Changing money and cash at the bank: when ID is asked for, and why

Changing currency or withdrawing your own money at the counter takes five minutes — until someone asks for your passport, and sometimes where the money came from. It is not the cashier being difficult: the source is the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

Is there a legal amount that triggers ID?

For withdrawing your own money from your own account, no. The regulations set neither a minimum nor a maximum for cash at the counter. The questions come from the bank's duty to know its customer and monitor the relationship.

Regulation 28 puts it directly: a firm must conduct ongoing monitoring of the business relationship, scrutinise transactions throughout it and, where necessary, establish the source of funds, so that transactions are consistent with what the firm knows about the customer, their business and their risk profile.

Which amounts are in the law?

Regulation 27 requires customer due diligence when a business relationship is established, on an occasional transaction of £12,000 or more, on a transfer of funds exceeding £800, where money laundering or terrorist financing is suspected, and where there are doubts about the veracity or adequacy of documents previously obtained.

Traders have their own threshold: accepting cash of 10,000 euros or more means registering with HMRC as a high value dealer first.

Who may exchange currency?

Only a registered business. A bureau de change is a money service business: registration with HMRC is required for currency exchange offices, money transmitters, cheque cashers, intermediaries taking payments on digital devices, and bill payment providers. Registration includes a fit and proper test. Money transmitters must also be registered or authorised by the FCA under the Payment Services Regulations 2017.

A narrow exemption covers incidental exchange — for example at a hotel — if it is a minor part of the main activity, turnover from it is no more than £100,000 a year or 5% of the total, transactions above 1,000 euros are limited to one per customer including linked smaller ones, and it is offered only to customers of the main business.

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Is there a maximum withdrawal?

Not in law — the bank sets it. Some branches will hand over a large sum the same day; others ask for notice simply because the cash is not in the building. That is logistics, not suspicion, and a phone call solves it.

At the border, cash of £10,000 or more must be declared when entering Great Britain from outside the UK or leaving; in Northern Ireland the threshold is 10,000 euros for journeys to or from non-EU countries.

What to bring

Photo ID every time, whatever the amount. For a large sum, bring something that explains where the money came from — a sale receipt, a contract, probate papers. The law does not require you to carry it, but it settles the source-of-funds question in a minute rather than a week.