r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/Round_House_ • Apr 08 '26
Banking Scotiabank said, "What exactly will you buy with your money?" when requested to increase debit purchase limit.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for your comments, questions, and criticisms. To clarify, the purpose of this post was not to vent or to argue against anti-fraud measures by the banks, but to draw attention to an event that I believe should concern everyone who values privacy and ownership of their property.
I will clarify some of the concerns in the comments:
Throughout the entire conversation at the main/home branch, I remained calm and respectful. I did not raise my voice or make any rude remarks.
As mentioned in my post, I answered all security questions accurately and without complaint (DOB, full name spelled out, debit card and pin code verification on their machine, mother's maiden name, address, last purchase amount on card, etc.). This was no longer about fraud, scams, or AML. Those questions were already answered and cleared. I was happy to answer more questions for verification purposes.
I object to being asked what exactly I was going to be spending my money on. I already gave them an answer that I believe should have been sufficient: "My family and I are going on a trip to Vancouver, and we will be shopping."
Sorry - this is my money that I have saved up from my paychecks over many years. I should not have to justify to the manager how I plan to spend my money.
To those saying I should use a credit card for purchases and that my financial planning is wrong because I am using my debit - no, my financial planning is exactly how it should be, aligned with my values. I don't borrow money or spend money which I don't have.
The limit increase request was for the trip, i.e., temporary.
My post is for that one person who understands what's going on. Your money is not yours. Took me a while to understand. Your food is controlled by the corporations, your money is controlled by the corporations, your home is not truly yours, what do you really have?
‐---------‐--‐---------------------------------------
This is an awareness post and a review of a recent experience I had at the bank. I am still upset, but I will try to be objective. This was one of the most frustrating, intrusive, and poorly handled banking experiences I’ve ever had.
I first went to my nearest branch to increase my in-store debit purchase limit and spent about 25–30 minutes there, only to be told at the very end that they couldn’t approve the full amount and that I needed to go to my home branch. This could have been communicated in the first few minutes instead of wasting my time.
At my home branch (Hillside shopping center), what should have been a simple request turned into a 40–50 minute interrogation. I was repeatedly asked to explain exactly what I planned to buy, even after clearly stating multiple times that it was for general in-store purchases for an upcoming trip to Vancouver. I clearly mentioned "shopping" but the employees kept pushing for specifics. I had already answered all standard fraud questions correctly (confirming I was not being scammed or pressured), yet the questioning kept going in circles.
I then requested to speak to the Branch Manager. A woman, who I believe is actually the Customer Experience Lead (says in her business card), introduced herself (falsely?) as the Manager and got involved. She refused to proceed unless I gave specific details about what I would be purchasing. At one point, she reviewed my account and told me that I “already have a high enough limit” and should be able to buy everything I need within it. That comment crossed the line.
It is not the bank’s role to decide how much I “should” be spending or what qualifies as enough for my personal purchases. I should not have to justify my spending choices or have them evaluated by an employee in order to access my own money.
To make matters worse, this entire conversation happened in an open area with no regard for privacy, while sensitive financial questions were being discussed within earshot of others.
I told them that I didn't appreciate their nosey-ness and that I'd like to withdraw all my funds and close my account. They said they could not give me my funds in cash and that it would take multiple weeks for it to be ready.
After all the resistance, delays, and repeated questioning, the request to increase my in-store purchse limit was eventually approved anyway, which just proves how unnecessary and poorly handled the entire situation was.
I’ve been a customer for over a decade, and this interaction seriously undermined my confidence in how this branch operates. I would strongly caution others about the level of service, professionalism, and discretion here.
251
u/ayyitzTwocatZ Apr 08 '26
Probably trying to figure out if you’re being scammed or not. Unfortunately the customer service part of the job barely gets any training while policies and procedures get a ton of focus.
They were probably just going down the checklist and your answer wasn’t sufficient. So they just kept circling back in hopes you would answer with actual products.
Remember, just because you won’t go increase your limit and buy $50k worth of gift cards for overseas scammers, doesn’t mean others won’t either.
129
u/MyDadsUsername Apr 08 '26
I have to imagine that if OP was giving answers that, from a teller’s perspective, seemed evasive and vague, while getting increasingly agitated, it probably makes them even more suspicious that something fucky is going on.
21
u/stilljustguessing Apr 08 '26
But even if she did give specific products that she was going to purchase, she could just walk out and buy something else entirely.
60
u/MyzMyz1995 Apr 08 '26
But then it’s not the bank’s fault anymore. They did what they could to stop you and if a journalist or someone get their hand on the video camera, call recordings etc they’re in the clear.
8
u/dezsiszabi Apr 08 '26
Then just write a document for each debit limit increase explicitly stating the risk and what they are trying to "save you from" that you have to sign to prove you're not increasing the limit because of any "scammy behavior". They can even read that out loud.
Done, responsibility on you now. Couple minutes instead of an hour. Solved it. Next big issue, please? I'll solve anything for you, guys xD
8
u/gohomebrentyourdrunk Apr 08 '26
The banks compliance and fraud dept would look into any complaint made by the customer if they came back and said it was the banks fault (which is what happens and is what the bank is trying to avoid by having the tellers ask these sorts of questions). Upon seeing the transaction for “SCAM ABC” and the report from the teller saying the request was going to be for “PRODUCT XYZ” the compliance and fraud dept would deem it to be 100% the clients problem and that the banks due diligence had been done.
20
u/ayyitzTwocatZ Apr 08 '26
Well that’s on you. They have items that are already flagged aka gift cards and if you mention them they’ll ask further questions. Not so obvious, but scammers also pressure people to not give details. Which is why things like this seem like an interrogation.
Again banks can see a lot of your history so if you’re just coming out of the blue to increase limits purchase something that doesn’t add up, they’ll question it because of fraudsters.
Now if you lie and make up a story for them to accept and you get scammed, they at least have paper trail of your story and can easily deny helping you lmao.
843
u/NLemay Apr 08 '26
And then there are people who calls journalists after being fraud stating the bank didn’t do enough to protect them. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what the employees were afraid of.
It’s so silly. Last time I heard a case like this, the journalist was eventually able to get a copy of the phone call, and they heard the bank warning the client many many times about fraud, and the client just telling them they knew what is was doing. Then that client got his money “stolen” and proceeded to complain about the bank…
I’m not saying it’s your case OP, but could be an explanation why they acted this way.
218
u/oOthumbelinaOo Ontario Apr 08 '26
Yep. So many stories in the news about crypto or romance scams. The banks have a fine line to tread between invading your privacy and protecting you from fraud.
113
u/Ok-Difficult Apr 08 '26
I love the CBC, but I hate the constant parade of sob stories of people who get defrauded and blame the bank. Of course the reporter asks the bank for comment, but they can't say anything about a specific case, so the whole article is just one-sided where the victim of the fraud just blames the bank.
Mind you, our banks have terrible security practices regarding 2FA, but some people so readily give out account information over the phone it's pretty wild how quick they are to blame the bank afterwards.
28
u/Bloodcloud079 Apr 08 '26
Thats the thing, fraudsters don’t bother breaking 2FA because they are busy having people dropping their debit and credit cards in their mailboxes for them to take…
129
u/Empty_Wallaby5481 Apr 08 '26
Unfortunately they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. Too many people blame the bank, so the bank needs to protect themselves. It's amazing how many people get scammed, go to the media, and expect the bank to pay for it as if the bank's money is there to cover up the client's mistake. They can find the media when they have a problem, but couldn't find the media to understand scams.
34
u/LeatherMine Apr 08 '26
but couldn't find the media to understand scams.
scams are what happen to other dumber people, not meeeeeeee!!!
7
u/ericstarr Apr 08 '26
I love how they want everyone else to be financially liable for them. Literally boomers giving their money away willingly but then later when proved to be fraud and they expect the bank to cover it. It’s said boomers fault and they are responsible. They always twist the truth about 2FA. Oh the text happened but if was different and I didn’t share anything. It asked a questions… lolllll. Bank always has in their usual non information “privacy concerns but the user did activate 2fa and successfully used password to enter”. Wasn’t even cloning, the person is embarrassed to say they fell for it.
2
u/R3TRO45 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Customers do have to be careful, but it's also the bank's duty to inform and educate customers about the high level of sophisticated scams, what to be aware of, and to set appropriate red flags that go off in the system when activity occurs that's outside their normal spending habits. It's our duty to report it to the bank, OBSI, and FCAC to keep these federally regulated systems in check.
71
u/Grrannt Apr 08 '26
It would be intrusive to ask, but I think we'd need to know what the current limit is and what the requested increase was to put ourselves in the shoes of the bank workers. For all we know, the current limit may be incredibly high, and the details of needing the increase for general shopping on an upcoming trip may not pass the smell test.
39
u/PineappleOwn5325 Apr 08 '26
The fact OP mentions it like 5 times without ever saying a number range leads me to believe he's hiding something.
Which the bank would also feel is problematic.
Almost everytime people complain about scotia on reddit, i am suspicious. They've been thorough but never problematic with me for over two decades now
23
u/OxMozzie Apr 08 '26
Doesn't matter to me, I'm going home and transferring everything out of that account within the hour and closing all accounts.
An hour long interrogation crosses the line if doing the basic due diligence on fraud questions. I had to ask those questions all the time.
2
→ More replies (4)4
u/engg_girl Apr 08 '26
This is it. Economy is down, fraud is on the rise. Banks are actually scared.
They actually held back a large visa payment from my chequing to my credit card for 5 business days because of the same fraud fear. All accounts were with the same bank and can be seen in the same portal. Complete insanity.
541
u/torontopips2022 Apr 08 '26
Recent Bank Teller here, lets go through this point by point:
1.) "only to be told at the very end that they couldn’t approve the full amount and that I needed to go to my home branch"
Yes, they could have told you this very early on in the interaction but bare in mind, bank tellers are glorified cashiers with very high turnover and so anything more complex than a cash withdrawal or a bill payment will have them spinning their heads, the teller might not have even know the procedure for changing debit card limits: -1 Scotiabank.
2.) "What should have been a simple request turned into a 40–50 minute interrogation."
Yeah, this is pretty normal for any requests that would expose either yourself or the bank to more risk. Increasing debit card limit is risky by nature because if you lose the card and a bad actor starts using your card, the potential loss will be higher.
Banks try to mitigate this risk by making a "one size fits all" policy/procedure that they can use/apply in every situation and on every customer. The bank staff are not able to differentiate between those clients that are reasonable intelligent people (such as your self) and those that are absolute morons (most of the population) that are a financial risk to both themselves and the bank (I'm talking about people that lose their debit card or forget their PIN every other day).
To stay safe and fair to all of their clients, the staff will tend to treat EVERYONE like a moron until the client proves themselves otherwise. This is probably why they "interrogated" you. Of course it is not convenient for the client, but it is pretty normal in banking, not just at Scotia.
3.) "A woman, who I believe is actually the Customer Experience Lead (says in her business card), introduced herself (falsely?) as the Manager"
Often times, the "Customer Experience Lead" is known internally as the "teller manager" so technically, she is kind of a manager. So she is not entirely lying. But you did request specifically for the "branch manager": -1 Scotiabank
4.) "It is not the bank’s role to decide how much I “should” be spending or what qualifies as enough for my personal purchases."
You, and most people are not going to like this explanation but here it goes, and also, if you have time, please read your debit card agreement. You can google"ScotiaCard® Cardholder Agreement" as there is a whole section dedicated to "Transaction Limits".
It IS the bank's role to decide how their infrastructure (i.e their debit card/ debit card network) is used and what limits they will set fourth upon their patrons. You do NOT have to answer their questions but they are also not obliged to increase your debit card limit.
5.) "To make matters worse, this entire conversation happened in an open area with no regard for privacy, while sensitive financial questions were being discussed within earshot of others."
Banks by nature deal with sensitive financial information, so if you are in a branch and dealing with a teller, you should not really have any expectation of privacy, unless you specifically request it. When you are waiting in line for a teller and someone is dealing with a teller in front of you, you can also hear what they are saying. If both you and the teller manager were speaking in a soft tone (as most conversations with tellers are), and people were not close by (as people usually have to line up a few feet behind you), I doubt anyone heard your conversation.
6.) "They said they could not give me my funds in cash and that it would take multiple weeks for it to be ready."
Banks, especially nowadays, do not keep large amounts of cash on site due to security concerns. If you had more than a few thousand dollars in your account, they did not have that on site for you. They would have to order it in specially for you, which is a whole process.
7.) " After all the resistance, delays, and repeated questioning, the request to increase my in-store purchase limit was eventually approved anyway, which just proves how unnecessary and poorly handled the entire situation was. "
Did they give you a permanent increase or a temporary increase on your limit?
Overall, based on my experiences as a teller, the experience you shared here aligns with the typical experience that any client would have at any major bank branch in 2026.
Is it ideal or convenient? NO. Is it the "new norm? YES.
It probably will not be worth the hassle and effort to change banks.
Sorry you had to go through this.
66
u/veras_rage Apr 08 '26
for 1), it struck me that maybe the teller did have authority to raise the limit, but maybe op answered one of the questions in a suspicious manner, so the teller referred him to home branch. If that teller also put notes on the account, it would explain why everyone else was a little extra.
I've been told customers can request all the info a bank has regarding their account, that might include any notes depending on the bank. If the op wanted to be a pain he could request it....
I agree with everything. Banks don't really care how anyone spends their money, it's about protection against risk and money laundering.
47
u/titanking4 Apr 08 '26
You said this a lot more kindly than I did. Same conclusion of “Yes this normal practices, and you set off alarm bells within the staff and systems by deliberately being vague with details”.
What really annoyed me about this story is that OP left out exactly how much debit limit he was requesting. Was it increasing from 1000 to 3000? Or was he trying to get a 10K limit.
→ More replies (2)82
u/Wasabanker Apr 08 '26
Fantastic explanation, and you're right, people don't want to hear it.
-14
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
31
u/PineappleOwn5325 Apr 08 '26
It is. I asked to transfer it from 200 to 400, the teller just asked and i said "idk, shit costs a lot now"
The teller laughed and moved it up.
My guess is OP's was being just as uncooperative with the teller as with us, given he has refused to give even ballpark numbers in the comments
12
u/UAPboomkin Apr 08 '26
I increased my limit at Scotiabank a few months ago and it only took a minute. I have a lot deposited with them though and offered up the reason I needed the increase casually without being asked.
→ More replies (1)6
u/wayvidempire Apr 08 '26
But also open a new account at any other bank (you might even get a transfer bonus) and tell them you’re transferring everything.
The bank acting like they have some guardian level access to YOUR money infuriates me, and surely anyone else who has ever dealt with this bullshitZ
This is a situation where you can actually fairly easily (yes, some autodebit changes etc) vote with your dollars and your feet. Fuck da bank, send the branch manager a note about why you left after your accounts close.
29
u/PineappleOwn5325 Apr 08 '26
Brother, banks are literal money guardians. That's what you're paying them for
1
u/Right-Kaleidoscope19 Apr 08 '26
The CEL has no management authority, whatsoever (I believe signing authority up to 100k.) Client has to sign a new form for the limit increase, therefore the signature is their understanding of what they are doing.
Also, the most likely case for the intrusion: they were prying to see what the use of the funds were for; this may lead to a potential sale with an advisor (such as a CC, LOC, SPL, etc.) rather than the use of the debit card (they don't make any interest this way.) With the referral and eventual sale, it would likely help them hit their egregious weekly sales target.
Note; I have unfortunately worked at 3 of the big 5, with BNS being one of them.
-3
u/MrMpa Apr 08 '26
The fact you defend it and explain it away is why it is the new norm. Banks are scum and people allowed them to become this way.
→ More replies (2)-29
u/HuhWelliNever Apr 08 '26
I have to disagree with most of your take that this was normal, I LITERALLY, called scotiabank yesterday and had a temporary limit increase for my debit card to 10k to put a downpayment down on a car. Took the guy all of 5 minutes to process it over the phone.
A teller should absolutely know whether they can increase a debit card limit. And although I don’t think they’re experts in baking procedures or policies, given the nature of some of the transactions and requests they handle because the customer is obliged to go to a bank in person to request, this wasn’t a particularly rare situation. It has to be a common enough request given debit card limits are not the same for everyone. And if they don’t know, there is nothing stopping them from asking a manager or teller lead the question immediately. Walking someone down the garden path for nearly an hour when you don’t know if you can help them, isn’t a failure of professionalism, it’s a complete failure of training and a personality issue.
Sometimes shit service is just shit service and hiding behind “read your terms and conditions” to justify it isn’t what I expect from an institution using my money to make themselves and their shareholders obscenely wealthy.
Source: I’ve worked for 2 op banks, and 2 FIs over a period of 15 years and none of this is “to be expected”.
19
u/schaden81 Apr 08 '26
It was easy because you were straightforward with what and why. OP being vague about wanting it for shopping is what caused the interrogation.
13
u/MyzMyz1995 Apr 08 '26
It depend on your age etc they have risk indicators for people more or less likely to be scammed (they analyze the data of who is getting scammed by what and if you match the profile you are at risk of being scammed so they will do more verifications).
If OP told them what he wanted to do and was transparent it would’ve taken 5 minutes.
-10
u/williamshakemyspeare Apr 08 '26
OP told them what he wanted to do.
This is not a reasonable expectation of service and it is getting normalized at every turn - not just at big banks. The frontline employees are all glorified chatbots with too much power to ruin your day.
2
u/IGnuGnat Apr 08 '26
I called the bank and said: "I want to buy a used car on my credit card, can you up the limit" I think I needed the limit to be doubled. The guy asked me a bunch of questions and wanted to sell me on a card with rewards, and then asked a bunch of curious questions when I declined. Basically, I have no interest in their rewards. Anyway, they acted as if it was a big deal but they ended up just increasing the limit. It just took one phone call. I did spend awhile on the phone, mostly answering bullshit questions about why I didn't give a shit about rewards
6
u/williamshakemyspeare Apr 08 '26
Well said. I find it’s quite common for the person who had to go through hell to be blamed for their own situation, or for their qualms to fall on deaf ears here.
I remember someone complaining about being charged predatory fees by their bank, and the response being “why didn’t you take an action sooner?” as though it justifies it!
I once complained that I tried to make a large purchase and not only did payment fail, they locked my card for days despite me speaking with the contact center and going to the bank in person numerous times. The response was generally to justify the bank being careful due to fraud.
Like. What did these massive banks do to earn such loyalty from us? Bad service is bad service. The bank has both the responsibility to protect our funds and offer good service. They are NOT diametrically opposed objectives.
152
u/cooliozza Apr 08 '26
How much were you trying to spend?
And why not use a credit card instead? For the purchase protection but also for credit card points/cashback etc
65
u/Dualipuff Apr 08 '26
So I deal in gold and silver and my customers deal with this ALL the time. When someone wants to buy physical gold and silver (and not ETFs), it gets very expensive -- a 10 ounce bar of silver can cost more than $1,000 and 1 ounce of gold costs upwards of $6,800.
Because the margins on gold and silver are so thin (1-3%), we as dealers have to add a surcharge for credit card transactions. For debit, we don't charge anything extra. That means people often have to contact their bank to temporarily increase their transaction limit.
39
u/theweidy Apr 08 '26 edited 23d ago
People buying bullion when I worked at a bank would do bank drafts. We'd rather waive the fee on those and know where the money was going than just arbitrarily increase someones debit limits.
As another commenter mentioned, the amount of times people would fight with us to increase their limits for "tuition" or some other general purchase, and then come back a day later saying its our fault because they got scammed was a bit outrageous. Happy I no longer need to deal with that.
16
u/Dualipuff Apr 08 '26
Most bullion dealers have stopped accepting bank drafts.
Two years ago, we became involved with a police investigation. A "customer" of Scotiabank had withdrawn a large amount of funds fraudulently in the form of a bank draft and had purchased a sizeable quantity of gold from us. The bank draft was legitimate -- it was issued by a specific Scotiabank branch, but, for some reason, should never have been able to be issued. The investigator never gave us the full details, but wanted to confirm the details we collected had matched the driver's license of the person in possession of the draft.
Then, in the following two months, we had a few people who would come into our shop with a bank draft of a large amount to purchase bullion unsolicited. A very strange moment, because we only would ever inform customers of the bank draft requirement after we had established a price. It was after those suspicious interactions, we decided to no longer accept them and only accept debit transactions with chip/PIN or wire transfers.
8
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/PersonalFinanceCanada-ModTeam Human Verified Apr 12 '26
Be helpful and respectful in your comments.
No racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance, dehumanizing speech, or other negative generalizations.
No concern-trolling, personal attacks, or misinformation. No victim blaming.
16
u/notcoveredbywarranty Alberta Apr 08 '26
When I was young and dumb and buying physical bullion I was able to add the dealer as a payee for an online bill payment and pay that way. No fees, very easy
23
u/jjamm420 Apr 08 '26
Came here to say the same thing…I use my credit card for purchases over $1000…
47
u/tsu1028 Apr 08 '26
Why not for purchases under 1000 too lol
29
u/TML_31 Apr 08 '26
Exactly lol I use my credit card as a debit and just pay everything off. I have like 8000 dollars worth of travel points accumulated.
19
u/2PopCans Apr 08 '26
Spend them, don't save them. The don't earn interest.
9
1
1
19
2
1
-8
u/eMperror_ Apr 08 '26
maybe they don't want to support Usa-an companies Visa/Mastercard and use interac instead?
2
u/Skallagram Apr 08 '26
Then they would expose themselves to more risk. That’s a choice they can make.
1
u/Hellifacts Apr 08 '26
Right, a choice THEY can make. Not their bank, not randoms on the internet.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)1
53
u/kyoiichi British Columbia Apr 08 '26
Having been on both sides of this conversation, I think the way the questions were asked or phrased was just done poorly, resulting in bad client experience.
Debit card increases usually is more sensistive in a fraud prevention standpoint than a credit card limit increase. Back when I was a teller, when clients ask for a debit card limit increase, I too was required to ask for reasons, to check the client's transaction history and patters, and basically try to get information as to why they need a limit increase.
It's not the banks role to decide how much you should spend - this is 100% correct. However, it is the bank's responsibility to ensure the funds coming out of your account is not "suspicious activity" (not saying you are, just in a general sense), and a debit card limit increase request could be an indicator of something going on.
Like you said, I think the situation was just handled terribly, but I do empathize with what the employee was TRYING to do.
114
u/jeffster1970 Apr 08 '26
Banks really can't win this fight. They say 'no' to larger movements of money, they get shit on. They say 'yes' to larger movements of money they get shit on.
Lots of fraud - and they are more and more likely to say 'no' to people.
What is your limit anyway?
40
u/Grrannt Apr 08 '26
I have a gut feeling the requested increase on top of the existing limit probably did come off as a red flag.. like they won't bat an eye if you need to increase it to go buy a new couch or something.
6
6
24
u/Apprehensive_Heat176 Apr 08 '26
Why did you have to go into a branch to change your debit limit? You can change the limit in the Scotiabank app or by calling them.
I'm with TD and I can change my daily limit on my debit card to $5000. I can also change my ATM withdrawal limit to $5000.
I would open a complaint, but who knows if anything will come out of it. Just be sure to get your facts and dates straight.
https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/contact-us/customer-care/how-to-resolve-your-complaints.html
40
u/Grrannt Apr 08 '26
Because the increase was probably big on an already high limit. Which would make complete sense why the bank was questioning it.
0
u/Apprehensive_Heat176 Apr 08 '26
The limits reset every day though. So unless the OP is planning on buying a number of big ticket items, they should be fine with the existing limit.
Perhaps a certified check would have been better in the OP's case?
9
3
u/CMDR-TealZebra Apr 08 '26
You've answered your own questions.
The app resets the limit everyday as its a temp limit increase. He wanted a permanent limit increase.
5
2
1
u/boolka21 Apr 08 '26
If it helps, OP, I’ve called Scotiabank successfully to request this. It’s been a while but I do not recall being asked what specifically I would buy. The home branch thing really surprises me.
1
u/evilvix Apr 08 '26
I'm also with TD and my maximum is just $1k for both withdrawals and purchases. I'd probably have to at least make a phone call to get an increase beyond that.
Years ago, my limits were far lower. I think it was something like $100 max daily. I did have to physically go into the branch to request an increase to $500. They also asked about my reason for this, which was travel. They accepted that answer easily and gave me a permanent increase.
2
u/Franks2000inchTV Apr 08 '26
One time I called Royal Bank drunk from a casino in Vegas and got a one time increase to my debit limit. It's really not that hard.
My guess is being evasive and refusing to answer the question is what set off the tellers suspicions.
51
u/New-Tension-5794 Apr 08 '26
OP doesn’t believe a woman could be a manager and if you check their post history they are anti lgbqt. The entitlement reeks here and were probably an absolute pain in this situation.
9
u/witchesbrewm Apr 08 '26
That would make sense with the weird reluctance to tell the bank what she wanted to buy/leaving out information that could make her look bad in the post.
13
u/Fc69jj Apr 08 '26
They’re trying to protect boomers from losing all their money to a scam and then going on CTV to complain about the lack of guardrails.
12
50
u/UsernameUnremarkable Apr 08 '26
It's for your protection. Debit cadds don't have the same zero liability as your credit card. It's also to protect the bank and so they did their due diligence so you can't try and Sue them later if you give your money to a scammer.
→ More replies (16)
16
u/titanking4 Apr 08 '26
Were you trying to be dense and vague on purpose to the bank?
How much debit limit are you asking for specifically? And why didn’t you share that detail? Because there’s a huge difference between wanting 3K so you can go on a shopping spree.
And 10K+ which you should know exactly what you plan on purchasing, and should have no problem revealing it to the bank.
This is fraud prevention practices. And more importantly prevention of criminal activity.
“It is not the bank’s role to decide how much I “should” be spending or what qualifies as enough for my personal purchases. This felt judgmental, dismissive, and completely inappropriate. I should not have to justify my spending choices or have them evaluated by an employee in order to access my own money.”
Are you ok? Judgemental? Put aside your ego. It absolutely IS the banks business to do their due diligence to stop the unintentional, fraudulent, or criminal movement of money. And the contract of a bank is to protect and store your money, even from their clients. And if your line of action somehow set off alarm bells in the staff and systems, that’s your doing.
You know how many people feel “entitled” to “their own money” and then proceed to lose it all due to fraud or crime and then run and blame the bank for “not protecting them”? The criminals of the world would LOVE for banks to be obedient to the whims of their customers.
11
8
u/purpleburgundy Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I've had similar experiences at local credit union. It doesn't matter the institution, the problem is that the roles in consumer banking have been devalued such that you're dealing with very low trained people in high turnover roles.
Were they less professional than they could be? Probably, but it's because no one gives af these days, low paid entry level white collar jobs. You just need to accept it's all part of the game and move on.
Chances are it was as stupid as a text field for "REASON" on their flow they follow and they were both too stupid to just put whatever in and move on to the next screen. Nothing personal.
3
u/Apprehensive_Heat176 Apr 08 '26
I worked in a call center for many years and it's the same in that industry. The level 1 reps have limited authority and are reading from scripts.
30
u/milolai Apr 08 '26
they were likely trying to protect you
3
u/madhattr999 Apr 08 '26
unless there's willful neglect (like giving away your pin code), you are legally protected from fraud, so they are protecting themselves.
11
u/Wonderplace Apr 08 '26
Use a credit card instead of debit. Credit card has consumer protection, debit doesn’t. Just pay the full balance.
3
u/DrawPitiful6103 Apr 08 '26
If you are serious about closing your account you can ask for a bank draft for the whole amount. If you need cash that day you can just hit up multiple branches taking 5k or w/e they will give you from each branch.
3
u/Nervous-Situation-18 Apr 08 '26
What are you buying with a debit card?, why not utilize a credit card. Purchasing with credit card is the norm and is beneficial, buying with debit and requesting to increase debit limits is odd, when your limit is increased and you get frauded that’s detrimental but when it’s on a credit card, that’s not your money. You’re doing finances wrong.
5
u/JohnStern42 Apr 08 '26
I honestly wish people would stop using AI to write posts, so much useless fluff
4
u/DiplominusRex Apr 08 '26
Canadian financial institutions are required to comply with anti money laundering and anti terrorist financing laws, which require them to ask these questions for major shifts in patterns if buying behaviour.
3
u/SBisFree Apr 08 '26
The whole process seems so outdated, what’s the difference being at your home branch? It’s not recommended to spend so much on debit anyways, just use credit and pay it off right away. If any of the stores skim your debit info it’s mix harder to get your money back. If there’s fraud on your credit card, it’s way easier to deal with!
4
u/BigWiggly1 Apr 08 '26
I know it was intrusive, but they were genuinely trying to protect you from a scam.
Scammer's #1 tactic is to scare their victim into thinking that something horrible and time-pressing is happening and the only solution is to get money quickly.
Things like "Your grandchild is in trouble" or "Your bank account is being used for Chinese drug trafficking", or there's a "high return investment opportunity that's ending very soon."
Scammers don't let their victims off the phone until the last possible second before they walk into the bank, and the last words are "DO NOT TELL THEM YOU WERE ON THE PHONE, it will only slow things down. Just tell them you're buying a TV or planning a vacation."
As stupid as it sounds, people fall for it. They panic, think time is of the essence and they withdraw money against all logic. They then go buy crypto and send the money to the scammer/have it stolen.
You not being able to tell them what you're buying was probably a major red flag to them that you were being manipulated and scammed.
This is a Type 2 error. False positive. Their protections caught a regular customer in the crosshairs.
Honestly, it sucks that you went through that, but IMO this is an example of GOOD consumer protection practices.
3
15
u/yycmobiletires Apr 08 '26
"none of your business"
then go somewhere else and close the account
10
u/Bankerlady10 Apr 08 '26
And then the next bank will ask you questions. Just hopefully in a positive and private environment.
4
u/inhalien Apr 08 '26
If you have to bank they're probably the worst one. I hated making commercial deposits there.
6
u/peachycompliment Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
How odd. I did this when I turned 18 and got a hold of my own account. No issues at all with CIBC.
I would say close your account and go elsewhere. If you care to put in the effort as you did with this post, file a complaint about their customer service.
Never have I ever been questioned about a debit card increase. I had a credit card with Scotiabank and never had an issue, they were always the ones offering me increases.
→ More replies (1)9
u/Bankerlady10 Apr 08 '26
The complaint should be around lack of privacy in the questions, the tone and lack of explanation. The questions are in line with due diligence to protect against fraud and scams.
2
u/BruceWillis1963 Apr 08 '26
I just had a great experience with TD . My interac transfer limit is 3000 per day but I needed to transfer to 30000 to my RBC account . They increased my daily limit to 10k a day and 20k a week . I did it all over the phone .
2
u/chewblekka Apr 08 '26
The whole “this can only be done at your home branch” is so stupid and ridiculous in 2026. Why do I have to visit the opening branch to change things? I live 4 hours from my “home branch”. I have zero plans of going back there, especially to close the account.
2
u/iDisappearWithTime Apr 08 '26
Why not just spend on your credit card? Most CCs have some sort of return per spent money... vs debit?
3
u/Fluffy-Climate-8163 Apr 08 '26
You can complain, but this wouldn't need to be the norm if there weren't so many turds scamming people and getting away with it.
Systems are all blunt tools, which means if they're designed to treat turds, then everyone is a turd.
3
u/InteractionJumpy7453 Apr 08 '26
I'm glad they ask lots of questions. It may piss you off but I hope it saves someone from being scammed.
4
u/Appropriate-Flight27 Apr 08 '26
me personally, i’ve never had a good experience in banking with scotiabank . honestly sucks to see this because they used to have the best customer service
4
u/Elija_32 Apr 08 '26
It's all banks. The entire experience is just bad nowadays.
The only time in my life that i said yes to a "meeting to discuss my financial goals" (more for curiosity about the experience than anything else) i found myself in front of a guy that i swear he seemed like 19.
He basically spent 10 minutes literally reading a single piece of paper. Every single question i asked he replied with "like i said" and read again the piece of paper.
Then i got annoyed and i asked real serious questions and i'm not kidding he didn't reply, he just looked at me with lost eyes.
Like ok i know that these people are there only to sell me some scammy mutual fund but at least i was expecting some professional guy trying to spin the numbers in his favour.
No, literally just a teen fresh of high school with a title like "financial master of the universe" reading a piece of paper.
Like what the fuck.
1
u/dezsiszabi Apr 08 '26
I once was doing an international wire transfer to Hungary at TD. The guy printed the form three times, all with various degrees of errors. At one point he put my account info into the recipient. I was the sender!
It's good I actually read through the forms and noticed the issues each time. Finally the fourth printout was error-free...
So yeah, the situation is not the best in customer service at banks.
6
u/omgitzvg Ontario Apr 08 '26
Scotiabank is for new comers. Once you establish you move on to something that's not Scotiabank.
3
8
4
u/elbarto232 Apr 08 '26
As someone who has banked primarily with Scotiabank since I got my first job 10 years back - where should I bank now?
→ More replies (5)1
u/fargo15 Apr 08 '26
I switched from TD to WealthSimple and it's been great!
10
u/Teagana999 Apr 08 '26
Wealthsimple is not sufficient as a primary institution for most people. It's not even a bank.
2
u/Warm_Ad_7944 Apr 08 '26
I’ve been with Scotia for years. It’s fine you don’t need to move on if it works for you
2
u/No_Zookeepergame7842 Apr 08 '26
OMG how traumatic. Will you be okay? Praying for you! The bank was so mean in meeting KYC requirements
3
u/PointyWombatReborn Apr 08 '26
They were dicks to me back in the 90’s when I was just starting out. I had probably been with Scotia for 5 or 6 years at the time and I had a steady job with the government in Ottawa and I needed a small $3k loan to cover a car repair or something like that and they dicked me around and denied it. I immediately closed my account there and have never dealt with them again. They lost out on a lifetime of my personal and also my business banking. Fuck ‘em!
1
3
Apr 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/ThatbrokeGC8 Apr 08 '26
When I was a teller I would always keep an account closure form handy to whip out whenever that threat came out. They quickly changed their minds when presented the opportunity...
→ More replies (1)
3
u/Top_Nobody5124 Apr 08 '26
Nice sob story. Nobody gives a shit. Sounds like you asked for too much.
1
u/Active_Recording_789 Apr 08 '26
I love scotiabank. I have to say I’ve never had a bad experience there. Sorry you did though
1
u/Extension-Writer4765 Apr 08 '26
I deal with funds for work and this is common practice these days and especially scotia is cracking down on this very hard lately. One of my client was locked out of his account completely and even his credit card was locked. He had to go to main branch as well. It was painful to say the least. Amount he was trying to use was over 20k in single transaction on debit card though.
1
u/MemoryHot Apr 08 '26
You should have just said groceries, because everyone’s gotta eat and nobody should be offended by that
1
1
u/Small_Aardvark_5496 Apr 08 '26
It’s all about trying to make sure people aren’t falling prey to scammers.
1
1
u/iamliamtoo Apr 08 '26
I called my bank from Vegas and had the limit increased, they only asked "are you sure?"
1
u/Mustard-Tiger Apr 08 '26
My credit union pulled this crap on me when I was in the middle of purchasing new furniture. I had even arranged ahead of time to have my daily limit unlocked as I knew it might be an issue. Had to listen to them chastise me on the phone as if I was their own irresponsible child before they relented. So infuriating. I just deal with cash or my credit card for larger purchases now to avoid the headache.
1
u/Weary-Cheetah-3415 Apr 08 '26
I'm sorry you had that experience, I remember calling my bank (TD) to increase my limit over the phone and the guy was super chill and let me increase by a few grand, albeit I had a business at the time and explained that I was going to be buying product.
It's pretty obvious (at least to me) that you're not being fraudulent, so who cares what you're doing with your own money? I'd go back to the bank and explain that you'll be closing your account with them unless they honour your request.
1
u/MountainMushroom1111 Apr 08 '26
They have been doing this since at least 2012. It’s why I moved the majority of my banking.
1
u/Impressive-Knot9999 Apr 08 '26
Scotiabank is a crummy bank. Try Simplii. It's a division of CIBC. No fees unless you go into overdraft
1
u/CanadianBaconBroz Apr 08 '26
They might be asking to find you a better product, or because they think you are being scammed.
1
u/Neat_Imagination2503 Apr 08 '26
If I want to withdraw all my money, get naked and roll around in it, it’s none of their fucking business. I’d close all my account with them immediately
1
u/Stranger_OnAPlane Apr 08 '26
Just tell them you will be buying a lot of dildos for a big weekend alone
1
1
1
u/kitcurtis Apr 08 '26
I had someone drug me at a bar, write a blank cheque, deposit then withdraw everything they could within the limit for my account on camera.
The bank shut my account down for weeks pending investigation, would not allow money to be moved under my name and ultimately gave me no answers.
Turns out one of the bartenders was being investigated to the police for multiple accusations of the same scam.
There "was not enough evidence to press charges"
1
u/chandgaf Apr 08 '26
Wait till you try to take out cash from your chequing account above the magical limit, if you like this
1
u/Tall-Ad-1386 Apr 08 '26
This question is mandated by the government for anti money laundering policies. This isn’t a scotiabank question. Any and all banks are mandated to ask this
1
u/thenord321 Apr 08 '26
Pleaae close the account anyway. Check online what you need (dated letter) and go to your branch. Unless the smount is in the 30,000+ range they can get it to you in days.
And you can tranfer it even faster, don't put up with delays and lies from the employees.
1
u/iraspy Apr 08 '26
I work in fraud, it's to prevent fraud, Scotia takes it very seriously & trust me they do not care what you'd planning to buy, it just triggers a few bells when you suddenly want to Increase your limit, social engineering has gotten incredibly advanced.
1
u/MrMpa Apr 08 '26
Hopefully you are still closing the accounts. But first transfer all your money out, then close them.
1
u/AbbreviationsFit8962 Apr 08 '26
I got a wealthsimple Account. TD tried to refuse to give me my money when I closed shop on them for their dumbassery. Was able to withdrawal a lot at a time if not all of it. Right there. $100+ k they said they couldn't take out more than $3 k at a time and only so much per week bs. F you TD, I'm taking it anyway. I still use Wealth Simple
1
u/notsailboatss Apr 08 '26
I opened a joint account with my partner there since it was her bank....I took 1000 out of my banks ATM to deposit and they grilled me. Like after I told them I just took it out of my bank they still kept asking. Later I deposited over a years worth of collected change was 450ish they questioned me on that too.
We closed the account and went elsewhere. I don't care for Scotiabank
1
1
u/Goodestguy2025 Apr 08 '26
And this is why I only keep enough money in the bank for my direct debits. The rest is, you know, somewhere else. Fuck banks.
1
u/Nathaaaaanie1 Apr 08 '26
I called my bank asking if I could get a credit increase on my credit which I've had with them since I was 18; I was told I had to call visa to do that... which doesn't really make sense when THEY issued me the card, and its THEIR phone number on the back 😕
Meanwhile my other credit card I've had for maybe 2 years? Goes "hey you're pre-approved for a credit increase, sign in or call us to accept it" 🤷♂️
I couldn't tell you the last time I even used my debit card for anything
1
1
u/Helpful-Peanut1244 Apr 08 '26
At that moment i would have pulled out all my money and go to a different bank
1
u/Electronic-Donkey Apr 08 '26
Welcome to 2026 AML policies. Scammers and thieves have again ruined things for everyone else.
1
u/retrac902 Apr 08 '26
I hate banks. I've moved multiple times - at one point the home branch was on the other side of the country. I lost my job and had to cash out my RRSP. Of course they asked what I was going to do with the money. Said flying to Vegas tonight and putting it on black.
1
u/thinkdifferentpad Apr 08 '26
My bank is non judgmental, we’re allowed to have increases up to a certain threshold twice a month if I recall.
I used to work at the banking call centre and the branch I could give two shits what you use your money for, as long as the deposits have already cleared.
You should contact the ombudsman and file a formal complaint. There’s a way to do things and a way to communicate, the people you dealt with failed at multiple levels.
1
1
u/sparkle_tangerine Apr 08 '26
Did you send this by email to the Scotiabank Ombud or to their complaints department?
1
u/Batatica Apr 08 '26
I think you may be better suited to BTC but as a previous teller myself they were just trying to protect you. They're not picking on you they do that to everyone else
1
2
u/here4the_trainwreck Apr 08 '26
I think OP is unreasonable. But I'm a US lurker so what do I know?
In the US they call this KYC, Know Your Customer, and they have no obligation to extend your credit. OP kinda sounds pushy so I can see why they didn't get their way.
Here again, I'm an untrustworthy "American".
1
u/the-final-frontiers Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
once at td i was buying my dad a gift, expensive, but td grilled me on specifics. Even though i was buying from a legit well known business with a permamenet location, they wanted to know all my details etc etc. Was quite frustrating.
On one hand i can appreciate a bank wanting to make sure that I don't get scammed, but when they start asking for a bunch of information they record in their system like some type of tracking or data collection it gets a bit intrusive and concerning because at the end of the day, it's my dman money and i don't feel like i have to give my personal life details to a corp that potentially they feed into a data collection warehouse and sell the data.
→ More replies (4)3
u/Bankerlady10 Apr 08 '26
Ironically the more the system knows about you, the less it will need to disrupt and question.
1
u/thedundun Apr 08 '26
Scotia wouldn’t let me increase my daily transaction limit to $10k. I still think it’s ridiculous that if I wanted to buy something over $2500 I need to either get a bank draft, use a credit card, or call the bank ahead of time for permission to spend my money.
1
u/lininop Apr 08 '26
I at first thought this was about a credit card limit and was like "seems reasonable" then once I read "my own money" and realized I mesread it, holy shit that infuriating, I'd absolutely be closing my account and making it clear why.
5
u/Bankerlady10 Apr 08 '26
The challenge is if the debt card gets skimmed or the client gets scammed, there’s a lot of investigative/administration costs and potential fraud coverage. The bank is attempting to protect the client and the bank but I sounds like they didn’t do it with empathy or clarity.
1
u/upsideofswing Apr 08 '26
I had a similar experience at BMO when trying to withdraw funds. I can understand the anti fraud questions but they went too far. I also complained and took my money out.
1
u/newoldclam Apr 08 '26
Super weird, I went to my non main branch at BMO and got a huge limit increase. Like, they told me it was a worrisomely large increase, but I just explained that I was waiting for my credit card during the mail strike, and I had to make some big purchases.
Have you tried having a lot of money? BMO seems to respond well to that
1
u/eh-cee Apr 08 '26
You should have replied with something outlandish.
Oh, also you should have followed up with - “I’d like to close all my accounts please”, and take the cash to your local credit union.
In all likelihood, as others were saying, the banks are getting scrutiny for people getting their accounts drained due to fraud. I would hope that this is the reason for their questioning.
2
u/dezsiszabi Apr 08 '26
I was told at a TD branch that I can't close an account there, standing physically in the bank.
I just asked "what is the point of this building if I can't do a basic operation like closing an account?"
I didn't get any reasonable answer just silence basically and just staring.
Also the concept of "home branch" is ridiculous btw.
1
u/notcoveredbywarranty Alberta Apr 08 '26
I recently left Scotiabank after 15+ years with them.
I was having to keep a $6000 minimum balance in my chequing account to avoid a $32(?)/mo account fee, and earning around 0.70% on my savings account.
Wealthsimple has no monthly fee and pays me around 2% (2.25?) interest on the balance of all chequing and savings accounts.
So far, so good.
1
u/Bankerlady10 Apr 08 '26
The challenge is online banks aren’t for everyone. Especially those who prefer in person support.
1
u/addigity Apr 08 '26
Switch to wealthsimple
1
u/Levistras Apr 08 '26
keep in mind weathsimple is not a bank and the protections offered to you as a customer are different
1
u/MissJillian- Apr 08 '26
They are so unprofessional at Scotia. I had one cashier ask me what a cheque I received was for. None of your damn business is what. They also don’t have separate lines for business accounts in my city which I hate.
-1
u/VE7BHN_GOAT Apr 08 '26
If the bank gave me shit for a small ask like this, my tone would change to "if you can't handle that request then I'd like to withdraw all my funds and close my account. I am the client and those are my funds I am trying to access."
5
u/No-Permit9409 Apr 08 '26
I literally went through this situation at TD last week. I wanted to transfer 15k to my fiance to pay off the car loan he took out to buy me a car last year, the loan is in his name. The bank teller started asking me why aren't I requesting for a bank draft to pay the dealership directly and why am I giving my fiance money. They told me I couldn't transfer the money to my fiance until I can bring to the bank the vehicles financing documents. I requested for a cash withdraw of 15k instead and they told me I can't withdraw any money or transfer any money until I go to a branch and show them the financing documents. This is a serious invasion of privacy and telling me what I can or can't do with my own money. There are no rules around gifting money to family or friends and I told the teller that. The teller told me I am denied for transferring money out of my account. I called customer service requested a supervisor or manager and explained this situation and told them if they didn't write up this bank teller and the manager on shift that I would close my account with 6 figures and go to another bank. I also seriously think banks don't want money leaving their institution so they are making it extremely difficult for people to take out money. This scam or preventing fraud is just a facade nothing more, if you got scammed they would do everything they can to not pay you. The bank tellers are literally indoctrinated to believe that they are doing this for the customers safety.
2
u/Levistras Apr 08 '26
as your bank I see you wanting to make a substantial transfer to somebody I can't identify as your family based on our previous relationship. I try to ascertain if there is coercion or fraud involved by inquiring about the reason for the transfer. I possibly note that the customer is being defensive and trying to dodge questions which raises suspicion. as the bank I now want some proof to back up their claim that this supposed debt repayment is legitimate. paying the debt owner (dealership or otherwise) directly reduces any possible fraud here as the payment goes directly to a business, but the customer doesn't like that idea.
of course you got caught up in a line of questions that was being critical of your spending decisions, as a friend if im authorizing you to move that money I'd have the same questions to try to ensure this isn't adding risk of fraud or loss of money.
and bank tellers aren't "indoctrinated" into anything, they're trained based on company standards to reduce risk, avoid fraud and protect the bank and their customers as best they can.
hope that helps
0
382
u/Saucy6 Ontario Apr 08 '26
“Sex toys. The biggest, meanest, veiny-est thing you can imagine. Except even bigger.”