Does a paasport have to do with Easter eggs? 
Good for you for banking elsewhere. Some banks do seem to not want customers and do their best to be assinine.
I live on Long Island, where North Fork Bank originated. Prolly the reason both the Fleet and North Fork had the same rule is that Fleet just recently bought out North Fork. As for why they had the rule in the first place is beyond me.
I know the moderator already weighed in on this, but FWIW I find it much easier to believe that a bank employee screwed up or discriminated against capacitor than that Capacitor made up the story as a troll or something. I’ve had plenty of experience with power-tripping bureaucratic functionaries, and besides, Capacitor delivered the goods in the form of the names of the banks.
As an aside, I once presented my passport as a form of ID when carded for alcohol, and the server insisted that she needed to see a driver’s license. A chat with the manager made it all go away.
Anthros
I had to show my passport once to open a bank account, but that was only because my ID was an out-of-state (I’d just moved to New York from Maryland) non-driver ID. The bank said they would only accept out-of-state driver’s licenses, which struck me as incredibly ridiculous given that both IDs are issued by the same agency and they both require the same proof of identity to be issued in the first place - the only difference was with one I could drive and with one I couldn’t.
It actually also struck me as potentially violative of the ADA (what about people who are physically incapable of driving?), but I just grumbled and showed my passport.
To the OP. Maybe there really was a reason for the bank to ask for a passport, even though that’s asinine since if you don’t ever plan to go abroad you never need a passport. Please don’t take it the wrong way. I’ve had to turn away all sorts of different people in my job and I would hate to be thought of being prejudiced. Best thing to do is to ask a white guy to go open the same account. If they DON’T ask for a passport, then sue the crap out of them!
I have better advice than that. Steer your friends away from that bank because the bank itself is probably under investigation for money laundering. This sounds like something management would pull to try and get themselves off the hook for accepting dozens of false IDs.
tcburnett: if the bank was under Title 31 investigation, it would not start asking for passports ( for citizens, that is). And I did not say that capacitor was trolling, I said I beleived that he was confused or not telling us the whole story. I have no idea where he is, or where those banks are, but if he posts their phone #s, or at least the cities, etc, I’ll gladly have someone straighten it out.
Now, based on capacitors statement re “passport & alien ID” it sounds like they beleived he was not a US Citizen, whereupon those would be asked for- it is possible they were confused becuase of something he said, or it is possible he was confused by them. A US citizen NEVER needs to show a US passport inside the USA.
If it is based on “Money laundering”, ie Title 31, this involves the infamous Form 4789. The instructions clearly show “acceptable forms of identification include a drivers license, military…, passport, state issued identification card, cedular card (foreign), non-resident alien identification cards, or any other identification document… which contain name and preferably address and a photograph and are normally acceptable…”
Sect. 103.28 of Title 31 says “verification of an individual who indicates he or she is an alien or not a resident of the United States must be made by Passport, alien identification card, or other official doument evidencing nationality or residence…” “Verification of identity in any other case shall be by examination of a document, other than a bank signature card, that is normally acceptable within the banking community as a means of identifcation when cashing checks for non-depositors (eg. a drivers license or credit card).” I have the entire Title at my disposal, should anyone need something to put them to sleep.
Now, just why do you think I might have these very boring documents on my desk at 1 AM? Capacitor, you are welcome to print this out & show them, and then see what they say.
In Australia, the law states that before a bank account can be opened, identification to the value of 100 points must be presented. Documents that can verify identity are given a points weighting in accordance with their status.
For example: a video library membership card may only rate 5 points, where as a driver’s licence will carry 40 points, as do a passport or original birth certificate.
Maybe a similar system is an undisclosed policy amongst American banks, whee the credibility of the customer is based on the quality of ID being produced. It’s my WAG that some banks may quietly encourage staff to actively ask for high cred ID such as passports, and I contend that this may be what capacitor encountered.
DV: Very few US citizens actually have a passport, I’m WAGing 20%. I don’t for example. We do not need them to visit Canada or Mexico, or as an internal identification. Those few who do, keep them in Safe-deposit boxes, etc, and don’t carry them around except when traveling outside North America.
Dvuos - Nope. At least not at any bank of which I am aware and I’ve been in the business a long time. Most US banks ask for two pieces of identification, one primary and one secondary. Primary usually includes: Valid US drivers license, valid local State ID (ruadh - 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. Secondary ID usually includes: all of the primary ID’s, credit cards, some government/work ID cards, and in some cases items like fishing licenses, library cards, or a utility bill with your home address. Secondary ID lists may vary greatly from bank to bank, or even from time to time within a bank, but the primary ID list stays pretty much the same.
As a person with a checkered financial past, I can assure you that banks can and regularly do discriminate against all sorts of people, particularly those who don’t appear to have any money.
I once had an account with a branch of First Union, in Falls Church, VA. I walked in with a birth certificate, a Social Security Card, and a paycheck backed by First Union. I told them I wanted to open an account using this paycheck. They ran my SSN, then told me that well sorry, we’re going to need to see a photo ID. I gave them my Library of Congress card. Sorry, we need to see a driver’s license. I dipped into my backpack and dropped a passport on the desk, lined it up with the SS card and the birth certificate, and calmly said, “The State Department required this and this so I could get this. Are you going to require anything else?”
As a matter of fact, yes. Sorry, we can’t open an account for you without a minimum balance of $600. That paycheck isn’t large enough. I picked up an account options pamphlet off of the evasive banker’s desk, circled a no-balance account option, and asked why I couldn’t use that option. The banker relented, but noted that the terms of the no-balance account required that I pay a $9.00 fee every time I talked to a human being at First Union instead of using my ATM card, which would be arriving in two to three weeks. Oh yes, and it would take three to five days for my First Union-backed check to clear… with First Union. After I endorsed the check with a thumb-print.
After four weeks I still had not received my ATM card. I called customer service at First Union, and they told me that I would have to settle that matter by going directly to the branch with whom I opened the account. Would I have to pay the $9.00-for-actual-service fee? Oh, yes.
I never did get an ATM card from First Union, but I discovered that that wasn’t much of a problem since at the time most of the branches in the Falls Church area didn’t have working ATM machines anyway. Furthermore, because I was dirt-poor I needed those checks to clear in a hurry, and I discovered that they would be instantly credited to my account if I used a drive-through. Also, the drive-through’s hours were better. Only one problem: bank policy dictates that you can’t walk through a drive-through, for insurance reasons. I don’t drive. So I tried to use a bicycle. No way.
I’m still a proud account holder with First Union, with an account balance of $1.00. I’m waiting for the day when I score big on the lottery so I can walk into my branch with one of those giant zillion-dollar cardboard checks and a gaggle of reporters, sit down with the branch manager, and explain that I would like to close my account. Whereupon I will hand over sixteen rolls of pennies with my name and account number carefully written on each (which, as I was once told by a teller at First Union, is required) in order to pay off the negative balance I instantly incur by setting foot in the bank.
Do I feel as if I was treated as a second class citizen? Hell yes.
I went to the source and called my bank. All you need is 1 ID. Just your driver’s license.
Your Majesty… or may I call you Sofa?
All your suffering will not be naught. You can rest assured that, after reading your story, I will not be giving any business to First Union in my lifetime.
Daniel, come to think of it, they showed me such a form, with State ID and Social Security card, which I had, convienently crossed out. I wasn’t sure if it was a 4789 though. And I carried my phone bill and work ID (I work for a NYC government agency) as well, but it wasn’t good enough for them. I told them I was a US Citizen by birth. I am not sure how they got confused by that.
How about if someone in New York just calls one or both of the banks capacitor listed and ask what the requirements are to start an account. I’ve started bank accounts all over the world with a passport, but with only a picture ID in the US. Granted, that is usually a Driver’s license, and since the mid 60s has included my Social Security number.
Even so, I’m starting to doubt that Capacitor is telling us the whole story. Maybe he wanted them to bypass the check-holding requirements most banks have, or maybe it was something else, I don’t know. Possibly he sports a Jamacian accent or went into the bank wearing a ski mask. But I do know that when I go into a bank and offer to pay them to hold my money, I don’t have any problems.
People in this thread are trying to find a logical explanation for something that supposedly occurred when we obviously do not have the full story. We could get it easily enough, especially if one of the named banks happens to have a presence on the Web. I shall now zip it and defer to Danielinthewolvesden, he having demonstrated to my utter satisfaction that he possesses the requisite expertise in this field. Daniel, you have my proxy vote.
I also have never had to produce more than a Drivers Licence or a State ID.
Hmmm…
I was with my aunt, a respected community leader. I was in Queens. I had short hair, and have no accent, and have excellent credit. I was trying to put $120 in cash into a checking account to places where they puport to have no minimum at the time. How much detail do you want?
I do not understand why you wnat to find malice in which can easily be explained by incompetence. Just take your business elsewhere.
My apologies, capacitor. I did not mean to insult you or disparage you in any way. But the simple fact is that banks are in the business of renting money from people for the purpose of loaning it out at an interest rate higher than that at which they are renting it.
So when you started a thread and make specific statements that fly in the face of what is usually considered reasonable and normal to me from my own experience as well as to experts in the field of banking I, quite naturally, tried to conceive a theory which will fit the facts as you describe them. But nothing immediately came to mind, so there is possibly something else involved of which I have no knowledge.
Certainly the things I stated as possible reasons were not meant to be taken literally. I clearly stated that I didn’t know the real fact if there is one. They were just analogies for another fact which I believe exists, but do not know and cannot prove.
I am not disputing you, but the process of soving problems and answering questions sometimes requires that we are sure of the nature of the problem. For instance, I am now inclined to ask… are you over 21? Was your aunt with you because she drove you to the bank? Is your aunt your guardian or caregiver? Does your aunt have an account with either of the banks you mentioned?
I am not personally concerned with this, other than to help answer a question you asked. But I am willing to do my best to help answer it for you, with your full cooperation. Otherwise there is not much more we can do.
The answers are yes, no, no and yes.