Woman goes to Truist to withdraw $6,000 of her own money. Then she realizes she has no idea how to answer the teller’s interrogation: ‘I was a child’

A routine bank withdrawal became an uncomfortable experience for one woman after a teller started asking questions about her request for $6,000. Michelle Raleigh said she had already shown her identification and signed the necessary paperwork. But the conversation took a turn she hadn’t anticipated.

Michelle Raleigh, who posts on TikTok as @michellebellexo, shared the story in a video under the caption “Banks are weird with cash these days.” The TikTok clip has gained hundreds of thousands of views.

In the video, she said she went to the bank the previous day because she wanted to withdraw $6,000. She emphasized, “It’s my money.” She explained that she showed her ID and signed a form the teller gave her. She noted that $6,000 is under $10,000, so she assumed it should not have been an issue. But as she recounted in the video, the withdrawal process quickly became more complicated once the teller began questioning her.

Teller asks about the account opening date during the cash withdrawal

Raleigh said the teller told her, “just to verify, because it’s such a large amount of money, we just have to ask you a couple questions first.” She claimed she expected regular security questions at that point.

Instead, she said the teller asked, “About when did you open this account?” She described feeling confused and told the teller she banks with Truist and previously banked with BB&T when she was in college. She said she did not actually know the opening date.

She explained that she asked the teller to wait while she checked her mobile banking app. The teller reportedly replied that the app would not show the information. Raleigh said in the video, “Okay, so I’m failing an open book test right now.”

She added that when she mentioned banking with BB&T in college, the employee did not point out that BB&T is now Truist. Even if that connection had been mentioned, she said she still would not have known the exact answer.

After she obtained the money through a different method, she asked the teller, “do you mind telling me when my bank account was opened? Because I don’t know the answer.” The employee responded that it was opened in the 1990s.

She stated in the video, “I was a child.” She explained that her parents had opened the account for her while she was growing up, and she never thought to ask them when that happened. She said, “They opened it. It wasn’t even me. How was I supposed to know the answer to that?”

Viewers shared mixed reactions in the comments. One person described a similar experience and wrote, “That’s crazy. Ridiculous. I took some money out. I had to make an appointment for the next day to get it.” Money headaches are not limited to the teller’s window, as travelers can also lose money at foreign ATMs without realizing it.

Several commenters who said they work in banking defended the questions. One wrote, “I work for a bank. We have to ask those questions or we lose our job.” Another added, “Coming from someone who works at a bank, there’s so many people being scammed and frauded out of large amounts we have to ask. Or it’s our job on the line.”

Others focused on the customer’s side. One commenter stated, “The bank thinks it’s all their money.” Another suggested, “Next time tell her you want to close your account if they won’t give you their money. Works every time!!”