Do credit card advances to non-bank customers need to be included in the 314(a) search? We are considering selling our credit card base and may have to begin doing credit card advances for non-bank customers.

Yes, 314(a) requires you to search your records for account relationships OR if you have engaged in txns with the specified individual, entity, etc. I believe the time length for searching is limited to 6 months instead of 12 months since they are not customers and do not have an account relationship with you. See page 87 of the FFIEC's BSA Manual.

There is no requirement to search credit card advances to non-customers as there are no BSA regulatory recordkeeping requirements for these transactions.

The next time you connect to the mothership, print out a set of the instructions. The instructions do not require you to look at cash advances for non customers.

In general, with 314(a) queries you are looking looking for your own customers. The result of a positive response to a 314(a) hit is that you acknowledge that you've got a hit and they provide some form of legal compulsion if they want you to turn over additional information. If it's a non customer, you are not going to have anything to turn over.

Unless of course it involves a wire transfer or monetary instrument sale with a non-customer.

Thanks for the comments. I couldn't seem to make CC advances fit the areas I knew we were required to search (despoits, wires, monetary instruments, loan records, trust records, securities or safe deposit boxes). I really appreciate all who commented. THANK YOU!

To piggyback on this today... am I reading today's listing correct, that they need us to review 5 years worht of activty???

Yeah five years! And there were several names to check!

I know... it is a not a small list!

ken,
was that comment re: the mothership towards my response?

I think he was referring to my comment and that they could clarify the exact search requirements when they signed in as the instructions are available there.

Note the "In general..." preface. Regardless, the instructions indicate you check originators, not recipients on outgoing wires and recipients not originators on incoming wires. On official checks you check remitters not payees. In both cases it only applies to transactions subject to record retention.

If the transaction is subject to record retention, but the purchaser/originator is not a deposit account holder/established customer the bank is required to fully identify them and keep the information for 5 years. You might say they are not a "customer" within the CIP definition, but it's clear you have chosen to do business with them and have information you could provide to the party initiating the 314(a) query.

beachgirl... My resposne was to Wizard. The reference to "the mothership" was an allusion to the web site where Wizard goes to download the list.

Ken, thanks for the clarification. I know I was way off in my response, so I was hoping that statement wasn't directed towards me. I definitely learned something re: 314a. Thanks!!

WOW - this thread is almost 2yrs old now...I hate to bring it up, but at a recent ABA Conference, presenters said that cash advances must be checked for 314(a)??? Now why would they go and do that? I've learned my lesson from this thread and am very comfortable with the detailed instructions found in FinCEN's SISS system. Did anyone hear that ABA presentation? It was called..."OMG! How did I miss that!"

If the speaker cited anything other than personal opinion as a source of authority for that it would be interesting to see. Otherwise, not.