Re: US vs Overseas Banks

[cman@communities.com (Douglas Barnes)]

>>
>> Of course, this bank has been criticized for being somewhat lax on who
>> they give accounts to, but the point still stands.  I could have been
>> anybody, and give any false address.  *shrug*
>
>Why should they give a damn who you are?  IMO, it's none of their
>business.  Hell, they're making $$$ on *your* deposits, it's time they
>stopped being such shits about it.

Mostly they are afraid that you will get checks under a fake name, and
bounce a lot of them, which ends up costing them a lot of money, even
though they don't pay off on them. (Most of the  costs of any financial
transaction system come from handling exceptions). They are also
under obligation to provide accurate SSN or Business Tax-ID information
to the government on any interest-bearing account, so that you are
forced to declare it on your income taxes.

Clearly there are other ways of preventing or insuring against the
problems that arise from check fraud (such as not issuing checks),
but the IRS requirements are out of the bank's hands.