Citing the Patriot Act, my bank asked me if I was a citizen.....

[steely]

I mean - what's up with that??!

Anybody ever hear of this? - I was just trying to conduct some biz over the phone (probably in India?). I just wanted to get thru it, you know - but the more I thought about it, the madder I got.

I should have asked them what they'd do to me if I wasn't -
Is this the new norm?

[havocmom]

1. WTF? Lots of foreign $$ in US banks

Saudi princes' mad money for instance. Marc Thatcher's wife's household money too, I'll bet!

[steely]

3. yeahbut yeahbut ..... this was usaa! - I'm cornfuzed

I guess nothing's sacred.

(usaa handles primarily US soldiers and they're kin)

on edit - U.S. letter case change

[RebelYell]

2. They asked you if you were a US Citizen???

OMG, that would have pissed my ass off.

Tell them, yeah, you filed an I-9 with a photo ID and your Social Security card with your employer. Then ask them if THEY did.

I work for a P.I. He's investigating redacted) for their new coffee beverages, to be sure they're presenting the new coffees correctly. Out of 487 locations, only 4 are owned by someone born here. Most of the employees have a "severe language barrier". What I'm curious about, is this corporation advertising in Mid Eastern countries? I can see it now...."Get your very own (redacted) business! English not necessary!"

GRRRR.

Edit to correct typo

[jayavarman]

4. Patriot act mandates

that banks have to collect identification info on customers upon account opening. The bank has to be most scrupulous in collecting info upon opening the 1st acct of a new relationship- although they also have to update their files.

I believe it's country of citizenship & residency, as well as being a little better about getting more info off of the customer's id. It's pretty much the same stuff the bank had to collect anyway, they just have to be more serious about it now.

The bank can really get all up in your stuff if they suspect you of money laundering, though, or violating OFAC. In my experience, some of the anti-money laundering regulations can be way more intrusive than any of the patriot act account opening regs.

However, unless you are making large wires to the caymans, depositing many many thousands in cash or trading with north korea, you (and 9,999 out of 10k other normal people) will never find out what the banks & gov't will do to money launderers.

In the whole scheme of things it's really no big deal IMO.

[steely]

5. Thanks - that makes sense - guess I'm a little paranoid.

Come to think of it, she did mention it was an "update" (I'm parsing her statement in mah haid).

And for the record, I've been with them for 21 yrs, and was merely reordering chks. (the online method was broken).


Still it was kinda creepy.

[blue neen]

6. It sounds creepy. You've been with them for 21 years and

were only ordering checks? Very strange. My son just opened a new checking account at a new bank and didn't run into anything like this.

[steely]

7. could be because it was a phone "transaction".

I have to answer a couple of validating questions (more than usual it seemed). I am out of state to them.

[jayavarman]

8. He probably did, but didn't notice it

People expect to give the bank their ID when they open acct & they expect to have a conversation. Banker probably will put down that the customer is a us citizen & resident if they appear to be one . . . no accents, no green cards or visas, or if in talking to the person the banker realises that they've been in the community their whole lives, etc . . . probably not the letter of the law, but I would bet dollars to donuts that is what happens most of the time.

If the account is opened over the phone, or on line, though, all of these questions would probably be asked as the banker is not sitting down with the customer in her office