British Nanny

Mary Cassatt

From the BBC

Stephen Cotton went to his local HSBC branch this month to withdraw £7,000 from his instant access savings account to pay back a loan from his mother.  "When we presented them with the withdrawal slip, they declined to give us the money because we could not provide them with a satisfactory explanation for what the money was for. They wanted a letter from the person involved."

Mr Cotton says the staff refused to tell him how much he could have: "So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "

Here's a dumb banker

"I can understand it's frustrating for customers. But if you are making the occasional large cash withdrawal, the bank wants to make sure it's the right way to make the payment." 

Here's a smart British politician

"It basically infantilises the customer. In a sense your money becomes pocket money and the bank becomes your parent." ~ Douglas Carswell MP for Clacton

Try this...

" Thank you... I'd like to close my account." 


The bank has since reversed its policy and will no longer require customers provide evidentiary proof of what they are going to use THEIR MONEY FOR!

This is the logical outcome of Nanny Statism

If I were Stephen Cotton I would be done with HSBC...even after 28 years as a customer.