Opening An Account With A "Stage Name"
by Ken Golliher, BOL Guru BIO AND CONTACT INFO
Question: We do not open consumer accounts with a.k.a. or nicknames. We have branch manager who wants to open accounts with a "stage name". Is there any regulation or law that we can quote to backup our decision to not allow these names on signature card?
Answer: It's always intriguing situation where someone says, "Show me where it says we can't do that!" The appropriate response might be, "Show me where it says we can!" If every bad idea was "against the law" our statute books would be 10 times as thick.
Banks should be willing to open an account in any name for which the customer has primary, government issued identification. Many banks will allow the mention of a nickname, native American name, or whatever, as long as the legal name is apparent on the account title and printed checks. Opening an account in the stage name of a performer or the pen name of an author based only on their assertions of professional status reduces identification requirements to the absurd.
Your institution would not know who it was dealing with nor would the people to whom they issued checks.
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