Today I went into my bank to withdraw a not insubstantial amount of cash. I took My driving licence along in case I was asked for Proof of identity, I certainly expected to be, but no. All I needed to do was write out a cheque marked CASH, I offered to confirm my identity but was told that this was not required.

I am very surprised indeed, given the current high alert for ID fraud etc, so the message is, Keep your cheque books etc safe !! How many of us know exactly where ours are ???

Mine's in my bag! My bank ALWAYS ask for my passport or something as proof (I do keep it separate from my cheque book though). I have been into the bank before though with only a Utility Bill and after anwering around 50 questions re my direct debits etc, they allowed me to withdraw my money.

I'd be pretty unhappy if they didn't ask at least a few questions. It may be a bit of an inconvience to some people, but I'm more than obliging if they want to ask a few questions - means no-one else can get at what little money I have!

I went into Lloyds to wihdraw cash as the machine outside was broken, I passed them my mates driving license as proof by mistake, I only realised when Id walked out of the bank with me cash!

Today I went into my bank to withdraw a not insubstantial amount of cash. I took My driving licence along in case I was asked for Proof of identity, I certainly expected to be, but no. All I needed to do was write out a cheque marked CASH, I offered to confirm my identity but was told that this was not required.


Your not with Yorkshire Bank are you ?
I took money out of my account with just the cheque book loads of times.

Your not with Yorkshire Bank are you ?
I took money out of my account with just the cheque book loads of times.

That's what bank I'm in - they've never allowed me to do that?

Not Yorkshire bank no - HSBC I would not mind answeing a few questions to prove my ID, if it means my money is safe, I was very surprised not to be given the 3rd Degree.

Hi,

What's a 'not insubstantial amount'? - the bank may view the amount as entirely reasonable to allow out without making further checks.

Ade

Banks have limits that can be withdrawn in branch without the ned for I.D, this varies obviously depending on each bank, my bank Barclays are very strict and wont let you if you dont have yor card or i.d, however due to chip and pin they are now able to validate you with your card just asa Cash machine does simply by using your PIN number.
The Banks however as I said do have set limits and if you request any amount over the safety limit (which is an amount specified by the bank which is deemed as potentially damaging to the customer) then you would be politely refused access to your cash. So i guess the flexibility is there to allow customers access to their money when needed in emergencies when they have forgotten their cards etc, which when you think about it is fair enough in a sense.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that a Cheque book has your account details and a valid signature which when signed in front of the cashier can be cross-matched to the existing one on your account database, therefore Is still a valid form of I.D for a small amount of cash, and if the cashier has any problems with your signature then he / he still has the access to security question again on the banks database which can be brought into play should she not deem you and your signature to be authentic, so all in all I think when you look at the bigger picture as to why these proceedures are in place i'm sure you can still see that the bank still have the customers best interest at heart and would do anything and everything to protect your account with them.

The amount was way more than you can withdraw from a machine, we're not talking 20 quid, I asked how I could do this ? I thought perhaps with the Maestro card, Chip & pin system, this could be a safe way to make an over the counter withdrawal, but I was told the only way was via cheque, I asked "do you want some proof of ID or so see my card ?" and was told it wasn't needed.

Perhaps the bank staff know you by sight ;)

Perhaps the bank staff know you by sight ;)

I doubt it, I was wearing a balaclava

the photo ID that you used to open the account was photocopied and the cashier can if required view this on the screen if you are the person on the screen no further Questions need to be asked on top of this the computer selects people at random to ask for further ID

Banks have limits that can be withdrawn in branch without the ned for I.D, this varies obviously depending on each bank, my bank Barclays are very strict and wont let you if you dont have yor card or i.d, however due to chip and pin they are now able to validate you with your card just asa Cash machine does simply by using your PIN number.


Yes, that sounds like my experience today, previously when I've withdrawn cash, I've been asked for additional ID, today they said my switch card and pin was sufficient.

I don't trust banks, i once registered for internet banking one saturday afternoon and by tuesday a Natwest worker had cleared my account out (well...left me 52p in which was nice!), turns out he had been paid for the password and pin i had just set up when registering for the first time.

I don't trust banks, i once registered for internet banking one saturday afternoon and by tuesday a Natwest worker had cleared my account out (well...left me 52p in which was nice!), turns out he had been paid for the password and pin i had just set up when registering for the first time.

OMG thats terrible!
I'm with Barclays who are crap, I had money stolen out of my account, it went through their investigation thing, they phoned me up a few weeks later and left a message on my answering machine saying 'sorry we cant do owt', they tried to claim it was impossible even though I could prove that I wasnt in a certain area at the time money was stolen ect.

I don't trust banks either. My life savings are safely squirrelled away in the best teapot - no-one will know to look there.

the photo ID that you used to open the account was photocopied and the cashier can if required view this on the screen if you are the person on the screen no further Questions need to be asked on top of this the computer selects people at random to ask for further ID

Wouldn’t they also have a copy of your signature to compare with the one on the cheque?

OMG thats terrible!
I'm with Barclays who are crap, I had money stolen out of my account, it went through their investigation thing, they phoned me up a few weeks later and left a message on my answering machine saying 'sorry we cant do owt', they tried to claim it was impossible even though I could prove that I wasnt in a certain area at the time money was stolen ect.

Dont take no for an answer this happened to my niece someone withdrew her money from Gerrards Cross nr London my niece tried to draw it out in Sheffield 15 mins later, they said she must have given her card to someone with Pin so they wouldnt refund.

I did a letter for her threatening to go to the ombudsman and Watchdog and take all her business elsewhere etc and they backed down and agreed all of a sudden it was impossible for her card to have flown back to Sheffield from London in 15 mins!!!!

She did get her money refunded. Keep on at them I think they try to fob people off 1st.:roll: