A TikToker was left shocked after their bank reportedly “interrogated” them on their own money deposits. In the clip, which has amassed 993,300 views, Melissa Jane (@melissajaneg) said, “I need to know if this is happening to anybody else. I deposited some money into the bank, and they’ve asked me two different times … where it’s from.”
She then went on to say that she should be allowed to deposit money into her own bank account and that it isn’t really the bank’s business where she got it from. She said that while she’s aware large sums of money need to be reported to the IRS, neither of the deposits she recently put in reached that minimum threshold.
“Why am I having to tell the bank my money, [and] where I got it from?” she continued. “First time we sold an ATV … that put in the bank was less than what they need to report to the IRS, but they still asked me where I got it from. And … the second time just now, I went, deposited three different checks [as] me and … three other families are going on a beach vacation. I put the Airbnb on my credit card; credit card bill’s coming out.”
This, she added, caused the bank to question where the money came from, but Melissa wasn’t having any of it. “This is my bank account, and I can get money however I want legally and put it in my bank account,” she concluded. “I don’t need to tell you where I’m getting this money from. Are these banks asking these celebrities where they’re getting their money from? … I don’t think so. … This is crazy.”
In the comments section, it soon became clear that Melissa was far from the only person experiencing this with her bank. “I just switched banks because they refused to let me pull MY own money out of my account to buy a car in cash,” one customer shared. Meanwhile, another claimed that their bank “berated” her after her husband took out $1,000 to buy a puppy.
@melissajaneg Bank workers is this protocol now? Has the depsoit threshold been lowered? Wtf is going on. #bankaccount #wtfisthis #whatisthis #bankdeposit #bankteller #eattherich #letthemeatcake ♬ original sound – Melissa Jane
What is the $10,000 limit?
The $10,000 threshold for bank and credit union deposits was created by the Bank Secrecy Act in 1970. According to this law, depositing cash that comes up to this sum must be reported to the federal government.
However, according to GlobalBanks, tellers can question deposits under this amount because “it is the responsibility of each bank to understand the origin of funds being deposited by customers.” Still, the site states that tellers are unlikely to ask where the money for a deposit came from if they have no reason to believe it is suspicious.
Viewers in Melissa’s comments section backed this up.
“Just so everyone knows the 10k rule is just bunk,” one commenter said. “Banks can report any ANY activity they deem suspicious.”
“They are supposed to ask if it’s unusual even if it’s under 10k,” another added.
Across TikTok, numerous creators are also reporting issues with their banks. TikTok user Shamel Sequoya (@1sequoya) reported how Chime allegedly closed her bank account and refused to send her the money that was in her account. Effy (@effnem) claimed that Wells Fargo Bank lost her $44,000.
Meanwhile, user Charity (@charityy_harris) alleged that she lost $1,000 when she tried to deposit cash into a Bank of America ATM. With all this bad luck with banks, perhaps the classic dollar-bills-under-the-mattress deal is best.
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