All the fraud targeting elderly people has had a secondary effect: banks have made it much harder for ordinary older customers to do basic banking.

My parents have never been in a stronger financial position. Two largely unsecured homes, a solid stock portfolio, and healthy cash reserves. They’re going to Japan in May.

Yesterday they came over so we could help book the flights. Normally my mother just walks into a travel agency, but this time I wanted to help her save some money by booking online through AMEX’s website.

Everything went smoothly until payment. The tickets cost 98,000 SEK. Her credit limit is 85,000 SEK.

She called AMEX to temporarily raise the limit — something she’s done many times before — and was refused. Strengthened banking regulations, they said.

My mother, being a woman of action, immediately transferred money into the account to create the necessary room. Problem solved, but only because she found a workaround.

I’m glad the banks have tightened the rules to protect vulnerable people. But somewhere along the way we’ve lost the ability to make sensible, temporary exceptions for customers who are clearly not being defrauded.

Protecting the elderly shouldn’t mean treating every older person like a potential victim who can’t be trusted with their own money.

Have you run into the same wall with your bank? Or do you think the extra friction is a price worth paying?

This is not the first time I’ve written about how measures meant to protect the elderly can create new problems. In 2024 I wrote about the telephone fraud targeting older people and the systems banks use to combat it: Not all heroes wear capes