By Scott McCoy
A few weeks ago, I was reimbursed by a gentlemen for helping him with a small project.
He wrote me a check for $150.00.
Since the check was drawn on a local bank just a block from my home, I decided to cash it there instead of depositing it at my bank.
I provided the check, endorsed it, and provided by state driver’s license as my ID.
The teller told me since I wasn’t an account holder at that bank, that they needed additional information in order to check the check.
She said I had to provide my social security number and my fingerprint.
Being the questioning type of person that I am — I asked why they need all of that – especially my fingerprint?
She told me it was Federal Law.
Now, I’m not the smartest person in the world, but I’ve never heard of a bank fingerprinting customers to simply cash a check.
So, I refused.
I asked the branch manager to provide me with the Federal Law that requires me to provide my social security number and fingerprint in order to cash a check.
She told me she couldn’t.
She further said that the banks policy requires this information. So, I asked her to provide me with the bank’s check-cashing policy.
She once again refused.
So, I took my check and left.
I researched this and spoke to numerous government agencies who regulate banks. I spoke with the feds, the state of Illinois, and even my own bank. And I found nothing that requires my social security number, or especially my fingerprints, in order to cash a check.
I then called this bank’s corporate office and inquired – and they hung-up on me.
It’s baffling to me – am I the first person to ever question a practice like this?
Do people really go into banks and just give them all of this personal, private, and very sensitive information?
Let me explain what would have happened if I did what the bank wanted:
They would have collected my information and printed it all on the check; including my fingerprint!
This bank would then have the following information on me, which is all located on a single document:
- My full name
- My address
- My date-of-birth
- My driver’s license number
- My social security number
- My signature – since I endorsed the check.
- And my fingerprint!
What’s worse, is this check would have been scanned and a copy would be available to the person who wrote me the check!
If this isn’t a major identity and security breach — I don’t know what is?
It seems to me, if you want to collect information from people to steal their identity, just open an account at a bank like this and write small checks to everyone you can. The bank will do the dirty work and collect their personal information, and send it to you.
My advice is to use your head and question things that don’t seem right.
I just assisted three individuals in visiting the White House, and the Secret Service didn’t even need their fingerprints. Why would a bank need my fingerprint in order to cash a $150 check?
Just because it’s a bank doesn’t mean they are looking out for you.
These practices are there to protect the bank, not the customers.
So, it’s up to you to protect yourself and question everything that doesn’t seem right.
Scott McCoy is the former mayor of Pontiac, Illinois. He fought FEMA in Pontiac’s worst natural disaster in recorded history – reversing FEMA’s denial for federal help for the historic flood that greatly impacted Pontiac and Watseka. In 2008 and 2009, Scott successfully took on then-Governor Rod Blagojevich, who attempted to shut down the Pontiac Correctional Center. He also worked to build Pontiac, Illinois into one of the top tourism communities in Illinois.
Scott has been a small business owner for the past 20 years. His company develops software technology and video marketing media.
In 2015, Scott and his family moved to Normal, where his wife, Jennifer, is completing her degree in the ISU Principal Preparation Program.
In December, 2015, Scott joined the WJBC Forums.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media, Inc.
