Grrr. Bank of America annoyed me today.

Our local bank was swallowed up by a huge conglomerate this past month, so we decided to move the accounts for my movie theater to a different bank. For a number of business reasons (including the fact that most distributors we do business with use them) we went with Bank of America.

Today was the first payday since we moved the accounts. Five minutes after my staff picked up their checks, my projectionist came back screaming at me. The local branch was requiring two forms of ID, but rejecting anything other than a major credit card for the second. This left one of my staff out in the cold, since his credit is completely shot and we're just now trying to get him back on his feet. His two ID's were his driver's license and his Social Security Card.

I called the branch, and asked exactly what ID's they would accept, to see if I could work something out and avoid this kind of situation in the future. She told me that they would need one photo ID (the drivers' license was fine) and one other piece either work issued, bank issued (but not debit cards from anywhere other than Bank of America), or government issued.

My question was obvious. "The Social Security Administration is not a government entity?"

Her response? "Anyone can get those little pieces of paper. All the Mexicans have them."

I'm trying to hold down a slow boil right now. She says to send him back, and she'll accept my voucher on the phone as identification this time around. "What is his last name?"

"Cruz. C-R-U-Z."

"Oh. Well, I'll see what I can do."

If I hadn't gone through a lot of expense to move our accounts quickly once TD Banknorth swept in across town, and if there weren't the obvious benefits of using the same bank as the companies we book films with, I would have gone in and closed the accounts over her bigoted statement. As it is, I don't know what to do or how to proceed with this, other than start switching most of my staff over to direct deposit to avoid these kinds of situations.

I just needed to vent. Sorry.

The money is available sometimes as early as 3AM on the day it is deposited, so you don't have to worry about going to the bank to cash the check.

Also, with direct deposit, you can often get free checking and with that comes a debit card.

I've never had any sort of problem like that with BofA. Hope the problem gets sorted out.

my sister had trouble with her bank and she was told it was a requirement of the Patriot Act,
the Mexican remark was crass, another example of demonizing a group of people in this country.

They froze all my money for 14 days when I moved to California. Made it tough to pay rent eh? I called, got it unfrozen then on the next deposit they did it again. Said something about the money coming from out of state therefore the hold. I don't miss them.

The federal reserve reg cc mandates holds on out of state checks on new account.

Most banks will place UCF (uncollected funds) holds for deposits on new accounts for the first 30 - 60 days the account is open.

I keep getting them at my house with all kinds of random names on them!

I worked in banking for 32 years, and we never accepted Social Security Cards as ID. Not only were they too easy to get way back when, they are too easily counterfeited.

You'd have this problem no matter what bank you used.

What I'm surprised they didn't suggest was a form of ID many commercial banks use, issued by them on application of an employer (maybe it's a size/balance issue) that would bear both the employee's name and signature and your countersignature on the serially-numbered card with the Bank logo. The only thing it would be good for is identifying your employees to the tellers for purposes of cashing their payroll checks.

Might be worth asking about.

nt

A current passport is the best ID one can have. :)

It was her "Mexicans" remark that got me. Especially since I was on the phone with her for the sole purpose of determining what valid ID would entail.

It turned out, I had forgotten that my old manager four years ago had signed the theater up as a member of the credit union across the street, and we had done nothing with it. So I got Mr. Cruz to open a savings account there, and will be direct depositing his check from here on out.

remark. I knew you had a handle on that one, so I just thought I'd address the other issue. :)

Glad you and Mr. Cruz have found a workaround you both can live with.

They may not be able to open an account.

My stepson has lousy credit and works for a bank, and they won't let him have a checking account.

customer service issues. And, as noted above, direct deposit's a good alternative - except you may have employees without bank accounts, so they'd still be on the hook of the ID issue. (I'm guessing a Soc. Sec. card is acceptable and the branch made a bad call.)

... since they're subject to confiscation - where "due process" is what happens AFTER the money is gone and not before.

:hi:

For the first time in over forty years. :hi:

With the illegal immigration issue and identity theft, SSN cards are not much good for identification anymore. Its not uncommon for large groups of folks to be using the same SSN number, complete with a fake ssn card.

Still 2 pieces of ID to cash a check at the bank that holds the account? Ridiculous.

My neighbor told me that if he uses a inside tell more than 3 times a month, it's a dollar for each teller transaction!

...a Credit Union. Many Credit Unions, locally owned and operated, will make local businesses very welcome indeed.

Yes, sometimes you have to sacrifice a little in convenience for a locally-owned bank; sometimes you have to pay a little more (though when you work it all out they're usually quite competitive.) I have never regretted kissing off the big corporate banking chains. I know my banker by name and she answers her own phone. We have to pay more for some services (OD protection, for example) but we get a better deal on other services (no minimum balance, no monthly service charge on checking.)

When I called her about opening up a business account, she dealt with it herself (even though she is technically a "personal" banker) and suggested that she fax me the applications to complete rather than making me come in and fill them out there, then I could just bring the completed app.s in. She was knowledgeable enough about their business product line to steer me to the right kind of account for my business, and told me that although their "standard" rates for credit card processing are a half-point higher than the big national chains, they will be starting a new program in a couple of months that will be more competitive, and will ultimately save me money by running my CC processing internally.

Back when we had to move, my old bank (also a locally owned small town institution) could accommodate us in all kinds of ways to help with wiring money, setting up automatic payments, holding escrow funds, etc. while we were switching over, much of it arranged via phone calls with the bankers I knew and trusted, who knew me. That kind of service is literally priceless, as in, it cannot be had at the big chain corporate banks, short of six-figure minimum account balances.

encouragingly,
Bright

Then he'll have a government-issued voter's registration card AND you can tell him who Bank of America supports (Republicans) so he'll vote against them (and for Democrats) in November.

:)

I don't think direct deposit will work since they guy doesn't have an atm card.

But it sounds like the teller has some wing not issues going on. I'd call B OF A at the 800 number and tell them your story.

It is understandable NOT to use the SSN or a credit card because those shouldn't be used to identify a person because of identity theft (not because every mexican has them) but B of A should be cashing any check from your account to your employees.

Good luck--I actually have had years of good experience and 1 bad teller experience with B of A.

Much nicer and less hassle in general. I don't have good credit or a cc; and they always work with me. Check into it.........

They seem to want to charge you for everything you do at their bank. From phone calls, to not keeping enough money in your accounts. Maybe other banks do the same thing, but BofA was the first.