[Franglais]

Had a bit of a "friendly" argument with some mates of mine over the weekend in the pub and need your wise advice!

Basically, one lot said you could walk into the bank with a cheque payable to "self" and with appropriate identification (i.e. passport and maybe recent utility bills) and get it there and then.

The other lot said you could'nt do that. You could do the same as above but would need to wait a couple of days for clearance.

The sum discussed was a mythical £50,000 from a large bank.

Any opinions one way or another folks?

Cheers

[LCDMAN]

I'm pretty sure a sum like that would need prior notice!

I've done it with a cheque (albeit a "cashiers cheque" from another financial institution) for roughly half that figure and when I checked in advance that I would be able to take away such a large cash sum, the bank wanted 2 working days notice so they could "be sure to have enough cash".

I don't think you could do it with a personal cheque, as a crossed cheque (as most are nowadays) isn't redeemable for cash - it must be paid into an account in the payees name and has to successfully pass through the clearing system ( to ensure the funds are there to honour it) before it can be drawn against.

[Errodiel]

Most banks have a limit on what you can withdraw over the counter on any one day - usually a couple of grand. If you were to go in or ring them up with a couple of days notice you'd have no trouble (as long as you have ID), otherwise you'll have to wait.

[bazaar1]

depends on the bank I'd think.

if you had an account with coutts or similar and walked into a london branch with a cheque that size, I doubt they'd have a problem as thats small fry to them, but walk into a high street branch of natwest or barclays in the middle of a village and I doubt they'd have the cash ready.

[LCDMAN]

Originally Posted by Errodiel

Most banks have a limit on what you can withdraw over the counter on any one day - usually a couple of grand. If you were to go in or ring them up with a couple of days notice you'd have no trouble (as long as you have ID), otherwise you'll have to wait.

But it isn't a normal withdrawal is it? It's essentially cashing a large cheque so the paying bank would want to be sure that there are funds in place to support the cheque before they hand over a huge wad of cash!! Even if there are funds there, then (surprisingly) most banks don't actually hold that much by way of real old fashioned money.

[Errodiel]

Originally Posted by LCDMAN

But it isn't a normal withdrawal is it? It's essentially cashing a large cheque so the paying bank would want to be sure that there are funds in place to support the cheque before they hand over a huge wad of cash!! Even if there are funds there, then (surprisingly) most banks don't actually hold that much by way of real old fashioned money.

You're right, I hadn't considered the cheque part of the equation properly!

[grumpyscot]

And the likelihood is that you'll be reported under Money Laundering rules (IIRC if you're not a business, any cash transaction over £5,000 has to be reported)

[bubbsy]

You should make the cheque payable to your name, not "self".

As others have said, £50k will require notice (up to 2-3 days usually, or longer if specific note requests). Only a valid passport or driving licence will be acceptable ID for that amount.

[Babe Rainbow]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

You should make the cheque payable to your name, not "self".

As others have said, £50k will require notice (up to 2-3 days usually, or longer if specific note requests). Only a valid passport or driving licence will be acceptable ID for that amount.

Whenever I have cashed cheques at work for petty cash, we have made the cheque payable to "cash".

There is also the issue of vulnerable people being coerced into going to the bank and drawing out large sums to pay, say, dodgy roofers and suchlike. I'm not sure if the banks have a legal responsibility to avoid that happening ( I suspect not ) but, informally, I woud imagine it might sometimes be a consideration.

[Brigon]

I would think you could only withdraw £50,000 from your account once the cheque money was in your account. So you would have to wait for the cheque to clear before they would honor it. Also with that amount I would think the bank would need some notice to ensure they had the cash available.

[mandelifeboats]

Chaps above are correct. I tried to withdraw £3 today from a bank branch in a mjor town. Can't get it til Wednesday. Max withdrawal was £1200!

[Gogfumble]

Originally Posted by mandelifeboats

Chaps above are correct. I tried to withdraw £3 today from a bank branch in a mjor town. Can't get it til Wednesday. Max withdrawal was £1200!

£3? Really?

[Rugby Rose]

My mom kindly lent me some money to put towards a newer car and she went to withdraw £2500 to put it in my account and they told her they needed 24 hours notice for that amount. I would definitely have expected to give plenty of notice for £50k.

[mandelifeboats]

Originally Posted by Gogfumble

£3? Really?

Ooops! £3K. Still, a daft rule.

[cultureman]

Withdrawing large amounts of cash from the bank?

My understanding - but not I hasten to add my experience - is that possession of a firearm can greatly speed up the normal cash withdrawal proceedure.

[Cstar2229]

I had to give notice to get £10000 cash out.

[Magic8Ball]

You have to give notice, also you have to pay a fee (with my bank anyway).

I had £30K in my account for all of about 4 hours once when we remortgaged a property to pay a deposit on a new house, and I had to pay £35 or something to get them to transfer the money straight back out again to the new lender. I'm back to having bugger all again now.

Yeah and they do some money laundering checks also.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Babe Rainbow

Whenever I have cashed cheques at work for petty cash, we have made the cheque payable to "cash".

That's a different scenario. You're talking about a third party withdrawal agreement that your employer has with the bank, and where you would be named on a list as an allowed encasher. The OP could still make their cheque payable to cash if they sign the cheque in the bank's presence, but adding their name is more secure.

Originally Posted by Magic8Ball

You have to give notice, also you have to pay a fee (with my bank anyway).

I had £30K in my account for all of about 4 hours once when we remortgaged a property to pay a deposit on a new house, and I had to pay £35 or something to get them to transfer the money straight back out again to the new lender.

Nope, your fee was for transferring a large sum to another bank electronically. As I said, most banks allow you to externally transfer up to £10,000 per day free of charge, so large amounts can still be free of charge if done over several days.

Originally Posted by Brigon

I would think you could only withdraw £50,000 from your account once the cheque money was in your account. So you would have to wait for the cheque to clear before they would honor it.

It was my understanding that the OP was talking about cashing one of his own cheques (i.e. using the cheque to make a counter withdrawal). There was no cheque deposit mentioned. Having cleared funds is a given.

[Franglais]

It was my understanding that the OP was talking about cashing one of his own cheques (i.e. using the cheque to make a counter withdrawal). There was no cheque deposit mentioned. Having cleared funds is a given.

Correct

[PDJames]

My branch of the Halifax requires advance notice if you want to take out £1200+

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Franglais

Correct

To be honest, Franglais, while it's possible it's just not necessary these days. Your bank will do their utmost to get you to use other methods (electronic funds transfer or bank draft). Not just for your own security, but to prevent them (and the receiver) going through unnecessary money laundering precautions. Don't forget some poor person on the other end has to count it too. Sealed bank cash bags do not guarantee every note is there and genuine. There are machines to count, but an amount that large I'd want to count a large proportion by hand too. Spotting fraud is in how the notes feel too.... a counting machine can't tell you that.

[WLB]

I used to work for one of the main high street banks and the rules was..

You could withdrawel up to £5k with chip and pin and no id, or £1k with a cheque and one piece of ID. Over them amounts they would need an extra piece of id.

Though we could go higher, we would ask for 24 hours notice for over £5k, though we would routinely give more than that over the counter. Depends how much the branch is holding, how busy they expected it to be, and how valuable a customer you were.

With that high amount you also have to consider the size of the branch. Smaller braches will only hold about £120k at any one time, so may make you wait longer, or may not be able to give it you this. Larger branches will hold alot higher, so probably get it quicker for you, so i would suggest going to the area main branch thats usually in the town centre.

Never sign a cheque cash or self, as there is cases where id would not have to be asked for, so if you loose the cheque someone else could cash it. Always put your name under payee to be id`d.

Originally Posted by WLB

Never sign a cheque cash or self, as there is cases where id would not have to be asked for, so if you loose the cheque someone else could cash it. Always put your name under payee to be id`d.

No bank teller should cash a cheque where they haven't seen the person sign it in front of them. If it's already signed, the person should be asked to sign the back instead. That should stop someone other than the account holder cashing the cheque as, chances are, there will be a signature discrepancy, which would force the teller to request ID.

[darkpaw]

well i can give my personal anecdote of what happens with a large cash withdrawal request...

a few years ago I went to LloydsTSB and asked to withdraw £10,000 cash from my account.

handed the withdrawal slip to the teller, she looked at it and asked me what the cash was for. Maybe i should have said 'mind your own business' but i didn't i just told her that i was going to deposit it in a foreign bank. (i didn't say what bank but it was an american bank)

i was then told to take a seat while she called her supervisor, who appeared shortly and they had a conversation about it.... I could hear her whisper to the supervisor, "he said he's going to pay it into a foreign bank" in an 'ooh, how suspicious' tone of voice

after about 10 minutes i was called back to the desk, they were really obstructive about granting the cash withdrawal, and said they wanted to give me a cheque instead and querying why would i want cash. They also said that they can't do it anyway, and if i insisted on cash then i would have to wait 5 working days.

in the end i took a cheque instead

[jake19801957]

my mate drew £15.000 in cash last june from the bank of scotland he only gave about 4 hours notice.