Banking on Banks

December 26, 2021

Like many of you, carrying actual currency is not the norm in the age of Google, Samsung, Apple pay, and the other numerous cashless and contactless payment options available to consumers. If you factor in that most credit cards offer points or some other incentive to use their card, in conjunction with the many mobile payment options, relegates carrying cash to something rarely done.

So on a recent trip to the bank, someplace I rarely go, the following occurred. I walked into the bank, and the teller asked if she could help me. I replied, yes, I would like to withdraw cash. The teller asked for my debit card and asked how much I would like. I gave the teller my debit card and said I would like three hundred, please. The teller asked how I would like my money. I replied, three one hundred dollar bills, please. The teller gave me three crisp one hundred dollar bills end of the transaction.

You may have picked up on a couple of holes in my banking transaction. At no point was I asked to provide my identification, nor was I required to enter my pin to initiate the transaction. Since I haven’t been to the bank in a long time, I am not sure if the policies and procedures at the bank have changed but not verifying the identity of a customer before a transaction cannot be something that has changed.

BEING PROACTIVE IS YOUR BEST DEFENSE

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