Bank of America, The Bank With A Heart

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

No thumbprint, no money, bank tells armless man - Yahoo! News

FOXNews.com - No Thumbprint, No Check-Cashing, Bank Told Armless Man - Incredible Health

1 hr 50 mins ago
MIAMI (Reuters) – A bank in Florida refused to cash a check for an armless man because he could not provide a thumbprint.

"They looked at my prosthetic hands and the teller said, 'Well, obviously you can't give us a thumbprint'," Steve Valdez told CNN on Wednesday.

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.

In the incident last week, a bank supervisor told Valdez he could only cash the check without a thumbprint if he brought his wife in with him or he opened an account with them.

"I told them I neither wanted an account with them and couldn't bring my wife in because she was nowhere close by," Valdez told CNN.

Bank of America said in a statement cited by CNN: "While the thumbprint is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations."

Valdez said his treatment by the bank violated the U.S. Americans with Disability Act requiring institutions to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled persons.

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Todd Eastham)

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

Wow - that does seem heartless. Perhaps a "toe" print would have worked? On the other hand, perhaps the bank was protecting itself. If the gentleman's name wasn't on the account and the wife was nowhere near, is it possible he really isn't authorized to cash checks on the account? If he is, maybe there is some way the wife can give the bank an authorization statement allowing him to cash checks.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

If the check was drawn on the BOA, they should've cashed it with or without his having an account, but that's not clear from what I've read unless I just plain missed it.

I worked as a teller during summer osff from nursing school. (First National Bank of Boston and Bank of Hawaii).

I'm still stunned and although it has no bearing on how he came to be without arms, it would be doubly shameful if he had left them overseas somewhere while serving in the military and then being treated like that.

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

If the check was drawn on the BOA, they should've cashed it with or without his having an account, but that's not clear from what I've read unless I just plain missed it.

I worked as a teller during summer osff from nursing school. (First National Bank of Boston and Bank of Hawaii).

I'm still stunned and although it has no bearing on how he came to be without arms, it would be doubly shameful if he had left them overseas somewhere while serving in the military and then being treated like that.

The banks around here are very reluctant to cash checks if you don't have an account with them - even if it's drawn from that bank.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Typical Florida banking behavior. That's why we've got the mess we do in Florida with our banks.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

This heartless act doesn't surprise me in the least.

Our friend in Florida has a husband who is disabled. Huntington's. She brought their IRS refund to their joint account, to deposit it. And the bank refused to let her do so, as her husband was not with her and it couldn't be verified that he had signed the check.

This was to DEPOSIT into a JOINT account. They insisted that she have her husband with her.....she went home, packed him up into the car and drove around to the window, she still had trouble depositing the check...they wanted him to be brought into the bank.

Such disgusting behavior.....

[kbletzer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kbletzer]

I must be completely out of touch here...a thumbprint? The check was drawn on the bank, made payable to the person who provided two forms of photo ID.
If we are in a day and age where I have to provide a thumbprint to cash a check then I will moving my funds. This is taking precaution too far. Although I would appreciate the bank keeping me safe from theft, there should be a better way and at the same time provide common sense and customer service.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ing-gripe.html