I know the title sounds like it belongs in the Pit, but:
My condo association has a couple of CDs in an institution a few miles away. It happens to be here in Chicago, but that’s pretty much by happenstance; we used to shop around the country for the best rate back when CDs still paid interest. We changed treasurers the first of the year, and would like to put the new one on the account instead of the old one. But the bank is insisting that we must appear in person in their office to do so.
I’m aware that the Patriot Act put in place some burdensome requirements, including requiring the SSN of every signer on even corporate accounts. But is there actually any Patriot Act or Comptroller of the Currency requirement that photo ID must be presented in person to open or change an account?
Of course not. Such a requirement would put Ally Bank, Discover Bank, and CapitalOne360 (fka Ing Direct) right out of business. It would effectively shut down the internet banking industry. Many of these banks just have an office somewhere in Utah or Delaware with no public access.
Your bank wouldn’t be the first to blame its own stupid bureaucratic on the Patriot Act or some nebulous “government regulation.”
Just one of those requirements bank put in place to make up for some kind of inefficiency. For deposit account opening, it is good to see the account holder in person because, heaven knows, that may be the only time you’ll ever see him.
First, I want to note that the OP never said the bank claimed the requirement was due to the Patriot Act. The OP just said it was a bank requirement, then the OP asked on his/her own if the Patriot Act had anything to do with it.
Is it unreasonable? You have money in the bank under the name Murray Hill condo Assoc. Someone calls the bank and says 'I’m the new authorized person for this account." Don’t you want the bank to at least make some motion toward establishing the identity of the person who claims he now is in control of your money ?
Absolutely. The call could be coming from Nigeria for all they know.
When my term as head of a local youth sports organization ended, I had to go to the bank with the new guy to sign over control of all accounts. They checked drivers licenses, IIRC.
Well, first I was required to give my SSN to establish that I’m an authorized signer before the bank would talk to me. Second, the signature card would be mailed to the condo association, then signed by the new treasurer and notarized as an official resolution of the board. Third, photocopies of passports or drivers licenses would be sent to the bank to establish the identity of the new signatory, because the Patriot Act now requires such nonsense. Finally, it’s a CD and on maturity the account balance would be a check payable to the condo association, mailed to the condo association.
So yeah, I think it’s unreasonable to require two of us to spend the afternoon taking a taxi to a remote part of the city and back. This appears to be a new policy. We opened the account without ever going there. Indeed, in the past we have used banks several states away.