What was claimed
The UK government is limiting cash withdrawals over £200 a week.
Our verdict
False. This is not a real policy set to be introduced by the government.
False claims about £200 cash withdrawal limits continue to be shared online
Videos falsely claiming cash withdrawals over £200 are to be monitored by the authorities are continuing to be shared online.
Many different versions of these posts have been shared on Facebook and TikTok, with the same core claim: that if you withdraw more than £200 in cash in the space of a week, the transaction will be automatically flagged to the authorities, and you could end up being investigated in some way.
As we investigated in August, this is not a real policy, and several of the authorities mentioned in the videos have denied this is either currently happening or planned.
One of the recent Facebook posts claims that any withdrawal over the limit will be sent to the UK’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), run by the National Crime Agency (NCA), and that this is overseen by the Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The NCA, HMRC and FCA have all previously told Full Fact the claims being shared online are not true, while the Treasury did not respond.
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The FCA previously told us that most banks have daily limits on cash withdrawals (such as at cash machines) for operational reasons and that these are set by individual banks and based on several factors.
Banks must also comply with regulations to prevent financial crime, such as identifying and verifying customers, as well as protecting them from fraud and scams. But this does not include automatic reporting of any cash withdrawals over £200 a week.
The FIU is responsible for receiving, analysing and disseminating intelligence submitted through Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). These alert law enforcement to potential money laundering or terrorist financing, and are made by financial institutions and professionals such as solicitors, accountants and estate agents.
They can also be submitted by private individuals where they have suspicion or knowledge of money laundering or terrorist financing. But, as noted above, the NCA told us that the FIU does not receive these automatically for anyone who takes out more than £200 in a seven day period.
These claims are part of a spate of false content that we’ve checked this year about limits to people’s personal freedoms.
Before sharing content like this that you see on social media, first consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source. Our toolkit gives you advice on how to navigate bad information online.