Cash payment is limited to a maximum of €3,000: how much can you withdraw from your bank? And do you have to tell me what the reason is? | My guide

For decades it was the most normal thing in the world: taking cash to the bank to put it in your account and then taking it out again after a while to pay expenses.

Today everything is a little more difficult. If someone comes with a large sum of money, the bank may ask about its source. Moreover, if she doesn’t trust him, she can refuse the money. This is because banks must adhere to strict legislation against potential money laundering. Therefore, they are allowed to reject deposits of suspicious origin.

Cash is seen as a risk. It can be used for “black” purchases or bribery. For this reason, it has been legally prohibited for some time to use cash to purchase real estate. If you buy something else, you may not pay more than €3,000 in cash.

A current account is a must: Find out here which banks offer these services for free and save tens of euros per year.

Can you withdraw unlimited amounts of cash? In one Current account The answer is yes. After all, visibility means that funds are available immediately. If it is on your account, you can collect it. In the case of large withdrawals, banks require that you notify them in time for practical reasons, because they only have a limited amount of cash left.

Also from one saving account It is said that you can withdraw unlimited funds from it. But here it is custom, not legal regulation. Banks have included a clause in their general transaction regulations, which you sign when you become a customer, that can limit withdrawals.

For example, KBC states: “The balance in a KBC savings account can in principle be withdrawn without notice.” Without compromising the art. I.33.2 of the General Banking Conditions However, the Bank reserves the right, in exceptional cases: to make withdrawals in excess of EUR 1,250 subject to a prior notice of five calendar days and limit all withdrawals to EUR 2,500 per fortnight. “This way, the bank can protect itself from sudden large withdrawals. The only question is whether they will implement this at all.”

What does saving mean today? These are the savings accounts that currently offer the highest interest rates.

It is one thing to withdraw money from a bank counter and another thing to withdraw it from an ATM. For example, the standard limit for cash withdrawal with your Belfius debit card is €650 per day. You can increase this amount to a maximum of €2,500 per day. For minors up to 16 years of age, this is limited to €100 per day. This arrangement may differ for each bank. They’re there mainly for safety reasons. If the card is misused, the damage can be limited in this way.

But can a banker also ask you what you’re going to do with your money? A banker may obtain information necessary to comply with its obligations under money laundering legislation, but this must be done proportionately. Therefore, the banker is not allowed to know what to do with your money in every transaction, small and large.

If your banker knows or suspects unauthorized practices, he or she must report it to the Anti-Money Laundering Unit at his head office. They can then check if there are suspicious patterns occurring in the account and, if necessary, transfer the file to the Financial Information Processing Unit. Your bank doesn’t have to tell you this. Another thing: All banks have software running in the background to detect and report suspicious transactions.

Read also. Last year there were 967 complaints about fraudulent online payments: However, banks are not keen to offset this.

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