I was at the bank the other day and I was wondering why banks don’t keep their slips out on the counter anymore? They used to, but now if you want to make a deposit or withdrawal, you have to get a slip from the teller. I asked the teller but she didn’t know why, other than it was the bank’s policy.
Both my banks leave them out.
I read something about people stealing large quantities of slips and replacing them with doctored deposit slips that place the deposits into certain accounts. After a short period of time, they would close the accounts, cash out and run. Not sure if anyone was ever caught for this, but I read it in an old Richmond Times Dispatch a year or so ago.
This could be the reason some banks removed the slips, but I would think that if it were a serious threat, NO banks would leave slips accessible…oh well, just a thought.
Bank robbers were using them for writing notes that read:
This is a stick-up, put all your money in the bag.
As for ‘doctoring’ the slip, the account number must be hand written, and is really obvious, so that won’t work. Actually, my main bank is quite low-tech at the customer service area, which prevents a lot of the more common scams. In other areas, such as on-line banking, they’ve got some of the better designs and technology working for them. Good bank.
My bank stopped leaving out deposit slips (although the withdrawal slips are still around, last time I checked). I was told that the bank was tired of dealing with illegibly filled-out slips, and wanted to push people into using the pre-printed deposit slips that came with their checks.
I use Citibank, and AFAIK they leave deposit slips out at all their brances.
My bank goes one step further and charges a dollar (yes, one whole BUCK!) if a deposit is made without the preprinted deposit slip.
I have a hard time believing the story about the pre-printed deposit slips with bogus account numbers. When you make a deposit at a bank, you get a receipt. The receipt has your balance. Wouldn’t someone notice that the balance was nowhere near what they expected? Or am I the only person in America who balances his checkbook?
As for my bank, there are deposit and withdrawal slips sitting out for anyone to fill out.
This thread is getting awfully anecdotal, but I’ll say that when I make a walk-up deposit at my bank (Bank of America, FWIW), I do not get my balance printed on the receipt unless I request it, and then it is handwritten by the teller.
It does give my account number.
I don’t think BoA leaves deposit slips out anymore, too, but I’m not sure.
The scam that is being referred to works like this. Someone picks up a pile of blank deposits slips and imprints them with the correct ink & code for their own account. This data is in computer-readable form and is typically ignored by bank users.
Next, the pre-imprinted pile is replaced in the desk dispensors. When a customer uses one, he/she writes the account number in pen, not noticing the imprint.
If the teller doesn’t spot it, the slip is sent to data processing. In this department, slips without the special code & ink are rejected so a clerk can manually encode it. But, this particular slip is read just fine by the machinery, which ignores the hand-written account number, and it gets posted to the wrong account!
Yeah, eventually it gets caught if someone’s balance is not what they expect. But by then, the thief may have cashed out and closed the account.
The deposit receipt handed to me by my bank does not show the account balance.
It does show the account number and in the scam method, it would be wrong. But the receipt also shows many other numbers that are confusing to anyone but a teller. And how often do you verify your account number on the receipt?
You’re not the only person in America who balances his checkbook, but there are an amazingly large number of people who don’t.
A few years ago, I had a job in which one of my responsibilities was to balance some accounts for expense purposes. I found a discrepancy of over $1000 in one guy’s payments that went back over a year. This guy had had over $1000 less in his checking account than he was supposed to for over a year and hadn’t noticed. He did make some money, but certainly not enough to make $1000 negligible, and he was often concerned about how much things cost. He told me he never bothered to balance his checkbook. :rolleyes:
To end this hijack, I think I may start an IMHO thread about this, if it hasn’t been done already.
I once asked a senior bank teller why there were no deposit slips left out, and she gave the following explanation:
They have commercial customers who make many deposits and are charged for their deposit slips. Some of the commercial customers were cheating by taking stacks of deposit slips out of the bank.
Now that I think about it, this explanation is not very believable. I’m sure that deposit slips don’t cost much to buy in bulk, and the money is well worth it to have your name and account number pre-printed on the slip.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a quiet defense against fraud.
By the way, I can confirm that Citibank leaves deposit slips out. But consider that Citibank relies heavily on ATMs - I suspect that the ATM allows for an automated check against the info on the deposit slip.
Or, as a practical joke, some smart alec will walk into the bank, write the above remarks on the back of a deposit slip, place the deposit slip back into the pile, and sit back to watch the hilarity ensue.
Interesting, sounds like many banks still leave deposit slips on the counter. Maybe it’s regional? None of the banks I’ve used in the central Florida area (Orlando and Daytona Beach) have left them out in 5 or 6 years. They all have the island in the lobby with the slots for the slips and pens ruthlessly chained to the counter, but no slips.
The deposit scam sounds like a plausible reason, but they don’t leave out any forms at all. Not withdrawal or those other miscellaneous forms who’s purpose was a mystery to me, except when the teller tells me “Oh, you need to fill out one of these to do that”.
I’ve got another theory.
Perhaps people were stealing other people’s account numbers off discarded slips. Say you’re filling out a slip – you enter your name, account #, etc. but put down the wrong date or make a mistake adding up the deposit amount. “Oh, darn,” you say, and crumple up the slip and try again. If you’re not very careful about tossing/destroying the bad slip, someone could get your account number pretty easily from it.
Banks don’t have the date showing anymore like they used to, and of course they don’t have any time clocks either, but then clocks have been eliminated everywhere. (P.S. my bank doesn’t have deposit slips out either).
My theory might be less rubbish on the floors of the banks, combined with the desire for cusotmers to use preprinted stationary from home.