Question: One of the CIP samples on the BankersOnline web site talks about a Social Security Number Verification Manual. What exactly is the manual and where can I get a copy? If we are planning to run a credit report on all new customers do we need a manual?
Answer: The manual referred to was what financial institutions used before the information in the book became available on the Internet. There is actually no need to have a printed manual now that there are several ways you can verify social security numbers. For one, you can use www.searchbug.com. Type in the SSN and it will tell you where the person to whom it was issued resided at the time of issuance and it will tell you the year it was issued. It's free. For another you can use one of the search systems that are currently being offered.
The Social Security Administration also has pages available on their official site that list the numbers so you can tell when and in what state they were issued. That's at http://www.ssa.gov/foia/stateweb.html
A credit report on new customers is a good idea, but it will not take the place of the verification procedures. You need to verify identity as well as do a credit check, if that is what your CIP mandates.
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