Tell us
what you think
Our Sponsors
 |
Our Sponsors
|
Can You Identify That Person?
"KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER" STANDARDS PROPOSED
A well dressed gentleman approached the new accounts desk. "Hello," he said. "I'd like to open a checking account, please."
"Certainly," replied the customer service representative. "Won't you have a seat?"
Pulling out a new accounts form, she started a standard new accounts interview. Name, address, telephone, place of business, what type of account, what the account is to be used for, etc. At some point in the interview she asks for identification.
The customer-to-be will then produce a driver's license, an owner's card, some credit cards, perhaps a passport, a social security card, maybe even an armed forces ID, or some lodge or organization membership cards.
She will carefully note the types of ID, record some of the numbers, or make copies of the identification on the office copier, and attach it to the new accounts form. She will then have the customer sign some signature cards, process the opening deposit, perhaps supply him with starter checks, (or at least take his order for them), welcome him to the institution, and try to cross sell him some other product while she has the chance-safe deposit box, savings account, etc.
But is he who he says he is? Has he really been identified? After he leaves, she may do some verification of the information; call ChexSystems, or some other negative file to see if his name has been used elsewhere; check the telephone number in the telephone book; check the social security number for state and year issued; and may even call his place of business to see if he is employed where he says he is. However, he still has not been positively identified.
BUY SOME BOOKS
There are, at the present time, at least three sources in the United States where you can purchase books that will teach you how to create a new identity for yourself. Some of the titles of books offered in these catalogs catch the imagination:
VANISH!
Disappearance Through ID Acquisition;
How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found;
Secrets Of International Identity Change;
New ID In America;
How To Get Lost And Start All Over Again;
and of course the grandaddy of them all-THE PAPER TRIP I & II.
One of these books, HOW TO CREATE A NEW IDENTITY (by an author whose name is "Anonymous") includes this advice in a section on banking: "By implementing the information contained in this chapter, you will find banking under fictitious business or personal identification easy and practical. You will also discover how to take advantage of the banks…" It goes on to say, "Banks have fairly standardized procedures for establishing personal accounts. Because of this, utilization of false ID is simple. The banks ask for identification and you produce enough to convince the new account representative, usually the lowest paid bank employee, that you are who you say you are."
MEANTIME…
Some of the proposals before the Banking Subcommittees in Congress include the suggestion that banking institutions will be required to "properly" identify their customers. What this means is that if you open an account for someone and it subsequently turns out to be a fraudulent account with false identification, the financial institution could be prosecuted for opening the account in the first place! Not only will you take the loss on the account, if a loss occurs, but the possibility exists that you could be fined in addition to the loss!
Short of tattooing numbers on our foreheads, there is really only one sure, positive way of identifying anyone, and that is through personal knowledge. You know the person sitting next to you is who they say they are because you have known them for years, or they have been introduced to you by a mutual acquaintance who knows you both. A long standing truth in this industry is that "Every stranger is not a crook-but crooks are usually strangers." It is the stranger who is the most difficult to identify.
After personal knowledge, there really is no other way to positively identify anyone! Any identification you may carry in your pocket or wallet can be utilized by someone else posing as you.
We can use standards in our account opening. And we must exercise due diligence by verifying the information given to the best of our ability. If Congress says we are to use driver's licenses and Social Security numbers-that's what we'll use. But nothing will ever take the place of the banker who asks questions, interviews, watches body language, and trusts their "banker's sixth sense" about a customer. There is no such thing as 'idle conversation' at a new accounts desk. It's your only chance to get to know your customer. The training of new accounts is more necessary now than ever before.
And the key to survival in the minefield of today's banking industry is in the old hack- "Know Your Customer."
Copyright © 1990 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 1, No. 11, 11/90
Rate This Article
Current Rating For the Feature:
| Can You Identify That Person? |
| Total Ratings for this Feature: 1 |
|