If yours is like most banks, the main office calls the shots. But sometimes the main office isn't connected too well to what's going on in the trenches at the branches.
If obtaining the IRS EIN assignment letter is a roadblock to opening accounts, and you believe that roadblock is unreasonable, talk to someone at the main office about getting the bank's policy or procedures adjusted so that you can accept some other form of documentation of the number, such as a copy of a tax document filing (a form W-3, which is used to transmit W-2 information on employee wages and withheld taxes at year end, comes to mind).
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8