Originally Posted by bollar
Yeah, the Patriot Act changed the requirement to open a bank account. It requires anyone who opens an account to provide a tax identification number and government ID that shows either nationality or residence. It also requires the application to provide a physical address. Before that, though, all we had to provide was a TIN.
Otherwise, an American citizen who doesn't drive and who only has banking accounts that pre-date the Patriot Act doesn't need a photo ID at all. Even to get a new job, a Voter Registration Card and Social Security Card are sufficient identification.
The USA PATRIOT ACT did more than just hit banks...it hit most any money transfer business. My wife's cousin in central PA was laid off from his job. So to help them out we sent him $500 via Western Union. Don't you know the WU agent (check cashing store) we went to demanded photo ID?!?! When I asked why the clerk said they had to collect ID information for all WU transactions. I looked over the WU form and the only thing I saw about ID (which I pointed out) is if the transaction exceeded $1000 but the clerk said "any amount" because it was their company policy under PATRIOT.
Well, of course, she flipped out when I fished my passport out of my car! Turns out her computer has a form she fills in and it will take a state DL/ID or a passport but only NON-US passports! They didn't include USA in the list of countries! ...?
She was literally stumped until I suggested she just use "UK" and be done with it!
The same cousin has some Coca-Cola stock certificates given as bonuses by his company (a soda distributor). I think there's a total of 100 shares or so. He went to a couple of brokerages in town and none of them will sell the stock for him. Because of the PATRIOT ACT and the requirement that financial institutions verify the identities of all parties opening new account, the brokerage firms use credit database services. Well his credit is kinda shoddy meaning he has a low credit score. As a result, none of the firms will establish an account and sell the stock for him!
Now these are stock certificates in his name so as far as I can tell they are akin to travelers or cashiers checks! All they have to do is take the certificates, send them to the registrar to ensure they are valid, make the sale, deduct the commission and give him a check for the balance! Nope, the only thing they suggested is that he eith gift the stock to someone more creditworthy who also has sufficient ID to pass the PATRIOT test and have that person sell the stock and give him the money or he call Coke's transfer agent to see if they will sell the stock for him.