I have been banking with the same institution for many years.  I have been satisfied with the services during that time.  I have one credit card thru the same institution....lets call that institution Fells Wargo.

I have had the credit card division call me and verify significant charges in the past.  This is something that I welcomed; a financial institution being proactive about protecting their customers and their money.  I'm sure its also to protect their own funds.

Two weeks ago, the same institution called home to 'verify' the significant cash withdrawals in the recent months.  Unfortunately, my significant other answered.  Although she is my wife, she kept her maiden name.  Despite having another name, she introduced herself to the caller as my wife and was able to find out all about the cash withdrawals during the past few months.  To say the least, she confronted me about the 'withdrawals', but that's another story...

Has anyone every been contacted by their financial institution regarding large and significant cash withdrawals?  I, for one, will be contacting my bank and find out their policy and why one of their employees provided someone, without my authorization, with my banking history.

Thank you in advance...

Yes I have. My wife told me she bought herself an early B-day present Monday night, I got gass on the same card at 530AM the next day, then she paid 1300 to buy our tile at 10am the same day. They called me to verify my card and that it was not stolen.
I was happy about that and also found out how much she spent on her birthday early.

I bought an airline ticket over the phone for a provider on my "personal" credit card.  The airline -- for reasons I can't fathom -- called my home two hours before the flight and reported the name of the provider and itinerary to my wife in an effort to "verify" the charges.  My wife called me to report it to me (I was out of town) and I thanked her profusely -- as luck would have it, I had recently misplaced that card, and said, "Somebody must have found that card and is trying to use it." Fortunately, it never became an issue.  I called the airline from my cell phone and tried, politely, to explain that I wanted to verify and confirm the ticket, but they said that it had to be done from my home phone number.  So I had to decline the charges and call the provider to let her know -- fortunately, she was an angel about it, and had the cash to cover the ticket.  

Purchasing tickets on line, however, does not seem to create a problem.

I don't have the time at this moment to look up the legal citations but discussing your financial info with anyone other than the account holder without your written permission (I'm assuming wife is not a signatory and you never signed anything that permitted this transgression) is a huge violation.  You need to go visit your branch manager and explain to that person that you've got the numbers of your state attorney general and the nearest federal judge preprogrammed into your cell phone and that if he doesn't kiss your ass sufficiently he's going to have a very bad day.

Our right to privacy is rapidly vanishing.  Started with "National Security" but corporate America is not far behind on that bandwagon.  Most idiots don't even seem to mind until it bites them personally.
Holding their most intimate personal conversations on their cells in subway stops, checkout lines, restaurants.

Somebody needs to draw the line somewhere.

...many states have provisions that allow the Credit holder can discuss credit, purchases etc. with the spouse, even if she is not an accoutholder... so your answer kinda depends...

so I think I will find out myself, too.

I'm guessing (could be WAY off base here) that although your wife cannot use that card, or that bank account or whatever, that the monies are community property, however, and so also is the information? Up to a point?

I've got to do some bank dealings in the next few weeks, and I'm going to ask about that - inquiring minds want to KNOW!

Otherwise, you stand to have a justifiably HUGE complaint!

once I was driving straight from the Twin Cities to TX. BS when it's 3:00am in some bad area & the gas tank reads e & the damned credit card doesn't work. Last week Citicard pulled the same crap when I was using the card 200 mi. from home. BS that you need to advise them of your travel plans in advance to use their damned cards.

I'm not an expert on banking regulations and policies but I know something about the stockbrokerage equivalents, which shouldn't be radically different.  In the brokerage world, anyone giving any information about an account to anyone other than the account holder without written authorization from the account holder or a court order is going to get his or her tit in a wringer of epic proportions.  Unless banking regs are very different, or these were actually joint accounts and so titled, somebody got gratuitously screwed.  Community property would be a contingent concern.  You can't give info about an account to someone who may become a holder later, but is not a holder now.  And Sedona, it's lovely to see your presence on the board.

In community property States such as CA... the laws are different and can include some of what you describe. Still smart and still sexy. How's retirement?

I was at a Trader Joe's store, and purchased around $600 worth of food for a party we were having at the house.  I usually used my AMEX for most every purchase but Trader Joe's did not take AMEX so I used my Discover Card (which I do not use very much).  After I had purchased the food, paid for it, and loaded it into the car (could not have been more than 10 minutes between signing, and loading the car), I called my wife to let her know I had finished the shopping, and was on the way home.  Well, she had already gotten a call from Discover Card with the amount of the purchase and verifying that the purchase was valid.

I wonder what would have happened if nobody was home?

Anyways this is one more reason I NEVER use credit cards for anything related to this hobby.  It is too easy to "track back" credit card charges.

Banks and other institutions want to do these kinds of things because it helps them to run their business more profitably (i.e. less hassles from stolen cards), but the reason they feel emboldened to step over the line, and deny you your privacy, is because they think they can get away with it in today's climate of rapidly decreasing privacy.

The only way to stop it is through laws protecting our privacy, and by supporting politicians who will pass those laws.

Remember that Big Brother is ALWAYS watching.

A while ago, I was on vacation in the Caribbean and made a jewelry purchase.  They did call my house in the next few days to check.  I was glad they did.

Gents:

Banking Security is a MUST if you are going to use your plastic for ANYTHING related to the hobby (or for any other "personal" endeavor for that matter)...

First..go to Mail Boxes Etc. and get a PO box. $100+/- a year is a small price to pay for peace of mind and no accidental discovery by wifey-poo.

Next, contact all of your credit card companies and clearly make them understand that the PO box is where the bills are to go, and
give them your cellphone number as the number to call you for any matters relating to your plastic. If you have any joint cards with your wife, PARK THEM and keep them separate from any cards in your name only. Use only the cards that go to the PO box
and are tied to your cellphone and keep them in a separate wallet
in a safe place (in my case, locked in my car's glovebox).

Third open a separate checking account in a different bank
as a single man and that goes to the PO Box too. Replenish
by taking your cut of your paycheck,etc as a check to CASH
and put the cash in the "hobby" account.... use this to pay the plastic.

Finally, upon completion of a "Fire Mission"... SANITIZE.

DESTROY ALL CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS, INCLUDING GAS, before heading
back to wifey-poo. Having your wife find a credit card receipt
for that dinner at a 5-star place with yor provider plus a hotel
bill can ruin your whole day, if not your life....


Da dog

In college, I worked for a credit card collections department (nationwide collections) and we were not allowed to discuss anything with anyone other than the cardholder. The reg Z and E requirements for financial reporting are very strict.  

My guess is that the person at Well's didn't bother to check the name on the account, and/or your wife was more than eager to help them out (assume you have other accounts there with your wife that are joint accounts??).  

BTW I have never heard of a bank calling on large ATM withdrawls some time after they have occurred.  What would be the point?  If there is fraud going on, their systems should have alerts immediately (like the guy buying $600 in groceries) that identify spending patterns outside of the norm, not a month or so down the road after multiple withdrawls.  Don't know how far you want to push this with Wells.  I'd ask questions, but unless your wife is divorcing you because of the call, I would let it rest.

in my name only that goes to a po box with my office as a second address and my cell phone as the primary number and my office phone as a secondary number should anything happen ....

This is nothing compared to what the government is now able to do because of the Patriot Act.  You know that freak Ashcroft is just salivating at all the different ways he can utilize the terrorist umbrella to bring his moral right to this country.  

They can ask the banks for all these records with just a simple request.   Judges are signing off on this type of stuff every day, under the ausipces of fighting terrorism. Don't think for a minute that a simple bank inquiry isn't just the tip of the iceberg.  Big brother is out there.  

Best way to be safe.... prepaid cell, cash and keep the cookies off your PC and use some good firewalls.

They hadn't been notified of her death, and her SO (not married) was using her money to pay for all of the funeral expenses.

It may have been a TINY bit different in that I held a position that had security clearance and the bank would have known that both my co worker and myself held that clearance....

*shrug*

Plus the woman on the phone was just so shocked to hear that the woman had passed... as were we all..

xo
Elise

They are not extending a line of credit to you here.  There is no loss to them if it turns out to be fraud.  Your withdrawing your own money is none of their business, especially in the age of the internet, where most anybody can check their account balance online at almost any time, and should keep track of it to protect against theft.  

Their interest in this is gratuitous. Their disclosure to a third party irresponsible and a privacy violation.  

I'd look for another bank, and for a lawyer as well.  

/Zin

Actually, the use of ATM, Check and Credit cards fall under reg Z and E.  With both regulations, the bank is indeed liable for money withdrawn that you dispute.  If you have your PIN number written on your ATM card, lose the card, and the person takes your cash... all you have to do is notify your bank and in many cases it'll cost you nothing, maximum is probably fifty bucks, with the bank replacing the missing funds next day.  These are regulations, not just a bank's choice.

Get another bank account at another bank with the statements going somewhere else.  Also get a disposable phone too.  

This is just the start for some of the more, 'alert' a.k.a. paranoid ones here.  well if I was married, I'd get a change of clothes too.  

Again, just my opinion.