his card. If so, what is the limit? Can he raise his limit? Some times banks will work with people.

2) Go to one ATM machine and withdraw $500, if $500 is the max on that ATM machine. Then go find another ATM machine, and see if you can withdraw the max from that ATM machine also.

If the bank is limiting him, he may have to get more than one bank account at different banks. Then he could have several ATM/debit cards to use at an ATM machine.

I'm sure there are other ways to get money. He might try to hook up a bank account with one of the largest banks that have branches almost every where he goes. Then he could walk in the bank branch, write himself a check, and get cash.

If he is desperate for cash, he could go to any grocery store, buy something cheap at the counter, and when it asks if you want to withdraw cash, choose the highest amount available.

Maybe others would have suggestions.

reply to post by HighwayDrifter


For some reason I thought a bank wire transfer would be considered equal to same as cash, or isn't it? It is wrong that the bank could not get you your own cash when you needed it.

reply to post by HighwayDrifter


I am sure that the problem with this was the paperwork. If someone comes in and draws out over a certain amount of cash, there is paperwork that has to be filed. It is very precise and if not filed properly and in a timely manner it can result in the financial institution incurring a hefty fine.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by Greenize]

I know that the atm that I deal with has a 500.00 limit and my debit card has a 2500.00 a day limit. That is in place as a protection should someone get a hold of my card. In most instances if you will call your financial institution ahead of time and let them know of any special circumstances where you will need to up that limit, they will do this for you.

reply to post by Greenize


It's the same here in Canada.

Although I'm going to have to check, I believe the amount was lowered to $5000 a couple years ago.

Anything over that amount by law has to be reported.


[edit on 31-3-2010 by [davinci]]

Just for an additional perspective on the issue... I am also a customer of Wachovia, and I have been for over 12 years. For as long as I have been a customer, I have always had a daily maximum withdrawal limit of $500. In fact, any time a new card is mailed to you, they tell you in black and white on the piece of paper to which your new card is affixed what you daily ATM limit is as well as your daily spending limit while using your card as a debit/credit card. There is no limit if you go in the back to withdrawal money, however.

Also, my parents have also been customers of Wachovia (they were customers of First Union which Wachovia bought some years ago) well before I was, and they, too, have always had a daily withdrawal limit at the ATM of $500. I only distinctly remember this because one time when we were at Disney World, my father made several withdrawals in one day. Eventually, the ATM would not let me take out any more money. When he called the bank to find out why, they explained it was because of the $500 daily limit. This was before debit/check cards so we had to wait until the following day to spend more money because no place was going to take an out of state check (and my parents don't use credit cards).

Now, I'm sure every bank is different and has their own limits (some higher, some lower). Some may even vary the limits from customer to customer. For example, I have a regular checking account and have a daily debit/check card purchase limit of $10,000. My parents have crown accounts, and if I remember correctly, there daily purchase limits with their check cards is $50,000.

I really don't think there's anything to worry about.

reply to post by mhc1028


I have the same thing here, my daily limit at an ATM is $500, $1000 for transfers (both for security) and my debit limit per day is based on 1/7th of my weekly limit.

What got me about this though is that my friend (in Illinois) has never had this issue before today. He has made this exact transaction at this exact ATM before. What really upset him the most was when he called the bank for an explanation they told him that his limit had been changed to $500 and that was as high as they could go (see original post).

That's what seemed odd to me, it was an arbitrary decision made without notice.

Nothing here.

Its anti fraud, as in all ATM if you use your card with a VISA sign or card, Meastro, Switch etc (as in UK visa Worldwide) it is set to a maximum.

Someone could steal your card and as said clean you out in 20 mins, before th acrd was even missing.

Some ideas on this thread that the rationing of money is a sign?

A sign of what?

That there is no inflation and the $ is getting soo strong circulation is restricted?

Unless you have missed the last few years guys there is more money in circulation now than at any time in modern history.

The idea that rationing of money is a sign of any of the implications of the current financial situation is so far from the reality of it.. well.. well I will just leave it at that.

Try Googling "Quantitative Easing" and working out wher the billions of $ of bail outs came from?

Was it money already in circulation that was hidden under the presidents bed?

Really nothing here, and I go on much about real financial problems, and the scams, banks etc.

Elf.

reply to post by MischeviousElf


There is nothing in your post that I disagree with or didn't know. My question for you however is what has changed to make the bank lower the amount accessable? Is this part of a reform that is now mandatory?

I'm honestly curious as to the sudden need for this to be instituted. My friend has worked in the US for the last 5 years, he makes low 6 figures as a contracted coporate/government instructor in IT (was formerly a university prof for the same). He pays very close attention to his money in an effort to retire ASAP.

All of the posts about limits and security are valid and well known practices, what is unusual is that a new limit was enforced TODAY. When this actually became policy I cannot say, but pririor to today he was able to make this transaction without issue.

Now there is a problem. All of a sudden there are limits that were not in place before.

Is there a reason for this change?


EDIT to add:

I have no problem accepting that the bank has done what banks do best, screw people over. Knowing my friend though, this isn't something that he missed or forgot.

This is new.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by [davinci]]