Cash transactions have always been highly scrutinized; after all, it’s still the legal currency used for most criminal activities in the US—and most parts of the world too. This is why the The U.S. Treasury Department, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will take a closer look to cash transactions in some high-risk areas of the country. From now on, the reporting threshold will be lowered to just $1,000. While it will not affect all banking branches, it has been designed to finance flows.
Cash withdrawls will be surveilled… in some areas
The $1,000 reporting requirement stems from a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) issued by FinCEN. This is used by federal regulators to increase transparency in regions where criminal activity is—to put it bluntly—rampant.
This GTO does not apply to standard banks nor credit unions nationwide. If you live in a peaceful (almost utterly boring) county where nothing ever happens, the U.S. Treasury Department won’t probably bat an eye if you withdrawl more than a $1000 dollars from your local ATM. In fact, this GTO exclusively targets Money Services Businesses (MSBs); check cashers, currency exchangers, and companies that facilitate money transfers or remittances.
This requirement is actually quite “geographically limited” to very specific counties and ZIP codes along the U.S. Southwest Border, since they are the primary corridors for drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
The order mandates that these MSBs must file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for cash transactions that fall within the $1,000 to $10,000 range, at least until March 6, 2026, which is the current expiration date for this GTO.
The Law that hasn’t changed
We better distinguish between the temporary GTO which affects very specific areas of the USA from the national banking rules. For all banks, the mandatory nationwide reporting threshold for cash transactions remains $10,000 —as it was stated in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970. If any single or aggregated series of cash transactions (deposit or withdrawal) exceeds $10,000 in a business day, the bank must then file a CTR with FinCEN.
This CTR is totally automated. However, if the bank suspects any transaction—generally involving $5,000 or more—, it is then required to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).
Why put the threshold at $1,000?
The $1,000 GTO aims to target the crime of structuring, which is the intentional act of breaking up a large cash sum into multiple smaller transactions to avoid triggering the $10,000 CTR. This is a federal crime, even if the money was earned legally. Criminal organizations—particularly drug cartels—rely on MSBs and structuring to move illicit funds.
By drastically lowering the reporting floor to $1,000 in these key areas, FinCEN increases the volume of data collected. It also makes the logistics of moving large sums of illicit cash too difficult for criminal networks to manage effectively. Do you recall how in Breaking Bad Skyler had to rent a storage unit to start hoarding Walter’s millions in dollar bills, since the automat business couldn’t handle such injections of illicit cash without raising suspicion? Same thing here.
The GTO targets the outflow of funds, specifically large cash withdrawals and remittances, which are the mechanisms used to repatriate drug proceeds. All this data gathered from reports is then used by law enforcement to investigate tax evasion and other financial crimes. If there’s something scarier than drug trafficking, it’s the the IRS.
FAQs
If I withdraw $1,500 at my local bank, will it trigger a report to the IRS?
No, the $1,000 rule is temporary and applies only to Money Services Businesses (MSBs) in specific counties along the Southwest border, not to commercial banks nationwide. You are good.
What is the mandatory reporting limit for my primary bank account?
The federal mandatory reporting limit (CTR) remains $10,000 for all cash transactions (deposits or withdrawals) conducted in a single day. If you go to your bank with high amounts of cash, be prepared to answer some questions and show some documents.