I'm trying to make a case for gathering the Middle Initials of our customers when they open accounts.

I'm told that's "going too far". I guess I don't understand?

CTRs and SARs have that field, so I'm guessing we should be filling that out. Also it helps tremendously when conducting research & EDD.

thoughts? Any regs / best practices I can throw out there?

I would recommend documenting full legal name of each customer (personal and otherwise). If your system provides the option, you can document the full name in the CIF type record and perhaps the preferred name on the account level.

I may be a little lost here...my opinion would have been that most institutions do require at least the middle initial to be in their records, but allow the customer to leave it out of the account title if he or she chooses.

If you want some support for your position, recruit your co-workers who process third party claims for customer funds and information. They really want that middle initial...

I'm curious whether other institutions:
don’t require a middle name or initial,
require just the middle initial, or
require full middle name…

Accounts are loaded to match the ID presented - preferably a NJ DL; fortunately, the middle initial is part of the verification criteria of a NJ Driver's License. Over the years, having the full legal name has come in handy in detecting fraud, especially among relatives!

We put the name in the system the way it appears on the DL.

I am reluctant to require middle initial. This could be influenced by the fact that I do not have a middle name and often run into systems that require it.

Or you could be like my husband who has two middle names!

I keep telling him he has to pick one to use for those instances - but he likes to vary it.

We input the CIF information as it appears on the primary identification presented to open the account. If they want a nickname or aka, that can be added also but our account titles HAVE to match the primary ID used.

We also input the information as it appears on the primary identification. It's not a must but it's a best practice for us. I always try to confirm if there is one through other non-documentary sources and confirm it with the customer to record it on our files.