This site recently reported how some banks are using thumbprint verification when customers want to cash a check. But this story out of Florida involving a Tampa branch of Bank of America is a stunning example of security run amok. That a bank teller seemingly does not grasp the import of the Americans with Disabilities Act is one thing, but for the manager not to know better, well, paging Bank of America….
While most banks require a thumbprint to cash a check from someone who doesn’t have an account, a Tampa man says that policy was impossible to comply with.
Steve Valdez says he was shocked when he was told he had to put his thumbprint on a check written on his wife’s Bank of America check. Valdez says the check was written to him with the same address he has on his driver’s license. Although he had two forms of identification both with pictures, the bank still required Valdez to give a thumbprint before it would cash the check.
But that was impossible, because Valdez was born without arms and wears prosthetic devices.
According to Valdez, when he gave the teller the check, she said “Obviously you can’t give a thumbprint.” But Valdez says the manager refused to cash the check unless he did.
Read more on WTSP.
Hat-tip: Jonathan Turley