Ansuz07 t1_iyek07t wrote
Reply to comment by Common_Technologies in ELI5 why fraudsters like Anna Sorokin managed to deposit bad checks and immediately withdraw cash elsewhere without banks stopping it? by 6horrigoth
> What is the gain in allowing it?
People tend to get upset when the bank doesn't let them access their money. Telling a client - particularly a wealthy one - that they can't have their money for several days may lead to them moving to another bank.
Since the vast majority of people deposit valid checks, there is little risk to the bank allowing them access to funds before those checks have cleared.
Cetun t1_iyesgt8 wrote
I understand having a wealthy client, but how do they know she's wealthy, All they have was a brand new bank account and a check for $100,000. For that amount of money couldn't you just have a bank manager Make a quick phone call to see if she even has $100,000 in her account? If shes kiting then the other bank will tell them that she has a balance that hasn't cleared yet.
freddy_guy t1_iyeu31u wrote
>couldn't you just have a bank manager Make a quick phone call to see if she even has $100,000 in her account?
That would not be a "quick phone call", and you would need to make large numbers of such calls each and every day.
Cetun t1_iyeulyf wrote
That sounds like a problem with the banking system that they can't do that. They don't keep $50,000 in their drawer, while they're going to check out 5 stacks and the bank manager is going to have to authorize that anyways. You won't have to do that A lot of times it would only be under the circumstances where someone is coming in to the bank who has a relatively new account, whose first or second deposit is $100,000 check.
grimgaw t1_iyf0qmi wrote
If only one could devise a computer system which does that automatically...
In the UK you can check your account balance on any bank's ATM. Clearly they share that information here. Why not in the mighty USA?
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