Anti-money laundering measures also apply to ATM transactions. The Bank of Italy has issued a reprimand to banks that allow customers to withdraw excessive amounts or use their prepaid cards excessively or too frequently.

Furthermore, the spotlight is on those requesting these types of cards, particularly those operating in the construction, gold-buying, and money transfer sectors: these are the sectors most at risk of money laundering. These are the main critical issues identified by the Bank of Italy's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in a communication released yesterday, which identified patterns indicative of anomalous behavior associated with certain payment transactions. These include: deficiencies in due diligence on payment and credit card holders; lack of limits on the maximum number of cards issued to the same name; use of cards by individuals other than the cardholder; lack of automatic mechanisms in IT systems to detect anomalous transactions; and, as mentioned, the ability to withdraw excessively large amounts from ATMs.

http://www.italiaoggi.it/news/dettaglio_news.asp?id=201402192042496967&chkAgenzie=ITALIAOGGI by Fabrizio Vedana
Source: ItaliaOggi, 20/02/2014