Patriot Act compliance

Courtesy of:

BANKRATE.COM
APRIL 1, 2005

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The war on terrorism might make you feel somewhat put upon when you open a bank account. We expect financial institutions to be a bit nosy when we’re applying for a loan, but when we’re putting money in the bank, some questions can seem prying.

The anti-money laundering provisions of the Patriot Act affect everyone who opens a bank account. The Patriot Act was enacted in response to the Sept. 11 attacks and covers many areas of anti-terrorism. Financial institutions are affected, in part, because the terrorists seemingly had no problem opening bank accounts in this country and obtaining credit cards with false Social Security numbers.

Obligations of the banks

Banks are now being held more accountable for verifying the identity of any person seeking to open an account. They must do this by obtaining customer identification that includes name, date of birth, address and an identification number, which would be a taxpayer identification number for American citizens or a government-issued document for non-citizens.