# Why do I need a paasport to open a bank account? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918 "2000-06-28T19:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/41 "2000-06-30T05:27:38Z")
OK. God knows I tried to be helpful and polite about this. It is now becoming more probable that you were given the run-around because you made an asshole out of yourself with the new accounts officer like you are doing in this thread. If I had a bank and you came in I’d toss you out just on general principles, no matter what color you are. And by the way, since you have been wrong about almost everything else you have said, let me add one more thing: > [@](#): > > Ok let me specify. I went to Fleet Bank and North Fork Bank in my area, and they said that I required a passport. I had my state ID card (I don’t drive), my Social Security card, my recent phone bill and my job ID card from the city government. Although you need less than that in order to get a passport, it wasn’t good enough for the banks I mentioned. No, I am not confused. Astoria allowed me to open an account. Here’s what you need to get a passport: Previous U.S. Passport OR Certified birth certificate issued by the city, county or state (A certified birth certificate has a registrar’s raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar’s office.) OR Consular Report of Birth Abroad OR Naturalization Certificate OR Certificate of Citizenship Not a state ID card. Not a Social Security card. Not a recent phone bill. Not your city ID card. You were wrong about that as well. And if you finally DID get a bank account, what’s the problem anyway? Go and sin no more. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/42 "2000-06-30T05:46:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > requirements for obtaining a State issued ID vary from state to state. Instead of maintaining a list of ‘acceptable’ State ID’s most banks only accept those ID’s issued in that state), and valid US passport. > \*\* Are there really states where the **Department of Motor Vehicles** will issue you an ID without proof you’re really you? Must admit I’m a bit skeptical about that. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/43 "2000-06-30T05:56:20Z")
You can go to the DMV in California and if you have the proper paperwork, you can walk out with a genuine official California Identification Card. It looks like almost exactly like a Driver’s License. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/44 "2000-06-30T06:29:19Z")
Yeah I know that Bob, I lived in California for seven years. The point is you need the **proper paperwork** i.e. proof that you’re really you. The DMV won’t just take your word for it. I’m asking if any state DMVs will. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/45 "2000-06-30T06:35:15Z")
tc, who is being impolite now? I am giving you the events as they happened to the extent that I remember them (happened last year May). The fact that they were wrong did not change the fact that it happened. Just because you cannot believe that it happened does not change the fact that it did happen. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/46 "2000-06-30T07:56:59Z")
capacitor. Since it happened last May, why are you posting now, and what answers/comments do you want from us? Even if you got another guy to go in and open a bank account without a passport today, it’d be too late to sue them. My recommendation: Forget about those two banks. For whatever reason they didn’t get your business, F\*\*\* them. Astoria let you open your account there and has your business now. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/47 "2000-06-30T08:00:13Z")
you’re right Feelgood. Apologies to whomever it pleases. Just had to let off some steam about it. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/48 "2000-06-30T14:37:11Z")
**tcburnett** states, > [@](#): > > It is now becoming more probable that you were given the run-around because you made an asshole out of yourself with the new accounts officer like you are doing in this thread… Whoa! Why the sudden vitriol? **Capacitor** described an annoying event in the OP and asked a proper question, namely, can and do banks require a passport to open an account? In subsequent replies, others (notably **Daniel** ) answered the question, but, gratuitously in my opinion, added statements like: > [@](#): > > I KNOW he is BSing us. Now, sure, **capacitor** didn’t give _all_ the information right away, but geez! how would he know what information was relevant to begin with? Seems to me like a couple people were pretty hasty in jumping on him, and I see nothing in his replies that justify **tcburnett’s** opinion above. And, although it’s been said before, it seems to me that the best explanation for the original question is incompetence on the part of the bank employee, although it seems suspicious enough to me to suspect racism. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/49 "2000-06-30T15:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Are there really states where the Department of Motor Vehicles will issue you an ID without proof you’re really you? Must admit I’m a bit skeptical about that. > [@](#): > > You can go to the DMV in California and if you have the proper paperwork, you can walk out with a genuine official California Identification Card. It looks like almost exactly like a Driver’s License. It’s that “proper paperwork” that’s the hangup. In Georgia you need to show the same proof to get a state ID or a driver’s license. Other state’s requirements differ. Those requirements may or may not meet the ‘proper ID’ policies set forth by the bank. The point is that most banks, instead of having tellers remember which state ID’s they can and cannot accept, simply say accept only our state’s ID’s. I’m not defending the decision, merely reporting the standards I am aware of. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/50 "2000-06-30T16:36:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > and I see nothing in his replies that justify **tcburnett’s** opinion above. > > That’s what’s wonderful about opinions. Each of us may have them without having to justify them to anyone else. So your opinion of my opinion is just your opinion, in my opinion. I will be happy to justify statements of fact to you whenever I make one. Opinions are something else again. > although it seems suspicious enough to me to suspect racism. > \*\* Well, since you just finished stating that capacitor didn’t give us all the information, how do you come up with this racism bit? You are making an unedutated guess based on information that you admit you don’t have. I’m not being a bit vitriolic about this. I always try to be nice. On the other hand, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, don’t be upset with me if I call it a duck. Excuse me while I have some milk and quackers. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/51 "2000-06-30T18:25:38Z")
**tcburnett** says, > [@](#): > > So your opinion of my opinion is just your opinion, in my opinion. Sure. And I’ll stand by my opinion. **Capacitor** has been polite throughout, despite being told, pointblank, that he was BSing. I honestly can’t figure out what upset you about his posts; I imagine you and I interpret something he said differently. In any case, to answer your question: Later, **tcburnett** asks, > [@](#): > > Well, since you just finished stating that capacitor didn’t give us all the information, how do you come up with this racism bit? I was responding to the original post, which asks, “Is it because I’m Black and they are profiling me?” Perhaps using the word “suspect” was a little strong, since I still believe that the best explanation for the original question is incompetence on the part of the bank employee. My intention was (because, as you quite correctly point out, I **don’t** have all the information) to emphasise that racism should not be ruled out as a possible explanation. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/52 "2000-06-30T19:29:02Z")
Capacitor, The way you have presented the situation is unclear and to a few people on this board it gives a feeling you are not telling the entire story or you are confused yourself. You did not clarify the situation and you want us to pass judgment on it based on what? You want an opinion if it was racism? How can anyone know if _you_ don’t know? I cannot see _any_ evidence of racism but if you suspected it, you did not handle the situation in any way that would be helpful in determining the facts. I’ll tell you what I would have done and what you can do in similar situations: Talk to a supervisor. If the supervisor says the same thing, ask her to put it in writing and get their names. You can also write a letter to the bank’s customer service dept asking them to tell you in writing what the requirements are. But crying “racism” and doing nothing else is not going to help any. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2000, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918/53 "2000-07-01T11:42:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > It’s that “proper paperwork” that’s the hangup. In Georgia you need to show the same proof to get a state ID or a driver’s license. Other state’s requirements differ. Those requirements may or may not meet the ‘proper ID’ policies set forth by the bank. The point is that most banks, instead of having tellers remember which state ID’s they can and cannot accept, simply say accept only our state’s ID’s. I’m not defending the decision, merely reporting the standards I am aware of. > \*\* DoctorJ, all you’ve really done here is reword your earlier post. I’m asking for specific examples of states whose DMVs will issue ID without sufficient proof of identity, not just another declaration that such states exist. Sorry to be haranguing you about it but I really find it hard to believe any DMV would do this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-a-paasport-to-open-a-bank-account/23918.md?page=2)