| The (AML and some KYC) laws themselves are unreasonable for two reasons. First, having access to banking and payment services are necessary is many places so much it should be considered a basic (human) right on itself. Freezing someone's money or access to banking services could cause much more issues or more harm to some individual than some of the criminal charges yet it is done automatically without any proof, reason, any way to appeal, by the sole discretion of one of the stakeholder (without any independent third party). Which in spirit is going against the innocent until proven guilty (and probably even the right of fair trial and right to property human rights). From people's perspective banks have more power and can easier "take" (freeze for months/years) your money than courts and have way less responsibility or oversight doing it. Second, banking services is one of few which is nearly entirely depends on trust. If a bank (from my perspective) "can not" (not allowed) to account for every penny and every transaction then my trust in that bank (or even in the whole banking industry) is lost. That is bad for the bank (they will loose customers), bad for me (because I must use more cash), bad for the society (because more cash would increase tax evasion and black markets, and because it lowers the trust in public institutions), just because some stupid algorithm thought that paying half the dinner to a friend would significantly help the finances of a terrorist group. |