I worked in a Big 4 bank that was the largest branch size they maintained. We regularly gave out $100,000k in cash, e.g. to check cashing businesses, but they always either had to request it at least 24 hours in advance or had a recurring agreement. There were some times when someone would request a large amount randomly and I only remember us outright refusing once because we didn’t have the cash on hand. Otherwise we could do it if we had a recent large deposit.
Cash transactions over $10,000 require you to fill out a currency transaction report. For many businesses this is routine and not a sign of anything illegal. We could also fill out a suspicious activity report, most commonly if they are structuring to avoid the CTR (e.g. multiple $9000ish transactions, or changing their request when told they had to do a CTR. It’s all electronic paperwork, the purpose is not for the bank to determine legitimate use of cash but to provide a paper trail in any future legal proceedings.
I once withdrew $8000 to buy a car in cash. I stopped in a few days earlier to ask about it, because, just like the OP, I had no idea what the limits actually were. I was told that for amounts lower than $50,000, no appointment was required. Amounts more than that would require a few days notice.
That’s just my branch office, though.
Now, if you already had the $$ in your safe deposit box, I’m pretty sure you could get any amount at pretty much any time the bank is open… which is why I am always confused that drug dealers keep so much cash in their homes and/or vehicles. Seems like an obvious mistake.
I withdrew around $12K in cash from a local branch with no advance notice or appointment. No one had any issue with it and there were no special forms on my end other than the usual withdrawal slip. I’m sure there’s both a practical limit and a policy to how much you could get, but I didn’t ask what it was.
I suspect if you had 4-5 accounts at different institutions with enough cash you probably could have gotten $100K in a day without anyone stopping you or raising an eyebrow. I’m pretty confident you could pull out $25K at each without no more than a phone call and a reasonable explanation (engagement ring, classic car, Vegas vacation).
Your suburban branch may not have $100k in cash in the vault, but wherever the main downtown branch in most metropolitan cities exists, will definitely have that much cash on hand.
I’m sure they can ask, and I am sure they have to report it to the government, but I find it difficult to believe they can say “we aren’t going to give your money” if I tell them it is none of their business why I want it.
That there is a box on the form they have to fill out doesn’t create any obligation on my part. I just say “put down Refused”. If the IRS sends me a registered letter asking me why I want the money, I reply that it is none of their business. If they want to audit me, I show up with the last ten years of my tax returns and tell them to knock themselves out.
It’s against the law to lie to the authorities. “No answer” isn’t a lie.
But that’s not cash. The banks regularly move hundreds of thousands of dollars around via checks or electronic transfers. If you wanted to turn that into cash, how long would it take?
Not really a joke. Maserschmidt commented that a bank could ask the purpose of the withdrawal and decline the transaction if the purpose wasn’t “legal”. I can’t imagine someone admitting that they were purchasing a couple kilos of coke, or a sex slave, but I once said that my $8k withdrawal was for “a party” (I bought a boat).
What if the stated purpose is wacky, though. “I’m putting my savings into the production of a perpetual motion machine that will solve all of our energy problems” for example.
As long as the reason is legal, I don’t see why they’d care. I believe the purpose of that form is to help the government keep an eye out for money laundering (and people getting caught in scams)
That’s the question. Can you get 100,000 dollars, in cash, today. As you stated, you can. The question has nothing to do with the amount of money in your account, but if your bank has that much cash on hand and if they don’t, how long will it take for them to get it?
