Bank account suspended for buying bitcoins?

[bitbaby]

That's about 829.98 US Dollars, It's not a huge amount but if your bank acc doesn't have a lot of big transactions like this prior to this it might have gotten them suspicious, and which is why they have asked you to provide valid details about where the money came from and why you sent it to the other account. You'll be ok if you provide all the details and they'll establish your acc again.

[PowerCordZ]

That's why I never mention 'bitcoin' when dealing through bank.

[umair127]

wow I wonder if the employees got a message from the CEO and said anything related to bitcoin suspend there accounts because this threatens your job and the way of our business message, what ya think about everyone receiving this message.

[Swordsoffreedom]

wow I wonder if the employees got a message from the CEO and said anything related to bitcoin suspend there accounts because this threatens your job and the way of our business message, what ya think about everyone receiving this message.

In another thread there was talks of banks receiving internal memos about Bitcoin a while ago
Not sure how many banks have policies on it at this stage in the game but they are likely more than aware of it.

Example of Raiffesien Bank International in April
https://www.bitcoinregime.com/2014/04/08/raiffeisen-bank-international-internal-memo/

Internal Finance Memo Canada in May 2013 as examples
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/internal-finance-memo-warns-of-potential-for-bitcoin-related-crime-1.1935898

That said initial reactions tend to change over time as more information is given so they will likely change their policies soon as well.
Can tell from how Canada handles its approach to Bitcoin in May 2013 vs now in 2014.

[serje]

Go to a small bank ... they will be happy to take a fee when you withdraw the money


Also HSBC is a good idea since they allowed Mexican drug lords to have accounts with then and they knew that they were transferring drug money with their help

[mnmShadyBTC]

Go to a small bank ... they will be happy to take a fee when you withdraw the money


Also HSBC is a good idea since they allowed Mexican drug lords to have accounts with then and they knew that they were transferring drug money with their help

I don't think the size of the bank will affect the chances of your account getting suspended/closed. If your account is considered to be risky then it will be closed, regardless of the bank. Big banks will get more reports of this because they have more customers.

[ScreamnShout]

Go to a small bank ... they will be happy to take a fee when you withdraw the money


Also HSBC is a good idea since they allowed Mexican drug lords to have accounts with then and they knew that they were transferring drug money with their help

I don't think the size of the bank will affect the chances of your account getting suspended/closed. If your account is considered to be risky then it will be closed, regardless of the bank. Big banks will get more reports of this because they have more customers.

This is correct. I think your chances of getting your account closed are actually higher at a small bank because they generally have less resources to weed out the "false positives" of AML violations so they will need to have a lower threshold to close an account. 

[HarHarHar9965]

I had the same problems with regular checks and wires in from online poker sites a couple years ago. I had a bank account closed. From what I can tell, having lots of movement in/out of your bank account -- as would be the case if one were "trading" on Coinbase, for instance -- you may have problems. The reality is that banks are fickle, and sometimes you just have bad luck with them. Pick up and move on.

[TheGull]

Same in the United States.  The Big Four banks are not happy seeing large ACH withdrawls to Coinbase.

· JPMorgan Chase
· Bank of America
· Citigroup
· Wells Fargo

The big 4 in Australia are the same: if they see you trying to transfer to any BTC exchange on their lists (Bitstamp was the one I tried), they present the transaction and (I think) put you on a watch list.

Basically, even though it is my money and I am doing nothing illegal or even immoral, they think it is OK to stop me doing it. Pretty outrageous behavior if you ask me.

[BTCreward]

Same in the United States.  The Big Four banks are not happy seeing large ACH withdrawls to Coinbase.

· JPMorgan Chase
· Bank of America
· Citigroup
· Wells Fargo

The big 4 in Australia are the same: if they see you trying to transfer to any BTC exchange on their lists (Bitstamp was the one I tried), they present the transaction and (I think) put you on a watch list.

Basically, even though it is my money and I am doing nothing illegal or even immoral, they think it is OK to stop me doing it. Pretty outrageous behavior if you ask me.

I would think it would be a bigger problem if you were constantly depositing and withdrawing money from exchanges then simply depositing money into an exchange.

I would personally be very surprised if a bank ever closed or even watched an account because of just one transaction.

[promojo]

Currently, I do not think there is a problem like this for Canadian banks.

[ibrahim11]

Went to the bank and it took 2 hours but the account was un-suspended! 

[promojo]

Went to the bank and it took 2 hours but the account was un-suspended! 

So are you able to make constant transactions now without getting suspended?

[Hendrick0909]

Anybody knows an incident where paypal suspend an account for dealing with bitcoin?

[haploid23]

Went to the bank and it took 2 hours but the account was un-suspended! 

Hey that's good for you and your sister. Did you just tell them the full truth? Here in the US, if you just tell them the full truth, it'll guarantee an account closure if you're dealing with the larger banks.

[sprks]

here in Spain,  Citibank cancelled my a/c and bounced all my bills because I bought bitcoin with my savings.

I went to the office and they told this to my face, said they were instructed by the US office to do this.

Who wants to have any relationship with coroporations like this.  They have no interest in serving their customers only themselves.

They are scum.

[cubanos]

What should someone do when we experience this kind of scenario?

[zdaz14]

What should someone do when we experience this kind of scenario?

Go to your bank and ask to talk to the Head of Deposit Department (each bank has a variety of names).



I work in the banking world and purchase BTC myself and have zero issues ever with it.

[bigasic]

What should someone do when we experience this kind of scenario?

Go in try to work it out, if you cant get them to see the light.. well, its time to pull you fiat and move to another bank.. It may be a pain, but its something we must do until it gets more accepted..

[rgenito]

This has already been said, but I'll clarify:

Just don't mention bitcoin. Some people are stupid. Some banks just don't have an intelligent system. Many people only focus on bad news simply because they're bad people and they're attracted to bad news, so all they hear and read on headlines is basically: "bitcoin = scary, bitcoin = scam, bitcoin = fraud, bitcoin = money laundering". You cannot blame them, because we are all guilty of being ignorant on some topic or another.

Next time, if someone asks what a deposit for, here's a simple explanation from a recent issue that happened with me. The teller asked, and I paused for a moment, and calmly replied:
"Well ... I would use my paypal to pay them. But I'm having problems. You use PayPal right?"

Bam. Turn their question into a question. They won't just stare at you: they will continue their work. This teller did ask more questions being concerned about my security, which is good, but my reply was simple:

"Ya they've already performed the service so I'm safe to deposit cash into their account. Thank you."

If she would've continued with the questions, I would've politely said, "I'm sorry but I really can't chat .. I may be relaxed but I am really busy right now. Have a nice day!"

You're pretty good at that point. I could talk more about this, but give it a try. As long as you're positive, things will work out fine. If you have something to hide, you're going to have a harder time hiding it with your body language and tone of voice.