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View Full Version : No thumbprint, no money, bank tells armless man

catlover79
09-03-2009, 11:34 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090903/us_nm/us_bank_thumbprint

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)
Chocoholic
09-03-2009, 02:44 PM
Couldn't he have called his wife to verify that he was cashing the check for her? With so many scam artists and identity thieves out there, I don't blame the bank for trying to be careful.
catlover79
09-03-2009, 02:46 PM
Why couldn't his wife have just accompanied him in the first place? :confused:
MickeyMac
09-03-2009, 03:57 PM
Why couldn't his wife have just accompanied him in the first place? :confused:



Yeah I agree
browneyes106
09-03-2009, 04:53 PM
I heard about this last night. It seems more banks are using the thumbprint system which could be difficult for many people. People with burn injuries sometimes have no prints.
catlover79
09-03-2009, 05:36 PM
Weren't some banks doing facial recognition or something similar?
MickeyMac
09-03-2009, 06:04 PM
What about an ID check buy scanning your eyes. I hear they have that system now.
catlover79
09-03-2009, 06:33 PM
What about an ID check buy scanning your eyes. I hear they have that system now.
That's what I meant, actually. I thought some banks had that.
Marvo301
09-03-2009, 06:34 PM
What about an ID check buy scanning your eyes. I hear they have that system now.
I believe they call that a retina scan. They should definitely have more than one approved method of IDing people so that no one is denied access to service because of a disability.
Liza
09-03-2009, 07:20 PM
One of the banks I support does do thumbprint identification, and it's specifically mentioned in their training: The only reason you may waive the thumbprint is if a customer doesn't have hands. Otherwise, as this guy pointed out, it is a violation of ADA. Oh, this guy's gonna sue, and he deserves every penny!

$$$$
Liza
09-03-2009, 07:21 PM
What about an ID check buy scanning your eyes. I hear they have that system now.

What???? That strikes me as very unlikely that any bank has the money to invest in something that advanced. Especially in today's economy. I don't see that having been a realistic alternative.
catlover79
09-03-2009, 07:55 PM
Why couldn't they take a footprint??
Marvo301
09-03-2009, 08:08 PM
Why couldn't they take a footprint??
I would think the fact that the guy has no arms would be a pretty good identifier. I mean how people with no arms do they get walking in to that bank?
cyberalias81
09-04-2009, 05:21 AM
It could've been that other armless guy !. Okay maybe not... one loss for common sense.
Lee
09-04-2009, 07:22 AM
Valdez said his treatment by the bank violated the U.S. Americans with Disability Act requiring institutions to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled persons.


I wonder what Janice would say about this