banks refuse cash deposits from non account holders

[Demovictory9]

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-wells-fargo-cash-deposits-20180716-story.html

Edward Manley, 91, asked his son to deposit $38.50 in coins into his Wells Fargo account. Wells refused to accept them.

Manley and his son are now suspected money launderers.

Welcome to banking in the 21st century, with a growing number of financial institutions saying they won’t accept cash deposits from anyone but account holders. Wells Fargo is the latest to announce such a policy.

Bank of America has been limiting cash deposits since the beginning of the year. Chase has been doing it since 2014.



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But Manley’s experience shows that even well-intended policies can look foolish in the sunlight of real life.

The Temple City resident doesn’t get around as well as he used to. Manley has knee problems and is hard of hearing. His 77-year-old wife is more mobile but isn’t always free to run errands.

So the couple recently asked their 34-year-old son to help out with a bank deposit at the local Wells Fargo branch. They had a stock-dividend check for $85.71 and several rolls of coins. Like many seniors, the Manleys for years have made a practice of depositing spare change in the bank once it accumulates to deposit-worthy levels.

In this case, once again, we’re talking $38.50, nicely rolled.

[Vinca]

1. That's ridiculous and why I prefer to bank with a local small bank.

If they know you they tend not to treat you like a criminal.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Lock 'em up!

Lock 'em up!

(Sarcasm thingie goes here)

[safeinOhio]

3. Big banks want to

nickel and dime you to death. I'll stay with local and regional banks.

[murielm99]

5. Credit unions are good, too.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Authoritarian regimes want to turn everybody into suspects so they can control them.

Thus they increase the number of crimes and obscure regulations so they can trap more people.

[Amishman]

6. This is because of regulators heavily enforcing KYC/AML

Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering is big focus right now.

Banks must have these policies and enforce them without exception or risk failing their next audit.

I recently worked on a project for a regional bank to overhaul their data management process for BSA compliance

[Luz]

7. I don't use a bank account. I live in a cash world. I receive

a paper check and I go to their bank (chase) and cash it immediately. I can put $$ on my pre-paid card if I need it. We live pretty much paycheck to paycheck, cash helps me keep track of things, plus it galls me to pay banking fees.

[marybourg]

28. The problem comes if you can't get to the bank

as you get older, and need somebody to do it for you. You’ll have an insurmountable problem if this happens to YOU, since you are not “known” by any bak

[NBachers]

29. How much does Chase charge to cash a check drawn on their own bank if you're not an account holder?

[Captain Stern]

8. I am having a hard time seeing the problem with this.

The banks are essentially saying that you can't deposit cash into my account.

Ok. I guess I'll just have to actually go to the bank myself. Or, if it's something that would happen a lot, I could put your name on the account.

Maybe it's a problem, but it's a first world problem. We'll be fine.

[Demovictory9]

24. it's an easy, free way to help a n on-local relative or friend in financial emergency

i've done it in the past. western union charges a fee. so to help someone who needs cash ASAP who
wasn't local, I could get their account number and drop some cash in.

[Merlot]

30. Some tenants make cash deposits to pay their rent directly to the landlord.

If someone has my account number and wants to deposit money, how can that be a problem? Say it's a small monthly amount, not thousands of dollars every other day.

[SoCalDem]

9. easy solution..

add the son to the account..If you trust your adult child and you have issues getting to the bank, it seems like a great idea.

As hard as it is to accept, it's a thing that always happens as we age...we usually have to make arrangements with grown kids ..

[Blue_Adept]

14. Yeah, at age 91 it should pretty much be either joint account or the adult kids handling it

After my father passed a few years ago we started all new accounts for my mother with me as a joint holder so that I could help her with bills.

Plus, when she passes, I don't have to engage in any kind of nuts paperwork to close it out or access the funds to deal with expenses for things.

[Totally Tunsie]

19. My two sons are added to all my accounts.

Last edited Sat Jul 21, 2018, 04:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Should something suddenly happen to me, there won't be problems for them to access the funds. I have an adequate sub-account specified for funeral expenses so they're not out-of-pocket. With so many small business failings, I won't pre-pay at a funeral home. A relative did this, the FH went under and was taken over by another, which was a disaster.

Fortunately, I have two trustworthy and harmonious sons, so I'm not concerned with adding their names. The peace of mind is worth it.

[TeamPooka]

25. I'm on my mother's for that reason too

[JI7]

10. this happened to me. i would deposit cash for others, usually family because i work

near a bank of america and there is almost never any line .

last time i went they said they can't do it.

but if they are willing to let you use their bank cards you can do it through the ATM .

[Wounded Bear]

20. ATMs typically don't take rolls of coins...

[uncledave46]

11. A simple enough request...

I had a secondary account at BofA and I would occasionally deposit small amounts of cash ($25 or $50) to cover miscellaneous checks. Each time I had to show ID. I finally told them, "If some random person wants to deposit cash in my account, LET THEM!" That was one of the reasons I closed my account.

[Yonnie3]

17. At BoA and a Credit Union I was told that a deposit could be made without ID but ...

I could not get a receipt because it had balance information. At BoA it took a 15 minute wait to get this explanation and another 5 minutes to do the deposit and get a handwritten receipt. I don't think the teller knew the reason that an ID was required, but the supervisor did. This was my regular checking account. They also accepted a swipe of my debit card and pin without ID at later deposits.

At the Credit Union they all knew what was required and simply said "this is not your account so we can't give you the regular receipt, but this substitute will work for you." This was not my account. I was putting cash I loaned to another member in their account, so I wanted a receipt.

[TheFarseer]

12. Wells is the worst bank

They tried charging me a counting fee for trying to deposit change in my account. Their uncompetitive rates prove they do not want deposits. I heard a while back they can borrow from the government for free or almost free and lend it out. I wonder if this is still the case. Now i bank at Mutual of Omaha and its the best!

[Raven123]

13. A bank that set up fake accounts refuses real deposits. How rich

[3Hotdogs]

15. My local bank is acting criminally.

Not only do they accept cash, they have a coin counting machine in the lobby and you get the paper money without identification. W.T.F.?

Who do I report them to?

[padfun]

16. How can you deposit if you dont have an account?

What are they depositing it into?

Do they just mean to cash out? Exchange cash for coin? If so, then deposit isn't the right word.

Edit: So after rereading, I think it says that the son was trying to deposit the money into the fathers account? If so, then I wouldn't allow it either. The account holder could be sitting in a closet all tied up.

If they wanted the son to be able to deposit on the fathers account, then they should add him to the account. If you made exceptions here, then you open yourself to fraud.

[Demovictory9]

32. A relative's account as shown in article

[Lee-Lee]

18. There is actually a good sized somewhat underground economy that works this way

Person X wants to make a payment to person Y, but is nowhere near them.

Person X walks into a bank where Person Y has an account and mkes a deposit into person Ys account.

While there is a record person Y got money, there is no record of a sale or who it came from like there would be if it was a check, bank transfer, credit card, etc.

There are a lot of businesses that try to run under the radar of ten IRS and other authorities who do this. Let’s say Joe knows Al is going to pay hi. $7000. Joe goes and withdraws $8500 a day or two before. He then records that he withdrew the $8500 with an excuse he intended to make a purchase at an auction. He then records the $7000 as returning most of that $8500 because he only spent part of it. Meanwhile he has $8500 in his pocket and $7000 in the bank but on the books he only has $7000 and $1500 worth it merchandise or supplies.

[aikoaiko]

21. Yeah, this is stupid. There should be an under $10,000 exception rule.

The type of folks they really need to address don't deal in small numbers.

[TheBlackAdder]

22. Funny, their employees can open scam accounts and raid depositor funds, but parents can't deposit.

[roamer65]

23. I only have credit cards with the big banks.

That way if I ever declare bankruptcy I can stick it to them good.

[TeamPooka]

26. Wells Fargo wouldn't take his deposit but probably opened 6 accounts for him illegally

before he got back to his car.
WF sucks.

[Demovictory9]

33. Yep

[Phentex]

27. I learned about this last year when I wanted to make a deposit to help someone out...

they moved to another state but hadn't closed the bank account. I was not able to deposit cash or check (I think $200) at all. When I asked why, I got the same response about money laundering.

[Demovictory9]

34. Next time open fake charity like trump..then money funny business ok

[rogue emissary]

31. I don't see the problem with them following the law.

Wells Fargo allows you to send friends and family money from one account to another.

All the son had to do is deposit the amount into his banibaccount. Then send that amount from his account to the father's. So their would be a record of who was depositing money into the father's account.

[Raven123]

35. Must all of the accounts be with Wells Fargo?

[rogue emissary]

38. I don't think so, but they might have changed it.

[dembotoz]

36. So I have a kid away at school. At times I get a plea for a quick deposit

I ALWAYS deposit cash so that the cash is instantly available. Saves me a 2 hr drive to drop off 50 bucks

[hunter]

37. I ran into this problem when my kids were in college and they needed money.

Their bank wouldn't accept cash deposits. They would take personal checks, but then they'd put holds on the money for three days or more.

The solution was bizarre... I could buy a Western Union money order at our local supermarket and my kids' bank would accept that without any complaint.