Banks may charge extra for withdrawing large amounts of cash, the Disputes Committee of the Kifid complaints institute has determined. Since 1 July 2021, ABN Amro customers have to pay extra if they want to withdraw more than 12,000 euros per year.
Two ABN Amro customers had submitted a complaint about this to Kifid. According to the institute, the bank is not obliged to allow customers to pay unlimited amounts for cash withdrawals, partly because of rising costs for withdrawing money and combating fraud.
For every withdrawal that exceeds 12,000 euros per year, ABN customers have to pay 5 euros plus 0.5 percent of the amount withdrawn. The customers, who filed separate complaints, felt they should be able to access their funds at no additional cost, as the monthly charges to their checking account would already cover the cash withdrawal charges. They also felt that ABN Amro itself had to pay for combating fraud and money laundering.
‘dubious payments’
According to the Kifid, there must be a valid reason for charging the extra costs, but the bank has it. When withdrawing such large amounts, the bank sees ‘many questionable payments’, the Disputes Committee writes in the ruling. The costs of investigating these types of practices and combating financial crime are also rising. ABN Amro also informed the two customers well in advance of the changes in the costs for withdrawing money.
The bank further states that less cash has been withdrawn in recent years, so that the costs for withdrawals are rising. And according to the bank, there are plenty of alternative payment methods, such as digital payment. Kifid therefore believes that the bank should not make an exception for the two customers.
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