So I got a letter from Mega Bank on an inactive dormant account I haven’t used in years. It demands by Dec 31 that I provide all my financial info and job info under the guise of know your customer anti money laundering.
What triggered it was a month ago I transferred in $100 to keep it active and a few days later got a call from their money laundering Dept asking me why.
It’s nice to see that after all those money laundering fines they received they are harassing me with $100 in the account. It threatens that if I don’t reply by the date transactions will be disabled.
I plan to reply back reminding them how sleazy of a bank they are with all those American fines and that my info is none of their business.
Anyone else get a letter ? It’s stupid because it’s not as if the money launderer is going to fill out the box , black money oh yes…Let me tell you about it
Not sure about tw, but if you get an account closed in Europe due to failing kyc there is a risk other banks will do the same and also not open new account for you in future
Actually Taiwan regulations do not allow them to close accounts however they can suspend transactions
It’s obvious they are trying to pretend to the regulators they are super serious about going after laundering of money while at the same time letting the big fish fly by. It’s a diversion.
If you need to send a kyc to a guy with a years old account and $100 in it they must have a lot of free time on their hands.
a) keep working with Mega Bank, keep your account, and simply comply. This option is not hard—I got one of those letters too, and sorted it out quickly and easily, as I (and I am certain, you) have nothing to hide.
b) ferociously fight them and get your account suspended.
Remember the money laundering thing is big now, with international terrorism networks and other issues at play that are far bigger than you, me, or Mega Bank. They are trying to keep regulators off their backs. If you want to keep working with them, you should help them do so.
Actually I don’t wish to work with them anymore
It’s been dormant for years and im not going to put myself out for an account I don’t use to give them my financial info.
If they close it so be it. No plans to fight it
My point being is that they harass clients that are obviously not doing anything shady in order to get the regulators off their back
Well, OK. But in your original post you wrote this:
So it seems you did wish to keep this account active, right? So why let this minor bump affect your game plan? Roll with it, keep you eye on the ball, don’t let these sorts of things knock you off your game. I’m not always good at this, but I’ve come to realize that this is how to live here.
I thought I may need it in the future… why no idea. I don’t really close accounts that I don’t use as I figure you end up getting a different job and needing to open it again
Thanks for replying
I filled out most of the form, left the salary and transactions info blank, they accepted it over the counter, remains to be seen if I’ll get a call at some point!
We all received the letter at work because it is the bank they use to deposit our salary. Yes, the letter is real, no fraud.
For safety, do not send it by mail. Go to your nearest MEGA bank and give the rather unobtrusive information. Especially the copies of ID’s are a bit sensitive.
Got this as a message when I logged into my online banking, went to the branch and sorted it out. They just wanted to know what kind of job I do (=source of income). So I told them something that sounds nice and easy.
Well, lol. That’s kind of the point of regulation. I am sure Mega would love not to have this information, but they have to.
For us it is not a biggie as the salary is deposited there. They are not asking for an exact figure. They jkust want to know if you will have 100k USD going through your account every month or if that should be considered “unusual activity” on your behalf.
The laughable part is they have more information that most account holders themselves on how much is flowing through accounts every month! A form clearly designed by some underpaid idiot related to the boss. The ARC and passport info they would have received when opening the account so rather than bother their ass to go and look up their records it’s easier just to have everyone present again. I assume during this process they’ll uncover a huge number of dormant accounts from those who have passed on (in every meaning) potentially netting a nice interest win by after locking the accounts.
I have accounts at three banks other than Mega, and I haven’t received anything. However, I’m pretty sure I provided my employment, income, and other info when I opened the accounts.
Is this info being asked of all account owners, or only those doing wire transfers?
I haven’t been asked at other banks. Only at Mega.
On another side note, Taichung Bank where I’ve been a client for many years has just told me that they are closing my credit card on expiry next month because I’m a foreigner and they are closing foreigner credit cards. I’ll have to reapply again they said.
Updates are needed. When I opened my account 20 plus years ago, it was still ICBC, not even Mega Bank, and I have a bank book to prove it. No ARC at the time.
Odd thing with it is the form doesn’t ask for your bank account number, I have several accounts with MEGA but only supplied one form, don’t know how that will work out.
