bank asks about cash payments in our company, what should I say

Cash is a money laundering indicator, not a suspicion

The bank asks this as part of the client due diligence required under the Act on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing (Wwft). Cash receipts are more difficult for a bank to trace than bank transfers: there is no counterparty account, no name of the payer, no automatic audit trail. This makes cash more vulnerable to misuse, so the bank asks about it with virtually every business customer — not because anything is wrong, but because the bank must document this for everyone.

Specifically, the bank wants to know: do you receive cash, how much (roughly, as a percentage of turnover), and from whom — private customers at the counter, or also business relations. If you have no cash turnover, then "no" is the answer and that is usually the end of the question. If you do have it, for example in hospitality or retail, a follow-up question often follows on how you process that money: do you count it yourself, do you deposit it with the bank or through a cash handler, and what are the usual amounts per transaction. This often relates to the question about the source of the company's assets, as cash turnover is often mentioned separately in the explanation of the source of funds.

Basis: client due diligence under the Wwft

The obligation to conduct this due diligence rests with the bank, not with you: institutions falling under the Wwft must conduct client due diligence on the nature and background of the business relationship and the transactions, and cash is a standard point of attention due to the limited paper trail. This is separate from the due diligence on who represents or controls the enterprise — that question is usually in a separate section, see who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the company. If you do not have an answer to the cash question ready because you have never kept track of it, an estimate based on your cash register administration is usually sufficient; an exact percentage is rarely expected.