Check Cashing Requirements...WOW

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Just went to the issuing bank of a check I had for a little under 3k. I wanted to cash the check and get cash, not deposit it in any account. Here is what I needed:

Two forms of picture ID (one has to have your address on it).
Social Security Card
My thumbprint directly on the check.

Seems a little overboard, doesn't it. Damn that patriot act.

Financial privacy does not exist anymore, matter of fact...privacy of any kind really does not exist anymore. At least not anything outside the walls of your home.


BTW, would the same level of intrusion apply to those check cashing places? I know they charge like a 3% fee, but at least I wouldn't have to be fingerprinted...lol
 

morally bankrupt
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Check cashing places differ from place to place.

If you live in the south Amscot is probably the most notable place. You will need to have a drivers license, references, and finger print.

Some places though, are the same except they snap a picture of you.

Never heard of asking for a social security card, just the #.
 

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I don't really think that is that unreasonable...I think in this particular case it's more about check fraud risk than anything else.
 

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Jocko Johnson said:
Just went to the issuing bank of a check I had for a little under 3k. I wanted to cash the check and get cash, not deposit it in any account. Here is what I needed:

Two forms of picture ID (one has to have your address on it).
Social Security Card
My thumbprint directly on the check.

Seems a little overboard, doesn't it. Damn that patriot act.

Financial privacy does not exist anymore, matter of fact...privacy of any kind really does not exist anymore. At least not anything outside the walls of your home.


BTW, would the same level of intrusion apply to those check cashing places? I know they charge like a 3% fee, but at least I wouldn't have to be fingerprinted...lol


The issuing bank? Can I assume you do NOT have an account there?
Did you ask them the reason for all this?
 

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I had no account at this bank. I just wanted cash. I asked why all this was needed, and she told me because new banking regulations required it. I asked her if it had anything to do with the patriot act, and she just nodded her head.


Whoson1st said:
The issuing bank? Can I assume you do NOT have an account there?
Did you ask them the reason for all this?
 

Cui servire est regnare
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if you don't have an account there that is standard procedure for most any bank, nothing out of the ordinary here...
 

Whatever happened to that Simpson boy from USC?
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The person who told you about the new banking regulations is the reason you have to put your thumb print on it flat out lied to you. I used to work at the bank you are talking about for 5 years. They implamented the thumb print on the front of checks for non-customers as a part of fraud protection. At one time there were tons of check fraud going around and the banks were taking a beating from unrecoverd funds. It is more or less a deterent to a degree. In all my 5 years there, I never knew of a case where we had to go back and present the check in a court of law with someones thumbprint on it.
 

And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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Wells Fargo
2 Id's, and a thumbprint to cash a payroll check and a $5.00 fee
 

Whatever happened to that Simpson boy from USC?
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they have been using the thumbprint for 10 years.
 

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?
the person cashing the check isn't the one who would WRITE the bad check?

Guess, I'm just tired.... They are THE issuing bank?
Why cash it at all?
 

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I don't understand why and how you can be required to have more than a government ID and thumbprint.

You don't have to be a U.S. resident to cash a check, the issuing bank is more or less obligated to honor its own checks, so how the f*ck can you be required to have an SSN number and ID with address information? I'd seriously object.

Call their bullshit; force them to honor their checks with nothing more than a copy of your passport (which contains no address nor SSN) and thumbprint.
 

And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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Dont have a passsport...so I have to use an ID
 

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maxdemo said:
Dont have a passsport...so I have to use an ID

Well obviously you should obtain one, or soon you won't even be able to leave the country.

Passport application asks for SSN, but you simple leave it blank (or all zeros), and they can't complain. The application contains a threat of fine by the IRS, but the State Department is itself forbidden from requiring the number by the Privacy Act of 1974.
 

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How can there be a risk for fraud when it is this bank that issued the check, and they can log into the bank account and check the account out for themeslves. Why wouldn't a proper ID suffice. I don't see the reason for a thumbprint and all the other stuff.

Unless they thought I stole the identity of someone else and magically found a way to make myself look like the person on my ID. I know people can make fake ID's, but banks should easily be able to tell a fake from the real thing.

I think the U.S. Govt. just wants to keep track of how every dollar in this world is moving....or at least the ones moving through the banking system.

Journeyman said:
I don't really think that is that unreasonable...I think in this particular case it's more about check fraud risk than anything else.
 

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Adam Selene said:
Well obviously you should obtain one, or soon you won't even be able to leave the country.

Passport application asks for SSN, but you simple leave it blank (or all zeros), and they can't complain. The application contains a threat of fine by the IRS, but the State Department is itself forbidden from requiring the number by the Privacy Act of 1974.

A. Selene is that true about providing your SS# on a passport application? have you done this or known someone that did not give their SS#.
All this "gathering" of personal information makes me mad. so many company's and goverment agency's tell you giving this info is mandatory when in truth it is not. They always give the excuse of the patriot act or others laws to gather the information on you to use for their financial benefit.
 

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I'm not that bright, so could you explain to me how banks were "taking a beating from unrecovered funds."

I guess I just don't know how this would happen when the bank issuing the check can look into the account that the check is from and see if the funds are available. But like I said, I'm not that bright, so maybe I am missing something extremely simple here.

BankerC said:
The person who told you about the new banking regulations is the reason you have to put your thumb print on it flat out lied to you. I used to work at the bank you are talking about for 5 years. They implamented the thumb print on the front of checks for non-customers as a part of fraud protection. At one time there were tons of check fraud going around and the banks were taking a beating from unrecoverd funds. It is more or less a deterent to a degree. In all my 5 years there, I never knew of a case where we had to go back and present the check in a court of law with someones thumbprint on it.
 

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The alleged reason for identification and thumbprinting for cashing a check at the issuing bank is to discourage check washing.

That is, acquiring real checks from mailboxes and using a chemical solvent to remove the name the check is written to and replacing it, and/or doing the same to modify the amount of the check.

The bank generally reimburses accounts victimized by this crime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_washing
 

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Thanks for the explanation, makes sense now. I saw that movie with Leonardo DiCaprio about check washing too. Just forgot all about it until now.

Adam Selene said:
The alleged reason for identification and thumbprinting for cashing a check at the issuing bank is to discourage check washing.

That is, acquiring real checks from mailboxes and using a chemical solvent to remove the name the check is written to and replacing it, and/or doing the same to modify the amount of the check.

The bank generally reimburses accounts victimized by this crime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_washing
 

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Adam Selene said:
The alleged reason for identification and thumbprinting for cashing a check at the issuing bank is to discourage check washing.

That is, acquiring real checks from mailboxes and using a chemical solvent to remove the name the check is written to and replacing it, and/or doing the same to modify the amount of the check.

The bank generally reimburses accounts victimized by this crime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_washing

Thanks Adam for that explanation. I had not even thought of THAT! And I agree, that does make sense. But, in this day and age of "customer service", it would have been nice for the clerk to simply tell the guy cashing the check about this. They would have gotten on his good side any maybe even gained a customer.
I guess the days of being friendly are bygone for sure!
 

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