Just wondering how many banks use a company to pick up and shred confidential paperwork. We are small and have a shredder we purchased but it's always jamming up and overheating. If anybody in the new york area has a company they use I would appreciate the name.

We are using Shred-It. They provide secure bins and bring a shredding truck to shred on-site under our supervision weekly.

Well, we're not in NY, but in No. CA and we've been utilizing a company for the last few years - it's been great! They come in with locked bins - we've not had any occurance of any breach of confidentiality. We checked our vender out thoroughly as well as had the contract reviewed by our in-house counsel.

One major company I've heard of is Iron Mountain. They can pick up and provide you with a certificate or shred on site for a greater cost. You are free to see how they operate whenever you want so as to check your processes.

Hi Pat

We used a company called Mobile Data Shred to do a major shredding job for us. They are in the Bronx and their number is 718 SHRED 50. How's that Coffee Machine?

We recently started using a shredding company that shreds documents on site. (mobile unit) So far, so good.

Where are you specifically located in LA? Would be interested in knowing more info. about your bank. You can email me @rdillard@ctb-bank.com. I'm also located in LA...the reason for my inquiry.

Be sure your vendor can certify the results of what they do.

Two issues relating to shedding inhouse - the shedding bin must be locked and shedding "material" that sits around in boxes at desks for days is not aligned with privacy rules - shedding should be delivered to the locked shedding bin at the end of each business day.

When you say "shredding" must be locked, are you talking about before shredding or after it's been shredded?

Before, while it is waiting to be gathered and torn. Otherwise anyone going by has access to it, janitors, deliverymen, vendors, etc.

We use a company out of Rocester, NY called Certified Document Destruction & Recycling, Inc. Let me know if you would like a number and contact name. We have used them for the past few years. They provide the locked bins and will collect the bins when they are full. I can also show you a sample contract.

Andy, that's what I thought, but wanted to make sure we were missing a BIG security issue. We do in house shredding, but each teller, new acct rep, office desk has a shredder for daily use. We also have a huge one for old files.

We also shred everything, including telephone messages, that might have customer info on it.

At our last bank, we were buying mini-shredders for each desk - you can get them for about $20 and doing away with any whole trash (except for coffee grounds and banana peels which don't shred too well).

We require all paper to go into the locking bins. Once the paper was taken care of, there was very little "other" trash left at the branch. We were able to replace many of our 'commercial' dumpsters or have fewer pickups which saved additional money.

Andy - or anyone that knows this - can you give me a specific citing? I am getting some "opposition" to daily dumpings (imagine that ). I'm not only concerned about the branches but also the administrative offices.

I don't have a cite, except that the rule is that you protect the data. If you put it in a trash can and secure the trash can whenever you are not there, you are OK. If you put NPPI in a box marked shred and leave it for a week, it is accessible to anyone there and that is simply not secure. It isn't protected. And since the requirement is to protect the data at all times, there is a problem.

We have a pretty simple policy. IF you need it file it in a locked file, if you don't need it, shred it.

I would be cautious about a shredding company service. They do a great job, but make sure you are training your employees to utilize the service. At the financial institution I previously worked at we were supposed to empty our shredding bins nightly into the large bin for the service. Do you think this actually happened on a nightly basis? Nope! What's worse is that this was all on the loan side.

Pat Ericsson:

Great inquiry about a particularly sensitive issue. And please don't forget to get signed confidentiality agreements and third-party service provider agreements from EVERY non-employee -- including shredding and janitorial companies.