WTF? An employee just called the bank to change his address and they asked for his occupation, his alien status, etc.

I’ve had to do this for investment accounts. A lot of this is because of narcos and cartels trying to launder money.

rojo wrote:

God I'm annoyed with big companies. I'm sitting in the office and had to listen to an employee try to change his address with M&T Bank. It probably took close to an hour.

So my coworker calls the bank to change his address. On the first attempt, the recording said they were too busy and hung up on him. There was no offer to call us back etc.

Eventually he gets someone on the phone. He gives him his new address. The guy then says he needs his employment info, alien status etc. Employee says something along the linse of "Ive had an account with you for years, why are you asking me this?" The guy claimed he was required to do it by law.

Any truth to this?

Easy to dump on banks. They’re one of the most highly regulated businesses thanks to politicians.

yup after 9/11 Bush put in a bunch of laws. For instance, if you are a lawyer or own a casino you can't just open a bank account without giving all sorts of information. He even managed to get the British to go along with it. I had a consultation with a lawyer in England and had to take Utility bills with me. The lawyer was pissed he had to ask me. Turned out his dad had been my English teacher in High School but he couldn't even do an initial consultation with me without some of this documentation.

It's 2020, how on earth does he not know his online account info. How on earth did he ever get any banking done in the first place?!?!

How is Rojo an Ivy League graduate, yet have zero idea how the world works? The absolute HORROR that the bank is trying to protect your information and identity.

It's almost like a financial institution has responsibility to protect itself/customers from being compromised in the day and age of cyber attacks and endless phishing scams.

I’m surprise it took so long. Banks have been doing this for the last few years to comply with money laundering requirements: they need to confirm certain forms of ID and it’s a pain in the ass

Lucky he didn’t get his account frozen without any notification while visiting anothe country! (don’t ask) At least he was asked nicely and nothing else happened.

rojo wrote:

It probably didn't help when I got on the call and one point and said all the questions were driving me nuts.

yeah, so I no longer have any doubts that the "coworker" is rojo. He's super upset about his "coworker's" problem with the bank, and he even hopped on the call?? Nah, he's just stretching his initial fib to accommodate more information about his complaint.

rojo wrote:

party like it's 1859 wrote:

Why couldn't he do this online?

He didn't know his online account id.

This is the issue. Changes are that if he logged into his account he could have done it online. But when someone calls to change the address of an account they cannot access online it should raise se security concerns.

Branch manager of a Credit Union here.

Yes, this is a law. You don’t like it then stuff money in a mattress and bury gold in your backyard.

Do people really think these questions would be asked if not required?

Branch Manager wrote:

Branch manager of a Credit Union here.

Yes, this is a law. You don’t like it then stuff money in a mattress and bury gold in your backyard.

Do people really think these questions would be asked if not required?

I agree: Law and order. Those who disagree are anarchists

Former banker. Questions are legit. Most banks, credit unions, lenders will ask 5 to 6 questions to verify identity. This is from the Patriot Act to prevent money laundering.

For employees, etc, use the online function. Can change address privately in seconds.

This is exactly what I mentioned above. I'm surprised it took so long for them to request the docs, this has been going for a few years now

rojo wrote:

WFH mileage wrote:

It’s an anti-terrorism law. Helps block money laundering, etc. Maybe different banks interpret it differently.

I open a lot of bank accounts (grabbing the highest paying CD for my E-fund every year), and there’s always a citizenship verification or something like that.

But is the law new. It wasn't a new acount. Or were they just trying to subtly make sure he was the actual account holder. It probably didn't help when I got on the call and one point and said all the questions were driving me nuts.

The government has been getting tough on banks the last few year so they've step up they due diligence. Your friend is lucky they didn't freeze his funds while on travel!

or....... wrote:

You are trying to cram your worldview into this one isolated event. It doesn't fit.

Letsrun in a nutshell.

First of all, rojo never had a "coworker" in his chronically unemployed life.

ivehadit wrote:

First of all, rojo never had a "coworker" in his chronically unemployed life.

Yea....I was under the assumption that the Brojos never had real jobs?

Alan

How ironic that this was the work of the Johnson’s family friend Bush. I have had to do this numerous times since 9/11. Bush even managed to put the same laws into the UK. I went to see a lawyer in my hometown in England. It turns out he was the son of my high school English teacher. I almost couldn’t see him because my name was misspelled on my cable bill. You had to take utility bills for address purposes. The lawyer apologized and thought the whole thing was ridiculous