If I were to request to move funds in 6-to-7 figures range across institutions, I absolutely would want the receiving outfit require that I visit my current outfit in person first to authorise such a transfer. Making sure that such visits are smooth and efficient is good service.
On a related note, when I got my mortgage in the UK, the issuing bank/lender-arm required me and my wife each to get a Proof Of Being Alive. (I'm not a UK native.) Turns out embassies issue these quite routinely, for a modest fee, and a visit that lasts at most 15 minutes. At the time I found that requirement both confusing and irritating, but in the context of the article, it makes sense. The lender was about to issue a sufficiently large loan to a person with very limited[ß] UK transaction history.
On the upside, more recently that same bank/lender prodded and arranged me to get an early, admittedly pretty good fixed deal on my remortgage - two months before the central banks started to hike their rates. Without that early intervention my current rate would be at least three percentage points higher.
ß: from the viewpoint of a financial institution, who likely measures customer relationship ages in decades.