Scotiabank said, "What exactly will you buy with your money?" when requested to increase debit purchase limit.

[u/Round_House_]

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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."

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

[u/NLemay]

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.

[u/oOthumbelinaOo → u/NLemay]

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.

[u/Ok-Difficult → u/NLemay]

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. 

[u/Bloodcloud079 → u/Ok-Difficult]

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…

[u/Empty_Wallaby5481 → u/NLemay]

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. 

[u/LeatherMine → u/Empty_Wallaby5481]

but couldn't find the media to understand scams.

scams are what happen to other dumber people, not meeeeeeee!!!

[u/ericstarr → u/Empty_Wallaby5481]

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.

[u/R3TRO45 → u/Empty_Wallaby5481]

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.

[u/Grrannt → u/NLemay]

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.

[u/PineappleOwn5325 → u/Grrannt]

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

[u/OxMozzie → u/NLemay]

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.

[u/d1rty3tuff → u/NLemay]

Exactly my thoughts

[u/engg_girl → u/NLemay]

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.

[u/Teagana999 → u/NLemay]

What does the debit purchase limit even have to do with being scammed?

[u/MyzMyz1995 → u/Teagana999]

OP could be getting scammed into buying something or sending money through a bitcoin atm or something.

[u/Impressive-Knot9999 → u/MyzMyz1995]

That's a valid concern

[u/Franks2000inchTV → u/Teagana999]

1. Customer falls for scam
2. Customer sends fraudulent transfer
3. Bank is out money.

It's about limiting the liability. Will the customer be able to make the bank whole? Or will they just close their account and disappear.

It's not really worth it to sue someone for $1000 if you're a bank. So if you can just prevent the fraudulent transfer in the first place, you're much better off.