Bank limits daily cash withdrawals (non-ATM) to $2500

[AreWeThereYet]

Is it a main office or a small branch ?  The small branches don't have much cash..but they have more on Friday's when paychecks are cashed.
With debit cards, checks, etc. banks really don't need lots of cash on hand anymore.

[NYALB]

Why wouldn't you want to say the name of the bank?  You should not have any loyalty to them.

[TheDoctor]

Meta - you need to go on this site and check your bank's rating, pronto.   

http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/bank-ratings-search.aspx

Thanks for the link.  I knew this was available online, but had never searched for it.  My credit union has 4 stars, so I'll be sleeping a bit sounder tonight (but will still probably take out a grand or two tomorrow and shove it under the mattress).

[justanouveaufarmer]

I don't think it's an especially big deal that a bank has a sign up.  If you go in and ask for ten grand they'll generally tell you they don't have that much anyway.  Maybe a customer got irate when they couldn't make a big withdrawal so they put up the sign to forestall the next demanding customer.  Or maybe they're afraid of robberies.

[bithead1]

HOLY MOLY

I just checked ScumTrust and its at 1 star.....not good

[three]

I had this happen at one of the large Canadian Banks, they told me if I wanted to make a large cash withdrawal I needed to give them 24hrs notice. They said they don't keep enough cash on hand. I also spoke to a family member who is upper management at a bank and they confirmed this policy has been in place for over a year with the same explaination, not enough cash on hand.

three

[travellr]

Well, for the past year or so, you've been hit with an extra charge if you deduct more than $300 from BoA ATM.

You don't really have your money in BofA do you?  When that shitpile finally takes the dirt nap, there's NO WAY the FDIC will be able to afford to make whole all of its depositors.   

If BofA ever dies, the whole American financial system will be killed by the bank run the next day and the second Great Depression will officially begin.

If you're going to hold dollars, BofA is probably as safe as Treasuries.

[Bruce]

 I would not let bank of America hold anything of mine. They are the last business in the world that I would do business with. Damn I hate that company. In fact anyone who still deals with them is supporting everything I am against.................................Bruce

[travellr]

I agree with you there, BofA is as evil as the worst big corporations.

I only do business with them for their ATMs, they're easy to find in the US and the Global ATM Alliance is the cheapest way I know to transfer money internationally. When I need cash, I transfer money to BofA then withdraw it.

[metaforge]

What's scarier.... having $100k in cash in your mattress, or $100k in a 2 star bank?     I suppose I'd want a lot of firepower to protect that mattress.   

Hubs built a complete hollow air handler in the garage, complete with real ductwork, a vent and sticker from the air conditioner company.  Deep inside it was the fireproof gun safe.  It was back in Sept 08 and it was a lot safer there than in the bank.  We needed the cash to buy farmland for the doomstead (so it's gone now) and I didn't want to risk a banking meltdown.

Sounds great!  Would you trust something like that long term for security?

I don't think it's an especially big deal that a bank has a sign up.  If you go in and ask for ten grand they'll generally tell you they don't have that much anyway.  Maybe a customer got irate when they couldn't make a big withdrawal so they put up the sign to forestall the next demanding customer.  Or maybe they're afraid of robberies.

Well, it's a nice part of town - in fact, I haven't heard of any bank robberies.  Although tis the season where it's more likely I suppose.  This CU has 3 offices.  This isn't their main office, but it's not some dinky inside a grocery store deal either.  I totally understand the call ahead to get $10k type of response, but I wonder - would they deny a request like that, given the sign?  Sounds like nobody has seen something similar in their banks.  Maybe this CU should be a 1 star. 

[jh355]

Are you wondering why BoA is having a hard time finding a replacement CEO after Ken Lewis was terminated, and John Thain quit in Jan 09?  If not, you should be, BoA has been the dumping ground for the toxic waste financial instruments that will take our Country under.  I’ve heard rumor the total US Derivative debt is somewhere between $600 Trillion to $1.2 Quadrillion.  Just in case anyone was wondering, World GDP is only $60 Trillion!  Now, I don’t personally know what all this means, but keep your deposits under the 250k limit, and if you’re concerned about deposit access, use several local banks as a hedge.  If you dabble in the equities side of the ledger, the double inverse SKF might be a good hedge against a BoA crash, I believe they make up 15% of the equity holding.  BoA sucks, but currently, they are too big to fail, maybe not so much in the near future.

[Hope@ZeroKelvin]

If you are withdrawing your money from the bank do not go to the same bank branch repeatedly to withdraw money.  Someone is likely to start connecting the dots.

You also don't want to withdraw more than $5000 at a time or the gov may think you are some kind of drug dealer.

I usually make some kind of comment like, "My daughter is going a a trip and needs some cash" or "Those damn contractors want to be paid in cash".

While it is advisable to spread your money around several banks if you have >250K in case your bank goes down, remember that the FDIC is broke.

When BofA goes down, it WILL take the rest of the banks with it, no question.

Why are any of you guys still in equities?  Good grief, Geo Soros is all into commodities and buying agricultural land.  As much as I hate the guy, he didn't make billions of dollars by being a moron with his money.

[Grower]

You know, it strikes me as damn odd that we have to dream up strategies for these scumbags to cough up OUR OWN MONEY. I can see notifying them for really big withdrawals, but for a few thousand, good god. And why do we need to perform some song and dance to ward off the feds investigating our ass for wanting OUR OWN MONEY??

Gah!

[Ray]

I have done 3 wire transfers this year of 10k each...no problem.  I suppose that's because there's no paper involved.

My bank is rated 3-4 stars generally....3 stars in my state PA.

[jh355]

Keep in mind that ANY “Structured” deposit or withdrawal will trigger reporting requirements, is ILLEGAL, and will result in a freeze on your account (think Elliott Spitzer).   The old Statute on reporting was 10k, but now can be any transaction which is “Suspicious” under “Know thy Customer” rules, (We need a Know thy Bank forum).

These rules were enacted to catch illegal activity and drug crimes, yea right.  The Gubernment is flat broke; these rules allow them too legally under the color of law, pirate what’s not theirs.  How many real hard core criminals have been caught under these rules? Exactly ZERO.  Criminals don’t use banks; funny how they don’t trust the money changers.   Maybe just maybe they believe the banks are the Hard Core Criminals!! Could they be on to something?