Bank policy...does This Really Make Sense????

Yes and it is a good rule for Identity theft. Happened to my sister. Someone opened an account in her name that they had access to, and then did a transfer from her account to their new account. The bank was at fault so they had to replace all the money, but that is why they ask for it, even with the same name.

Actually, banks have to follow federal guidelines, especially when it comes to large sums of money. With today's technology, it is so easy for money laundering and wire fraud. If this was a really large sum, they were probably following those rules.

To me, this is simple. Let's say you lost your ATM card, and "Woman X" has found it. She's figured out your pin, but you only have so much in checking. It seems innocent for her to pretend she's you and want to transfer money for savings to checking, so she has easy access to it from an anonymous ATM.

I know things like this seem like long shots, but it happens every day. People with even average computer skills are hacking their way into our personal lives and obtaining all the need to steal our identities.

I'd much rather be safe than sorry. So what that you had to show your picture ID? They were doing it for YOUR benefit. I don't think that makes it more difficult to use your account...me, for example, if I'm out of the house I always have my ID on me...so what's a few seconds to reach in and pull it out?

Say you have just been mugged, you are laying in the alley hurt and unable to call. Some jerk just made off with your purse. He has your debit card, maybe even your pin since some people are silly enough to write them on the back of their cards. He goes to the ATM but you only have 50 bucks in your checking. He takes that and transfers the limit on the ATM from your savings. Usually around 500 sometimes 1000, and takes that. He noticed you have 10,000 in savings.

He goes to the drive through and tries to transfer that since there tends to be no limit on what you can charge on a debit card and if there is it is high. Aren't you glad your bank saved your money?

People commit crimes in strange ways and what I just dramatically described could and probably has happened. Wouldn't you rather just get out your ID than lose money?

It is standard and you should be glad that they are doing it. You could have been Joe Blow who has hacked into your checking account and is trying to move all of your savings to that account so he can get it!

There are a myriad of ways to commit identity theft. You should always be happy when your financial institution is taking steps to protect your financial interests and your identity.

By the way, on all of my credit cards on the signature block on the back, rather than signing it, I write "Ask for ID" so that if my card gets lost or stolen, hopefully no one else will be able to use it.

Now, if someone other than you did this and wiped your bank account wouldn't you be happy the bank had this policy in place?

Of course it is, if you think about what identity theft is, it makes sense. What if someone stole your identity, opened an account in your name, and then tried to transfer the money from your account into theirs? The names on the accounts would be the same.

I was a bank teller/supervisor for 9 years and yes, you have to provide identification even for transferring money. Why? Because "Jane Doe" can come into the bank and say she is YOU and have money transferred to another account that was opened using YOUR name. It happens, I assure you it does. Oh you have no idea how much fraud goes on and not only is the teller protecting YOU, she/ he is protecting her/his job because IF identification is not asked for and a true theft occurred, that teller loses his/her job. Be thankful the teller was doing her job and protecting your money.

Add me to the list of people who almost suffered identity theft this way. Another woman with the same first and last name opened an account at my bank and accidentally discovered the existence of my account (bank was totally responsible for this security failure) then she tried to transfer my balance into her own account. The bank DID transfer the money but I found out about it and alerted them and they froze the account.

I changed banks....

Anytime a bank asks for ID I'm happy to provide it. I had my purse stolen years ago and some twit started writting checks out of my checkbook at various stores. None of the stores asked for ID so she managed to go on a shopping spree. Then she went to a branch of my OWN BANK and tried to cash a check. However, because she came in with a naked checkbook with no cover or wallet they got suspisious and asked her some security questions like, "What's your birthday?" When she couldn't provide them with an answer they told her to go, but they didn't confiscate the checks. I was furious they didn't take the checkbook away from her because she went on to buy a bunch of DVD's from a store. They said taking the checkbook away from her would have been an "infringement of her rights". Restaurants cut up credit cards all the time! Her rights?!? What the hell about MY RIGHTS! I fought creditors for seven years until it all expired and fell off my credit report. Nasty business, ID theft. If a bank wants to make sure it's you for any reason, it's a good thing.

Were either of the accounts joint? My sister was recently victim of an unsuccessful identity theft transaction that was done via transferring accounts. Someone managed to open a new account under a stolen name and successfully add himself to one of my sister's rarely-used accounts. He then was able to authorize a large transfer ($15K) over the phone, with a representative, from one of her business accounts (where she is the sole account owner) into the other account, which was now a joint account (without her knowledge or authorization). There was a one-day hold on that transfer and then the next day, he would have then moved that money to his new account and withdrawn it all. This was Chase, btw, not so podunk bank in the middle of nowhere. So many security breaches in this transaction that it boggles the mind. The only reason that it was unsuccessful is that she has transaction alerts set up so she got an e-mail about the transfer and was able to stop this before the second transfer happened.

So...there's a case where transferring from one account to another was fraud - if there is another name on either account, I can easily see asking for ID. Even with a single name, you are moving money from a savings account to a much more accessible checking account. It could be that if you were a thief, you have someone's debit card or checkbook and were planning on spending the money from the checking account after moving it from savings.

I can't understand being bothered by a policy that protects me. I'd rather take 10 extra seconds to go through hoops, then have my money be easily accessed.

It does seem strange at first, and I think the teller was mistaken about the REASON, BUT the policy makes sense to me after thinking about it because you were moving money OUT of an account (granted it was into another, but still). If they don't require ID, I could walk into the bank and empty your savings account into your checking or vise versa. That would really suck for you if you had uncashed checks out to people, or (best case) didn't earn any interest on the money in savings.

They will let ANYONE make a DEPOSIT because who cares if someone puts extra money IN an account... but only YOU can withdraw money from your accounts.

Oh well.

Worst case scenerio. The person transferring the money has access to your checks. I do wonder why you're spending time and energy questioning the bank who is run by experts. Just show your ID. Much easier and you have nothing to lose. chuckle

I just transferred a large sum of my money from my checking to my savings and they asked for ID. It's my guess that asking for ID is common practice with money transactions. I don't remember the circumstances but I've been asked for ID at my bank before. I'm only glad to do anything to prevent the possibility of identity theft.

Same reason businesses ask for ID when you pay with a credit card. Actually, I wish more places would do this, as it would prevent identity theft & use of stolen credit cards.

It sounds like its just their regular procedure. If it was fraud, the bank could have been out the money so they just have to show they followed all their procedures. Not to mention that many laws have changed to protect consumers but make things a lot more complicated and cumbersome.

Personally, I love home banking and mobile banking and then I don't have to talk to anyone (and I love free).

Katie L, because your name isn't on the check you can probably only deposit it, but because you're on the account you can make a withdrawal from the account (not directly from that check).

I would assume this is standard and very safe. I do understand your frustration, however, I think it's great plan in place. Let's just supposed that a theft, tried to transfer money out of your savings into your checking account because they had access to your checking account but not your savings. So they went to town with your dept card cleaning you out.

I think providing proof is fine and should be required.

It's possible for someone else to open an account in your name. Banks are not allowed to go on name alone when transferring money. (Apparently they can, if it's under some smaller amount.)

One of my long-ago jobs was as a bank teller. I had to ask for photo ID when cashier's checks were being cashed if there was any possibility that the signatures didn't match. This made a few people really irate with me, but sometimes signatures really did look quite different. It was for the customer's protection, not for my evil pleasure or stupidity.

I would think that it could be because the person who is transferring the money could be someone who has stolen your checks and has access to account numbers but can't just simply withdraw the cash. But they could write checks.

If a thief tried to take cash out of your account, they couldn't because I think all banks have a policy that if you withdraw cash you have to sign for it and show an ID. If you are just transferring, I don't think all banks ask for an ID, but probably they should. Sounds like your bank is doing all it can to protect you.

I don't understand how this would upset you at all - the bank is doing the right thing to protect you (and them). Sure, you weren't withdrawing cash, but what if someone was smart enough to steal your identity and cloned your debit card or stole checks from you - they would need money to be in your checking account to access it. You may think that sounds far-fetched but in reality it is not. Having to show your id when it has anything to do with your own money IS smart and necessary these days and not really a big inconvenience. You should be happy that your bank asked you for id.

Im pretty sure it is to protect you.

Yup, that's standard. I know it seems silly at the time, but I'm sure there's a reason.

I agree that banks have some weird rules. This one doesn't seem too crazy though (all of your responders so far made sense) I always just hand them my ID at the bank, whether they ask for it or not. One thing that I think is weird at my bank - my husband pays for all of his business expense with our money, and then he expenses everything. When his company sends him his reimbursement checks they're obviously made out to my husband, and they're usually in large amounts ($3-5K). I used to be able to deposit the check and get $200 cash back. All of a sudden they stopped letting me do this. They make me do a completely separate withdrawal. TWO transactions. Personally, I think the extra step is a little silly. There is always plenty of money in my account to cover the cash back, regardless of the expense check I'm depositing. I don't get it.