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Home >> Checks/Money Orders
Tellers and the Patriot Act
When cashing a non-personal check at a bank that I have dealt with for over 20 years, the teller requested my drivers license and SSN, and then wrote them on the back of the check. Isn't that divulging my info to others, should they check their cancelled checks? The checks recently cashed were for $6k. I normally have a balance of five times that much. I feel this is an invasion of privacy. The teller referred to the requirements of the Patriot Act, but could not give the details. I know about the $10k deal.
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 It is unfortunate when bank employees pull up the USA PATRIOT Act as an explanation for bank policies that customers don't like. While the Act has affected many of the things that banks do, recording identification information on a check the bank is cashing is most definitely not anything that the Act requires.
There's nothing wrong, certainly, with a bank or anyone else, wanting to see identification when cashing a check. That's Banking 101 and it has been a standard business practice a long time. Recording a driver's license number has been part of that routine procedure, too.
Recording a Social Security number on a check to be cashed is, however, something entirely different. There is simply no need to obtain your Social Security number when cashing a check except when your transaction exceeds $10,000, and the bank is required to file a Currency Transaction Report. In fact, there are some states that specifically prohibit the recording of a Social Security number on a check as identification. Recording a license number is universally accepted.
To give the teller his or her due, it may be that someone in the bank gave the Act as an excuse when training the teller on bank procedures. That's unfortunate, because it simply isn't accurate. It's simply a bank policy.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 6/18/09
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