Question: I was wondering what I should do if I have a customer that wants to open a new account and everything is clear on their credit, but they have a criminal record for bogus checks and forgery. Can I decline to open the account for him? If so, what would I give for the reason?
Answer: It is within a bank's right to refuse to open an account. As long as the reason for the account denial is not illegally discriminatory, your bank may decide who it wants to do business with and who it does not.
You will need to reveal to the customer that the decision to not open the account is based in whole or in part upon information contained in a credit report, and you can vaguely state that the account opening is being denied based upon information relating to bogus checks and forgery.
If they did it, they know it. It won't be a surprise to them.
The original version appeared in the January/February 2002 edition of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Compliance Informer.
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