Bank on it
I’ve been back from vacation for about a week and a half, and nothing inspires a return to the blogosphere like a trip to the bank.
On Tuesday, one of our teens came into my office. He had recently returned from a summer working at camp and needed help cashing his paycheck. He has no bank account of his own, and the way most people in this neighborhood can cash their checks is by giving up 10% to the local check cashing business (a business whose proprietors will surely spend eternity next door to the people who brought you Rent-A-Center).
I agreed to deposit his check in my account and withdraw the funds for him. When we got to the front of the line I explained our situation.
“Well, then you’ll both need to sign the back of the check…”
I signed under his name.
“…and I’ll need your friend to show me two pieces of ID.”
Two? He’s a high school student with no license. All he carries is his school ID.
“Well then all I can tell you is to go deposit the check at the ATM and withdraw the funds that way.”
So in here we need not one but two forms of ID,
“Yes.”
But ten feet away we can deposit the same check at the same bank without having to prove his ID at all.
“Well, we can’t control what you do at the ATM.”
Really? You limit the amount of funds I’m allowed to withdraw from an ATM in a day, and even count the period ranging from closing time Friday to opening time Tuesday as one day. But you can’t have an ATM policy disallowing the deposit of a check made out to a party other than the account holder? And in here you must insist on two forms of ID, why exactly?
“The woman at the service desk can show you how to make this deposit at the ATM.”
Who runs these banks?
posted by jdjones @ 11:29 AM
4 Comments:
"But you can’t have an ATM policy disallowing the deposit of a check made out to a party other than the account holder?"
No, because they technically can't (or don't want to) have a BANK policy disallowing the deposit of a check made out to a party other than the account holder. Once he signs his name, that check is bearer paper, so technically, you didn't even need to sign it to cash it.
Anything else they make you do is meant to protect themselves from fraud, but since it (probably) won't help them legally anyway, they only do it to stop obvious fakes before they get any money.
I have the feeling that if your friend hadn't tagged along, the ID requirement wouldn't have come up at all.
I understand why they would want me to deposit any and all checks at their bank. I'm really not questioning the ATM capability. I'm just saying it's completely inconsistent with their policy inside. If you're really so concerned about fraud, why turn around and tell me how to circumvent the system and even offer to have an employee help me do it? Why not just serve me at the window?
I think the point is just to discourage people from cashing questionable checks. She couldn't violate policy, but once she figured out you were on the level, she could let you in on the ATM secret.
If you banked at a local bank instaed of a big corporate jobber you could just sweet talk the manager on duty into making the policy exception or if you are a good enough sweet talker even the teller would do it.
You should see how much sweet talking i have to do around ketle season
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