TD Bank Teller Refused To Withdraw Money For Black Businesswoman Because She Didn’t Feel ‘Comfortable’

A TD Bank teller refused to withdraw money for a Black businesswoman because she didn’t feel “comfortable.”

A few weeks ago, Gwen Samuel, the CEO and founder of the group Connecticut Parent Union visited a TD Bank branch located in Southington, Connecticut, to withdraw money from her account. Connecticut Parents Union is a group that advocates for equal educational opportunities and resources for children in the state of Connecticut.

When she arrived, she asked one of the bank tellers to withdraw her $1,000. “I go inside, I had my TD Bank card and my license,” Samuel told Fox61. “They were cordial. I’m not even gonna say they were rude.” But a strange amount of time was spent going through Samuel’s account. That’s when the teller told the woman she wouldn’t be giving her the money. Mind you: Samuel has been a member of TD Bank for 16 years.

“She hands me my license, and she says, ‘I don’t feel comfortable giving you the money,’” Samuel told the station. “So, I got confused, so I said, ‘You don’t feel comfortable giving me the money,’” she said. “She said, ‘Well, you just deposited the check yesterday.’” Samuel then told the clerk that she had already verified that the check had cleared.

“And she said, ‘Oh yeah, it cleared. The money is available. I just don’t feel comfortable giving it to you,’” Samuel said, adding that the teller never told her why she felt uncomfortable. “I was so hurt, and I didn’t want to start crying.” Samuel ended up going to another location to withdraw the money needed to pay a vendor.

“I just had to make sure I am not overreacting because we’re such a racially tense time right now, so I just wanted to give the benefit of the doubt, but that doubt went away when I got the money from the ATM and Bristol,” Samuel told NBC Connecticut.

On top of that, Samuel put together a protest on Monday to bring light to the mistreatment she experienced and make sure it never happens again. “Even though it happened to me, I don’t want anyone else to have the terrible experience,” Samuel told WFSB. “I just want them to do better. I could pull my money. I could prove that point, but I could also prove that point by trying to work with them.”

In a statement, TD Bank responded to the incident. “The security of our customers’ accounts is a top priority, and we regret that the specific reasons why the transaction could not be completed may not have been explained to Ms. Samuel at our Queen Street store in Southington.”

“Due to privacy concerns, we cannot discuss the account activity of particular customers, although we can confirm that the customer’s transaction was completed at another TD store in the vicinity. We regret that Ms. Samuel did not have a positive experience, which is what we strive to provide, and that she did not receive a satisfactory explanation regarding her transaction. We are contacting her to review her transaction and to understand and address her concerns,” reads the statement.