5 ms·

I've been with my bank for 15+ years. One time I sent a payment of several hundred £s to a friend who's paid my share of a holiday when booking. In the descrip

I've been with my bank for 15+ years. One time I sent a payment of several hundred £s to a friend who's paid my share of a holiday when booking. In the description I put "fun times". I had a call from my bank asking me to explain the payment the next day. I've never been called before nor since that. It certainly feels like they're a bit touchy about certain references.

raxxorrax 7y ago
At that moment you should have made it clear that it isn't his business at all to disincenitivise future bad behavior. Even as a lazy person I probably would have switched banks.
- alias_neo 7y ago
  In hindsight, I probably should have switched banks, but ~~15+ years ago~~ I was young enough that it mattered very little to my sense of principle. They've otherwise been quite reliable since so jumping ship now would almost be asking for trouble. Edit: It wasnt 15 years ago this happened, it was perhaps a decade. I'd already been a customer for some time.
- nothrabannosir 7y ago
  It is; the UK has very strict KYC laws and any institution handling money is quickly on the hook for certain misdeeds by their customers. They need to show diligence in monitoring that activity. > You must meet certain day-to-day responsibilities if your business is covered by the Money Laundering Regulations. These include carrying out ‘customer due diligence’ measures to check that your customers are who they say they are, and risk assessing your business. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-your-responsibilities https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-you... (That entire page, like the rest of gov.uk, is comprehensive and very accessible to read for a layman. If you have any passing interest in the area I recommend giving it a skim.)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
bloogsy 7y ago
It could also be that they're worried about money laundering, or there's someone a little bit keen behind the scenes.
MisterTea 7y ago
> In the description I put "fun times". I recently started using Venmo to pay a few people and the things I have wrote are awful. Recent examples include: "Human organ trafficking" "Lunch and murder for hire", "sack of shrunken heads" and so on. Let them call me.
- maxwell 7y ago
  Get ready for your account to be closed suddenly without warning over the next few years.
  - Haga 7y ago
    Never forget.. It's not personal. It's just a process who wants to shed potential liability by applying pressure on individuals involved. Wouldn't be necessary if we had banking secrecy.
- cpursley 7y ago
  I put "Crimea" in a venmo transfer to my own wife and they will no longer allow me to transfer funds to her.
  - yosito 7y ago
    I'm American. I went on a trip to Cuba for a free software conference, and someone from the conference borrowed a few Cuban Pesos from me to get some food before going to the airport. Later he sent me USD on Venmo for "Cuban cash transfer" and they threatened to close his account, but he managed to convince them that he was sending me money for lunch at a Cuban restaurant in the US. Ever since then, I'm cautious about descriptions when I Venmo people money.
  - pretendscholar 7y ago
    For some real fun start quoting koranic poetry and start listing random sites in yemen and pakistan.
- jstarfish 7y ago
  Vice did a writeup where a reporter did this just to see what happened and it ended with the associated funds effectively seized. Maybe they've gotten more permissive but don't do this with money you can't afford to lose.
merpnderp 7y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
ksaj 7y ago
> It certainly feels like they're a bit touchy about certain references. I'd say they quite overstepped the boundaries. What are fun times to you and the recipient is certainly not their business. Why would they even waste time reading the RE line if they aren't doing your accounting for you at the same time? There is even a party rental company named Fun Times. Would they interrogate every cheque written to/from them?
- alias_neo 7y ago
  I'm really not sure. Perhaps it was flagged as unusual and they looked, saw the reference and then questioned it?

raxxorrax 7y ago

At that moment you should have made it clear that it isn't his business at all to disincenitivise future bad behavior. Even as a lazy person I probably would have switched banks.

alias_neo 7y ago
In hindsight, I probably should have switched banks, but ~~15+ years ago~~ I was young enough that it mattered very little to my sense of principle. They've otherwise been quite reliable since so jumping ship now would almost be asking for trouble. Edit: It wasnt 15 years ago this happened, it was perhaps a decade. I'd already been a customer for some time.
nothrabannosir 7y ago
It is; the UK has very strict KYC laws and any institution handling money is quickly on the hook for certain misdeeds by their customers. They need to show diligence in monitoring that activity. > You must meet certain day-to-day responsibilities if your business is covered by the Money Laundering Regulations. These include carrying out ‘customer due diligence’ measures to check that your customers are who they say they are, and risk assessing your business. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-your-responsibilities https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-you... (That entire page, like the rest of gov.uk, is comprehensive and very accessible to read for a layman. If you have any passing interest in the area I recommend giving it a skim.)
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

bloogsy 7y ago

It could also be that they're worried about money laundering, or there's someone a little bit keen behind the scenes.

MisterTea 7y ago

> In the description I put "fun times". I recently started using Venmo to pay a few people and the things I have wrote are awful. Recent examples include: "Human organ trafficking" "Lunch and murder for hire", "sack of shrunken heads" and so on. Let them call me.

maxwell 7y ago
Get ready for your account to be closed suddenly without warning over the next few years.
- Haga 7y ago
  Never forget.. It's not personal. It's just a process who wants to shed potential liability by applying pressure on individuals involved. Wouldn't be necessary if we had banking secrecy.
cpursley 7y ago
I put "Crimea" in a venmo transfer to my own wife and they will no longer allow me to transfer funds to her.
- yosito 7y ago
  I'm American. I went on a trip to Cuba for a free software conference, and someone from the conference borrowed a few Cuban Pesos from me to get some food before going to the airport. Later he sent me USD on Venmo for "Cuban cash transfer" and they threatened to close his account, but he managed to convince them that he was sending me money for lunch at a Cuban restaurant in the US. Ever since then, I'm cautious about descriptions when I Venmo people money.
- pretendscholar 7y ago
  For some real fun start quoting koranic poetry and start listing random sites in yemen and pakistan.
jstarfish 7y ago
Vice did a writeup where a reporter did this just to see what happened and it ended with the associated funds effectively seized. Maybe they've gotten more permissive but don't do this with money you can't afford to lose.

merpnderp 7y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point

ksaj 7y ago

> It certainly feels like they're a bit touchy about certain references. I'd say they quite overstepped the boundaries. What are fun times to you and the recipient is certainly not their business. Why would they even waste time reading the RE line if they aren't doing your accounting for you at the same time? There is even a party rental company named Fun Times. Would they interrogate every cheque written to/from them?

alias_neo 7y ago
I'm really not sure. Perhaps it was flagged as unusual and they looked, saw the reference and then questioned it?