Comments on: 0% Balance Transfer: You May Be a Terrorist

By: » Read These Posts or You’ll Lose All Of Your Money on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 01:21:25 +0000

[...] Flexo brings up a correct but scary point about how 0% balance transfers might get you on the fed’s watchlist. I’ve known that large deposits will usually get you some extra scrutiny but naively never thought the word terrorism would be involved. A scary thought. [...]

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:08:29 +0000

Whenever I hear about things like this, it makes me want to initiate a transfer of $5,000.01 into and out of my bank account every day. I can just imagine the Treasury Department analyst scratching his head, trying to figure out what was going on. And it might just piss off the (powerful) banking lobby enough to get the rule recinded (or at least upped to $10 or $20k).

By: Flexo

Flexo — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 19:51:13 +0000

That’s right. Discover doesn’t present a problem but MBNA does.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:57:04 +0000

I was reading your previous article with the link “Unless you use a Discover Card”.I think you probably meant MBNA not Discover because I haven’t had any problems with money transfer using Discover.

By: Flexo

Flexo — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:08:09 +0000

Can they be helpful? I don’t think it’s been determined that they have. (Or if it has been determined, the details would be classified.) They can however use the SARs to analyze known terrorists’ movements, but that’s after the fact.

By: Personal Finance Blog

Personal Finance Blog — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:16:25 +0000

Wooo … i just did a five figure balance transfer.

By: John M

John M — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:10:14 +0000

There are many places where I think that the government can be too intrusive. However the government print the money, insures the bank, and already uses the system to freeze funds. The SARs may not be directly effective but can be helpful in catching people who are trying to evade taxes.