Banks and Fingerprints
Is it appropriate for banks to require fingerprints?
In late December I attempted to cash a check at a bank that required
of me two forms of ID and, to my surprise and disappointment, my
precisely planted fingerprint on the check. Business was slow that
day and I was essentially talking to three tellers at once.
I provided 2 forms of ID, but told them that I would not provide a
fingerprint. The teller told me that if I did not provide a
fingerprint, that they would not cash the check. I told them that
if they did not cash the check, I would return it to the company
that wrote it and assess a bad check fee.
The tellers looked at each other and one said "Better get the manager".
There is a growing trend throughout the banking industry where banks
require non-account holders to place a fingerprint on the check they
present for cashing. The motive is to cut down on check fraud, such
as thieves cashing stolen checks. While the policy no doubt works
to discourage fraud (as most Orwellian tactics do), it works at the
expense of privacy, and ultimately liberty on the part of an
otherwise free people.
Banks are entitled to some reasonable proof of identification from
those presenting a check for payment to show they are, in fact, the
party to which the check is made payable. But fingerprints are not
used to identify the payee. If they were, the print would be
compared to a fingerprint database prior to cashing, which it is
not. Instead, it is examined only if fraud is determined days or
weeks later.
This means fingerprints are collected solely as evidence of a crime
before any crime is known -- or even reasonably believed -- to be
taking place. This clearly qualifies as a violation of the 4th
Amendment which guarantees to us the right "to be secure in [our]
persons....against unreasonable searches & seizures...". Certainly
my fingerprint is part of my person, so by what right do banks
require me to waive a right in order to cash a check?
After a few minutes, the bank manager came out and I sat down in her
office. We repeated the dialog I just had with the teller.
She explained "If you want us to serve you, you must provide a
fingerprint".
I replied "You aren't serving me. You are serving your account
holder that wrote me this check".
"But if you want us to cash the check, you must provide a
fingerprint."
I was talking to a brick wall. I asked for her business card.
"If you refuse to cash it, I'll have to mark it as a bad check,
return it to your account holder and assess a $50 bad check fee".
She offered me a pen. I could mark the check right then & there.
I was really talking to a brick wall, but at least there was no
confusion between us of where we stood.
Rights activists might assume that the bank is the party that is
legally at fault for having a fingerprint policy. Yes, there are a
myriad of bank regulations that banks must follow in order to be
allowed to operate with the government regulated banking system, and
those regulations cannot override our 4th Amendment protections.
Still, there's a fundamental relationship at work which excuses us
from having to navigate those regulations.
Banks were first invented out of a need for those with excess money
to safely store their funds. Checks were invented as a means to
allow depositors to instruct banks to make payments from those
stored funds. The depositor simply writes out an order for the bank
to pay out a certain sum & gives the document to the person to whom
it he is paying.
The payee could accept the check and "take it to the bank" if it was
"good enough". The bank would receive the check, judge by the unique
seal or signature its authenticity (how many banks still do that?)
and then pay over the prescribed amount to the payee.
Giving someone a check is not payment & never has been. Checks are
merely a promise of payment, and nothing more. If the bank
refuses to honor a check for insufficient funds or any other reason,
(it doesn't matter why) then the promise is broken. When promises
are broken, no matter what the reason, recourse is against the
promise maker, which is the person that wrote the check.
Being a bit angry at having wasted a trip and having a curve thrown
in my immediate financial plans, I left the bank and came home.
Having never had to process a bad check before I used my best
judgement. With a red flair pen, I noted the following on the face
of the check:
"Dishonored by [Bank name]
[Bank address (the specific branch I visited)]
[Date & Time it was dishonored]
I then returned it to the client with the following letter:
Attn: Accounts Payable
Sirs,
Enclosed please find a returned check in the amount of [$XXX]. The
check was tendered to me as payment for services rendered (Ref:
invoice [XXYYZZ], dated [date]).
On [a particular day] at approximately [a particular time], during
normal business hours, I attempted to redeem the check at a branch
of [your damn bank], located at [address]. I presented suitable
identification, as requested, but your bank was nonetheless
unwilling to cash the check. The bank personnel demanded I
surrender a fingerprint as a condition of honoring your check. For
moral, privacy and legal reasons, I do not surrender fingerprints or
waive any other rights as a condition of accepting payment.
I then spoke with Ms. [Bank Bigwig], (copy of business card
enclosed) of this branch and was told that if I wanted to be served,
that I must surrender the fingerprint. I informed Ms. [Bank Bigwig]
that they were not serving me, they were serving [you guys], and if
they did not honor the check, I would have to mark the check
appropriately, return it and assess a $50 bad check fee. Ms. [Bank
Bigwig] seemed unswayed by this warning and handed me a pen, which I
understood as an invitation to do exactly that.
[You guys] apparently appointed [that damn bank] a fiduciary of
funds in the amount of [$XXX], promised to me in the form of the
enclosed check. Since [that damn bank] has acted on your behalf in
declining to honor your promise of payment, I regret my only
recourse is to return the check to you and assess a return check
fee.
Please find enclosed an invoice for the original amount due and
additional fees. As the original amount was due on [date], your
prompt payment is appreciated. Due to the policies of [that damn
bank], I regret I am unable to accept further checks drawn upon that
bank. Instruments drawn on other banks or financial institutions
are welcome, provided a fingerprint is not required as a condition
of their being honored. Should you have questions about the
enclosed check or what other methods of payment are acceptable,
please do not hesitate to call.
I thank you for your kind attention in this matter.
Sincerely,
[Me]
I cc'd (sent "carbon" copies) to Ms. Bank Bigwig as well as that
bank's main office, as a "courtesy" of sorts. I would guess that
Ms. Bank Bigwig committed an error when she offered me a pen,
thereby encouraging me to return the check, but that's a matter to
be settled between the bank and my client.
One remedy that may bring attention to the fingerprint policy
without risking severe repercussions from customers is to add (in
advance) a $10 check handling fee for any check drawn upon a bank
that requires a fingerprint. A simple but polite notice on an
invoice may suffice.
Although I'm not obligated to attempt to negotiate a check in any
manner beyond cashing at the bank upon which it is drawn, there are
other ways. But most reasonable ones available to me carry with
them cashing fees or a delay for check clearing. Certainly a $10
or $15 fee for that trouble is quite reasonable.
Of course, I'm not obligated to accept checks in the first place,
and many vendors don't, so accepting checks is itself a courtesy,
subject to any restrictions I would care to impose.
This could end any number of ways and I have no idea what's going
to happen. Obviously, the bank's account holder is also my own
customer, and by taking this stand I may lose some business. But
for this one customer and this one payment, that is a risk I'm
willing to take to give this Orwellian practice some of the
attention it deserves.
Neil
Return to Life without Numbers
Return to My Right to "Drive"
This Web Page:
http://www.cjmciver.org/free/bank1.shtml
