I stopped in to deposit some checks from my customers today. Not real big checks, they were in the hundreds of dollars, not thousands.

Cashier wanted to see ID. Not the first time this has happened. We had a little discussion. As in, "This is a business account. What if I send one of my employees, or a messenger, whose name is not on the account, to make the deposit. ID would prove nothing. Would you refuse the deposit?"

She gave me a blank look. I asked her to call the branch manager over, and I suggested that if I wanted to take money OUT of the account, or if I were asking for cash back on the deposit, verification of ID might be appropriate. However, this was a straight deposit. Money in. No money out. No cash back. No discussion. No problem solving. Just take the checks and post them to the account. If a midget in a pink bunny suit wants to put money in my account, just take it, no questions asked. Capisce?

The amounts of the checks all from my customers (Ace Hardware stores) were, as I mentioned, modest. Not even in the ballpark to trigger money laundering concerns. No reason for the cashier to ask for ID. None at all.

I deposited all the checks I've received either through my phone or ATM. I rarely speak to a cashier.

What was the manager's response?

quote:

Originally posted by rscalzo:
I deposited all the checks I've received either through my phone or ATM. I rarely speak to a cashier.

I can do that when there is a "buffer" in the account -- a good balance. I deposited in person today because I had just paid some significant $$$ for a load of supplies and repair parts, so the balance was thin, less than a hundred bucks. All ATM deposits and remote deposits (phone picture of the check sent over the internet) have a three business day hold, at this credit union. In-person deposits on my accounts, which have a few year history, are available immediately, and I'm writing payroll checks tomorrow, so I needed to know that the funds I deposited today would be available with no hold.

The asking for ID for a deposit seems to be kind of random and seems to depend on some unknown criterion. The branch manager was not able to give me an explanation that made sense.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
What was the manager's response?

He told the cashier to take the deposit. I asked why ID was necessary to put money into the account and I did not receive a meaningful answer. I had a lot of things to do, so I did not take the time to argue the point. I did make enough waves that they will probably remember the crotchety old bastard, and take deposits in the future without asking for ID. Until they rotate new personnel into the branch, and then I'll have to train the new ones.

I handle the banking for one of my friends who works out of town the vast majority of the time. I'm not an authorized signer on his account, but I write several checks a month to pay his bills. Half the time I forget they are his checks and sign my name instead of his. Never had one come back.

On occasion I need to stop by his credit union to deposit money. I usually get the same treatment. When you open an account there they scan your ID and it pops up on their computer screen. They know I'm not him when this happens, and they start asking stupid questions.

I was once depositing several thousand dollars in cash and refused to give me a receipt "because it had his account number on it". I said "sort of like the deposit slip I just used to deposit the cash".

In case you wondered where the really dumb kids in fifth grade ended up as adults.

V-tail,

When my mom passed I was living in another state and had to handle the estate and cleaning out my parents house. It took me about seven months to do the cleanup, renovations, etc.

One of the bank checking accounts ended up being from a bank in Illinois. I knew this was going to be a problem (as I was in Western NY at the time). I went to the branch manager and explained everything and pointed out that we would always have more than sufficient funds to cover checks in the local account. I made a point of having her check everything out.
I thought things were resolved.

But nooooooo.... every time I went in there I had to go around the mountain to get a check deposited/cashed. Each time was like I had just walked in the door.

Finally, I figured out a way to handle it. I would go in, write a check for CASH, they would do their routine and call the manager and then finally cash it.
Then I would turn around and deposit the cash. The bank manager jumped all over me one day and asked me why I cashed it and THEN deposited it.

I said, I already figured out the way you do things. Had I deposited the check itself, you would have held the check for four or five days, wouldn't you?

She bowed her head and walked away saying- "I guess you do understand our banking after all"...

V-tail,
The biggest focus for banks right in transaction reporting is AML, in that, the primary concern is human trafficking. Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world. It is an estimated 150 billion a year. What it leads in is sophistication of how it is transacted. Banks and law enforcement are finding that by monitoring bank transactions for required reporting they can compile the data and trace trafficking. Human trafficking uses small deposits, withdrawls that add up to large sums. They are using fake buisness accounts, or simply piggybacking on active buisness via employees. IE employee is a runner for x trafficker,
traficker sells girl for 90 bucks (average in the world),
He has runner two buy 90 dollar item from store.
Runner 2 returns it later that day/week for cash.
runner 1 does the return. (this is a over simplification, but here is another.)

Bad dude sells 30k of ladies/kids in a month. He needs to launder the money.

He has broken woman 1 get department store card. She is to spend 10k at the store in 1 week. He then sends her to store 10 days in a row payin 1k a day in cash on the bill two things can happen (A) returning 9500 in a week to ten days. She keeps 500 in clothes. she calls for a check on the card and is paid out 14 days later. She gives him the check.
(B) He collects the cloths from her and sells them at 30-40% of face value on facebook, craigslist, ebay etc. he collect the cash and can either Launder it further via tools or simply spend it and a personal shopper.

The two things above require certain reports to be filed by the places accepting the transaction to the bank, the bank must audit, and verify those transactions as being legitimate.

How it would work in your case and why they asked for ID, is something along those lines. Small individual transactions added up to x ammount even via buisness require reporting. Fed standard maybe x dollars, but internal audit of the bank may say that "C" dollar amount is actually the statistical best amount to report.

I'm smelling barnyard there DSgrouse. Barnyard. That's why he got hassled in Illinois?

quote:

"Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world."

I used to royally piss off an old boss when I'd frequently say "There's no reason for it, it's just company policy".

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I'm smelling barnyard there DSgrouse. Barnyard. That's why he got hassled in Illinois?

quote:

"Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world."

On general principle and with a broad Central Texas overview on the problem of smuggling, I stand with DSgrouse. The unarmed invaders from south of the border have pentrated the interior. Logically and logistically the north-south inter-regional highways such as 35 and 37 are dotted with safe houses and way stations.

Once tried to fill out a deposit slip with a cash withdrawal on it and the teller said I could not do that on my business account and so I said that's cool... deposit it all. Then I wrote a check for cash on the same account, endorsed the back and handed it to her... she just looked at me and finally got it.

Inconsistencies. Aggravating inconsistencies at the credit union. I understand what DSgrouse posted, but if that is the reason they asked for ID, it is not enforced, since as I said, it is random and seems to vary with the teller. For example, I have never been asked for ID when making a deposit at the drive-through window where the teller slides the little tray out and I am face to face with him / her at the window.

Inside, it has been hit or miss for years. Some tellers, even new ones who have never seen me before, just take the deposits. Other ask for ID.

You would think that if it were a required thing, either by regulators or by credit union policy, it would be consistent. But nope, it's a roll of the dice.

Re cash back on a check deposit to a business account, per Blume9mm, same thing: inconsistent. I have been told "no cash back for deposits on a business account." I have also been told, "sure, as long as you are an authorized signer on the account." Inconsistent.

I think I'll start a keeping database to see whether this stuff has any correlation to high / low tide, full moon, barometric pressure, or other natural causes.

I call it "teller hassle quotient". I was asked last week when I deposited a client check "What is CPA after your name" "Is that a business name". Many times clients ask me for a good bank recommendation & I answer "Their are no good banks, just some are less worse than others". In Nashville, US Bank & Suntrust are the worst for a business.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I'm smelling barnyard there DSgrouse. Barnyard. That's why he got hassled in Illinois?

quote:

"Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world."

Well, V-Tail probably does fit the human smuggler profile: 81 year old hearing impaired white dude who is a long-time customer, pretending to rent “carpet cleaning machines”.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Inconsistencies. Aggravating inconsistencies at the credit union. I understand what DSgrouse posted, but if that is the reason they asked for ID, it is not enforced, since as I said, it is random and seems to vary with the teller. For example, I have never been asked for ID when making a deposit at the drive-through window where the teller slides the little tray out and I am face to face with him / her at the window.

Inside, it has been hit or miss for years. Some tellers, even new ones who have never seen me before, just take the deposits. Other ask for ID.

You would think that if it were a required thing, either by regulators or by credit union policy, it would be consistent. But nope, it's a roll of the dice.

Re cash back on a check deposit to a business account, per Blume9mm, same thing: inconsistent. I have been told "no cash back for deposits on a business account." I have also been told, "sure, as long as you are an authorized signer on the account." Inconsistent.

I think I'll start a keeping database to see whether this stuff has any correlation to high / low tide, full moon, barometric pressure, or other natural causes.

I don't have anything on the inconsistencies, maybe the policy is for tellers to get the ID or manager approval. ID would be less hassle than calling the manager over 50-60 times a day. That is just a stab in the dark though. I can say regulators take SARs reports very seriously. (those are the AML reports i mentioned above). Banks/instituetions pay huge fines for unreorted SARS, miss reported SARS, or late reported SARS.

jimb888,
not hardly brother. The amount of human trafficing is staggering. Example 1:
One of the places they looked (call it bank a) was a snapshot of backpage personals from 2013-2015 ish IIRC. They took a look at the posts matched then up to accounts at Bank A. then fed it through a Machine learning algorythm. This detailed out how criminals and trafficers are using money be it cash, card, check, debit. It then forwarded that to the current accounts, not just the historical accounts via the backpage. the majority of those accounts had actionable SARs reporting, 50% were fed upward to Criminal investigators (law enforcement) for their side of the process.

Currently this is a problem, Government states to the banks you must provide this, do this, compile this, test this, assure this, report this. If you don't you are fined, MRA, etc. In most instances, the government only tells them they have an issue with how a bank reported a SARs 200-350 days later. regulators have put the work load on banks, expecting Banks to carry out investigations up untill all data is compiled, and only then for it to be sent to law enforcement.

As far as bullshit, since january there have been 4 very public human sex traficking cases just here in virginia. DC has had over 80 women go missing in the last year, those that have been located have been found to had run ins with trafficking.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I'm smelling barnyard there DSgrouse. Barnyard. That's why he got hassled in Illinois?

quote:

"Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world."

Well, V-Tail probably does fit the human smuggler profile: 81 year old hearing impaired white dude who is a long-time customer, pretending to rent “carpet cleaning machines”.

Don't forget the hardware implants to repair hip / thigh fractures. The cane. The wobbly balance after being hit by Guillain Barré Syndrome. The cataract removal / lens implants. I have seen stuff like this before. It all adds up to a really suspicious character. Maybe the teller should call a cop.

My complain is with BOA and my local branch that never has more than 2 tellers, yet there are 4-5 other employees buzzing around and greeting people and seemingly fucking off. Get behind the counter and take my deposit, I cannot be here all day. And NO, I don't want to deposit cash in the fucking ATM, I want you to staff your bank accordingly.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I'm smelling barnyard there DSgrouse. Barnyard. That's why he got hassled in Illinois?

quote:

"Human trafficking is third behind drugs and illegal arms sales in the world."

Well, V-Tail probably does fit the human smuggler profile: 81 year old hearing impaired white dude who is a long-time customer, pretending to rent “carpet cleaning machines”.

Don't forget the hardware implants to repair hip / thigh fractures. The cane. The wobbly balance after being hit by Guillain Barré Syndrome. The cataract removal / lens implants. I have seen stuff like this before. It all adds up to a really suspicious character. Maybe the teller should call a cop.

Joking aside the two biggest areas for criminals to get access to banks or credit are the Young pre credit card, or elderly under supervisory care. Where a POA would be paying bills and may not notice suspicious activity. I can't think of the specific articles, but i have read a couple about elderly identies being stolen and used for criminal rings.

much of the criminal process is layered. My examples are very short above.

group x buys 10k of credit card numbers and 10k of socials. They sell it to group y who mates the two as identies to gangs of credit purchasers. They hit a mall, or online stores running up 10 id's and matching cards in a night. Those items are then sold at 50%-60% retail via the pages i mentioned above. That cash is used to finance safe houses, hotels, food, clothes, cars and transportation of traffickers. The traffickers take their cash and convert it via purchaces to more product that is sold. The big one around here in my neck of the woods is home cleaning products. Laundry, dish washer, floor, etc. No one judges you for buying 10 tides. THey then sell them for cash on facebook.

A while back our own David Truong mentioned a scam he was quashed. For purchasing one watch, then two, then 10. This to me read money laundering. Plain and simple.

Another one was to buy used computers, lap tops. Pay a pittance, y dollar amount. Sell them on ebay, or other pages for near retail to yourself or a third party in employ. The difference is laundered money. rinse repeat.

A few weeks ago there was an amazon scandal. a Self published book was selling at 670 bucks a copy. It was type setter script, nothing ledgible. thousands of copies were sold putting it on amazons best seller list. It turned out to be the tail ends of a money laundering scheme. The author, was a real author who had used amazon to publish before. The criminals used the authors Identity to create a workflow process to get paid. completely unbeknownst to the author.