Leave it to the Bank of America to do this. No, leave it to the banking system. Or, leave it to the way American society thinks these days.
Even better, leave it to the way American society doesn't think.
Anyway, here's the deal: Steve Valdez took a check (made out to him from his wife) to the Bank of America in Tampa, Florida. He didn't have an account there, so he showed two forms of ID. Not enough, he was told. He needed to provide a thumbprint.
Except Valdez has two prosthetic arms, and not a thumb among them.
"They looked at my prosthetic hands and the teller said, 'Well, obviously you can't give us a thumbprint'," Valdez told CNN ... but he said the Bank of America Corp branch in downtown Tampa, Florida, still insisted on a thumbprint identification for him to cash a check drawn on his wife's account at the bank, even though he showed them two photo IDs.
Ugh.
I do my business at a locally-run credit union, one of those places where, like in Cheers, they know me by name. I wouldn't have it any other way. They recently reworked their computer system, where you sign on a machine with a stylus. On withdrawal receipts there's a place where the teller logs what form of ID is used in the transaction:
- Driver's license (number)
- Signature card
- Known
- Other (what)
On my most recent transaction, "known" was checked off. That is so cool. Again, it means the teller knows who I am. My face is my ID.
If your bank doesn't allow for that, then it's too big. And when it's too big, they'll probably ask an armless guy for a thumbprint.
No comments:
Post a Comment