TD Ameritrade Called Me, Big Brother is Watching

A couple weeks or so ago I sold a stock I'd held for some time that didn't go anywhere. It didn't go down (thankfully), but it didn't go up either (though it probably will now that I've sold it.) Anyway, I sold the stock in my TD Ameritrade account. Once the transaction cleared, I moved the proceeds from the sale as well as some cash I had on the sidelines there over to Vanguard (via my checking account) to put into my "big downpayment" fund for our new home. The overall amount was a good chunk of change.

A few days went by and I got a call from TD Ameritrade. "Tina" was "my" TD Ameritrade "investment consultant" (either a salesperson or a customer service rep, I'm not sure which). She had noticed that I had made a sizeable withdrawal from my account and just wanted to make sure it wasn't service related (that they were doing a bad job.) I told her that I was just moving money around and she said she was glad it wasn't something they'd done (that made me mad). She then gave me her phone number and told me to call her if I needed anything.

I had two reactions to this -- one good and one bad:

• Good -- Seems like TD Ameritrade cares about making customers happy -- or at least they're trying. This makes me feel better about doing business with them. And besides, the last time a woman called me up, gave me her phone number, and told me to call her if I needed anything was...well, never. ;-)

• Bad -- Is this scary to anyone -- that Big Brother is watching over our money like a hawk? Sure, it's their business to keep money with them, but it wasn't like I withdrew $1 million (or even $100,000). Kinda freaked me out a bit at first.

So which way do you see the call -- something good or something bad?

Comments

[Michael B. Rubin]

Good. They have all the data anyway; I think higher of companies that actually use it. (If she had called three times in a week or called after you requested that she stop, I'd have an entirely different opinion.)

Another benefit of the call (even if she didn't mention it): What if you hadn't actually taken the money out? In other words, what if this was actually a security breach? It would be good that they contacted you. I know some of the Internet banks will analyze their data and, should they see something irregular, will contact you.

[rdub98]

How often do you check your balance on your accounts? What if you rarely checked and a large sum of money was moved from your account? In that respect, wouldn't you want them watching your money for you so you don't become a victim of fraud? Take it from me, be glad that they are watching your money for you. They are covering your butt and their butts at the same time.

[dog]

I just attempted to transfer 5K out of Ameritrade and they "lost" the paperwork. The indeed "look after" your money.

[Matt]

When I banked with Suntrust, I took out a 0% credit card offer for around $20,000 and deposited it in my account to then transfer to ING Direct. I got a call before the check had cleared from a lady at Suntrust telling me the wonders of their interest bearing accounts, which at that time were around 1%, while ING was at 4%. I laughed and laughed, but it does show that they are watching your account for any sales oppertunity.

[Mrs. Micah]

Good. Very good. Do you know how few places care about customer retention these days? If they've set something up to trigger when a person removes a decent amount from their account, and they're actually trying to retain customers, that's great.

[FMF]

I guess you all are right -- it's a good thing they're looking out for me. ;-)

[dmann]

Hmmm, if you were transferring stocks out of your account to another brokerage then I can see why they might be concerned about service, but come on, it was just a sale.

And yes, it probably will go up now that you sold it, it always happens to me!

-- Dave

[mjmcinto]

They're probably using a program to identify unusual transactions. This is really helpful in spotting fraud early. The actual size of your move was probably irrelevant. If you were in the habit of making transactions of 5K or less, and then made one for 100K, it would get flagged. However, if you're in the habit of making transactions of around 1 million, and you then make one for 1.3 million, it might not flagged, since they're probably looking at your average, and applying a total difference and percentage difference to determine if it's suspicious. I've written code that did similar interrogation of data, where we were looking for "anomalies" to help identify fraud.

Overall, being called by the company once wouldn't bother me. But this is probably b/c I have a guess as to what happened to trigger the call since I've written similar programs, and think it's a smart move on the companies part.

[Rev]

I'm confused as to why it would make you mad that they were checking to make sure that their service was what you expected and that they were happy they had satisfied you with their services. I think more companies should actively work on improving like that.

Also its nice for security as people mentioned above.

[Kathleen Lisson]

I would welcome the phone call. The company is trying to keep your business and nip customer problems in the bud.
Kathleen Lisson

[FMF]

Rev --

The only thing that made me concerned a bit was that it gave the impression they were watching every move I made. As others have pointed out, this can be a good thing, but it can also be a bit "freaky" to know you're being watched at all times.

[Kevin]

I see it as the credit card company calling to tell you about unusual activity on your card. A courtesy call, sometimes disguised as a sales call. Since you approved the transaction, you can blow it off. If it was someone that hacked your account, you would be glad for the call.

[Jon]

Banks are actually required to do this. Granted you are with an investment firm, but it is still the financial sector. Unusual or irregular transactions are automatically flagged by the system to be checked up on for fraud, stealing, or money laundering. If you have a checking account and are depositing $200 a week and then suddenly deposit $10,000, you will get flagged and checked up on.
The service rep checking to make sure you were satisfied with their "service" was just the first step in checking up on the transaction to make sure it was legit.
"They" are not necessarily watching, but you can bet the computer is.

[Christopher Schneider]

I transfered my account between two brokerages, and the broker I was transferring away from gave me a very polite call asking why I had transfered (software reasons, not service), and then told me some planned upgrades. Didn't help, but it shows that my paltry little IRA was worth enough to them for a phone call. Really, it's sales, but it's the type of sales I'm not opposed to since it's them trying to find what they did wrong to lose a customer.

[joe banks]

Are you kidding? Why should this freak you out? I've been banking with TD Ameritrade since they were TD Waterhouse and I would routinely get calls from them if I happened to withdraw a large sum from an ATM two days in a row to ask if I still had my card on me and authorized the transactions. It's one of the small things they've done that have kept me a loyal customer.

[FMF]

Joe --

You asked:

"Why should this freak you out?"

Because:

1. It never happened before.
2. I wasn't aware they were watching me so closely.

[Dave]

I vote good. It is really standard operating procedure to watch such transactions. Partially for fraud, but even more so for retention and sales.

I've worked for several banks, and you better believe we kept an eye on money leaving the bank. As other commenters have mentioned, the information is all available, and a good business will act on that information! That applies double for a company like TD Ameritrade, since they don't see you in person they can't talk to you at the time of the transaction, they need to follow up after the fact.

[The Investor's Journal]

I see it as annoying but I understand why they do it.

As long as it's just a quick call I don't mind it though.

[Mayor of Greenlake]

I have an eTrade account that holds similar stocks that have not "done much" in years... as a result, I don't log in often; about a year ago, I logged in to find that someone had fraudulently cleared my account of all funds available for withdrawal! eTrade was great and replaced the money, but the point is if eTrade had done what Ameritrade did and called me, we would have known sooner. I was just lucky I logged in when I did, as I doubt the ending would have been as happy if the money had gone missing for months before I noticed/reported it.

[KnicksFan]

This is a really good thing.

I had identity fraud from Chase this year, where they did not properly flag a change of address and very fraudulent unusual activity. It is a nightmare, and if they had called or sent a letter notifying a change of address, all of this mess could have been avoided. You would think they would cover all the losses, but they won't.

[Free man]

good, when was the last time someone stole your credit id ?

[Llama Money]

It doesnt sound like she was pushy or anything, so I think it's a good thing. Customer service is a casualty of the digital age, and anytime you get a human calling you to make sure everything's ok, I'm on board. If, on the other hand, she had made a hard push to sell you something, that would be a different story.