How can I fix my phone bill?

I went to open a savings account at a local bank (Wells Fargo). Besides asking for name, address, SS number, they asked if I owned or rented and how long, my date of birth, who is my primary financial institution, my phone number, and the list of questions went on. When I asked why all these additional questions, they said the Patriot Act requires them to ask. My question to you is what does the Patriot Act require us to tell a bank when we want to open a savings account? Personally, I think the bank was just profiling me. I told them to forget it and stayed with my Credit Union.
          Bernard W. -- Anchorage, Alaska

The correct answer is: both of the above.

As with many of the laws enacted by our Congress, the details of just what personal information a bank should – or can – collect when you open an account was left deliberately vague in the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, aka The Patriot Act. So the exact list of questions will vary from one bank to the next.

The purpose of the law, of course, was to make sure that the next guy who opens an account in your local bank is not a terrorist. While the 107^th Congress wasn’t exactly sure how to do that, they wanted to make sure there was a law requiring it. So, thanks to a classic case of government buck-passing, you won’t find the list of required questions in the USA PATRIOT Act

Instead, the law passed the hot potato to the Secretary of the Treasury, telling him to set up “reasonable procedures” for financial institutions to use when they verify just who is opening an account, including name address and “other identifying information.” Under Section 326, the law also insisted the rules take into account “the various types of accounts maintained by various types of financial institutions, the various methods of opening accounts, and the various types of identifying information available.” The rules also let the Treasury Secretary “exempt any financial institution or type of account” if wanted to.

When the good folks down at Treasury took a look at the new law, they quickly realized that covering all the bases would require more than just name, address and ID number. For one thing, the list of “financial institutions” a terrorist can choose from these days is pretty long, including U.S. and foreign banks, credit unions, mutual funds, stock brokers, insurance agents, pawnbrokers, check cashers, casinos, money transfer companies, etc. A one-size-fits-all rule just wouldn’t work.

So the Treasury Dept passed the buck again: the regulations they came up with require banks (and other “financial institutions”) to set up a “Customer Identification Program,” or CIP, that is “appropriate given the bank's size, location, and type of business.” Under Section 103.121(b)(2)(i) of the regulations, the minimum list of information includes name, date of birth; address (both mailing address and residence) and an “identification number” which can be a Social Security number, a tax ID number, employee ID number, passport number and country of issuance; alien identification card number; or other government photo id.

But those are only guidelines. The burden is on the bank to demonstrate that they know you're not a terrorist. If you don’t have a drivers license or other photo id, for example, or if you open an account over the phone or the Internet, the bank is allowed to use “other methods of verification” to make sure they know who you are, including financial statements, credit reports, or databases of people who’ve passed bad checks.

The result is a cottage industry of lawyers and other “compliance professionals” who make sure that banks have dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s of the regulations. While it remains to be seen whether all this has slowed the spread of terrorism, it’s safe to say banks know a lot more about you than they did before the law was passed.

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