Box Numbers on Safe Deposit Box Keys

Answer from John:I don't believe that providing a roadmap to a customer's safe deposit box location is ever a good idea. While knowing which bank the box can be found in would certainly save a lot of surviving family members a lot of aggravation after a box renter dies, you have to balance that against the ease with which someone who steals or finds the keys could gain unauthorized access. Add to that the confusion that the old bank's routing number might cause. Including the box number limits a bank's ability to re-key boxes that have been surrendered, too.

Keeping all that in mind, your bank will have to decide whether the added expense of removing the old information from the keys is a worthwhile investment. When deciding, don't forget the fact that most of the keys are outside bank control, so your cleanup effort will have to be done on a piecemeal basis.