In the recent issue of Banker'Online, Volume XIV, Number 11, one of the the Q & A's was with regard to whether or not having blank counter deposit slips in bank lobbies was a security risk. The answer was "It's a huge security risk" and for that reason most banks have discontinued the use of blank forms. Can you give me examples of how this is a security risk?..and also, would blank counter withdrawal slips pose the same risks? Looking for more background information. Thank you.

That was one of Frank Avingdale's [sp.] stories.

He would take a stack of blank deposit slips, bring them to his home where he MICR encoded the bottom with his account number, and return them to the "island".

Customers would fill in the deposit slips and not really aware/concerned of the MICR encoding. Since they were already encoded, the tellers would just process them. The deposits (after they ran through proof) would end up in his account.

In the 1/25 Bankers Hotline, the same question was posed. Some other concerns stated were:
Fraudulent split deposits
Privacy and ID theft if the fraudster has a conusmer's check with all of the other info on it.

I would be interested in knowing how many banks actually do this.

Our blank deposit slips available in our lobby are in a "book" with no encoding on them. I think that our tellers and proof operators would notice if there was encoding on them.

Go back up this string to read SC-Bkr's comment. If you believe any of the hype in "Catch Me If You Can," this scam was really successful. Evidently, customers and tellers can get lulled into missing this stuff. After all, tellers handle a lot of pre-encoded deposit tickets, too.

They also get lulled into not checking identification of customers when asking for cash back on deposits using the blank deposit slips in the lobbies!

Do as I say - not as I do?

Out of 51 votes - 40 individuals that do not do as recommended. Pretty sad state of affairs and ever so encouraging for criminals!

Or perhaps we train our tellers better? and thereby service our clients better...just another take on the issue Anon.

For whatever it's worth, the bank that took over my former employer (where I continue to keep my accounts) has slips in the writing desks. I carefully look at the slip on the very rare occasion that I use one. I'd use the ATM all the time for deposits, but sometimes it's just nice to pop in to say hello to the few familiar faces that are still there.

I asked one of my friends at my former employer how the bank managed to avoid fraud while making counter deposit tickets available. There are two keys to mitigate the risk.

The first is to use a form that looks nothing like the form that is normally found bound into checkbooks (or given out in new account bundles in pre-encoded form). In fact, this bank's counter deposit slips are larger, with color (as opposed to the BW pre-encoded slips).

The second is to always compare the names on the deposited items with the names that are displayed on the teller terminal when the account number is keyed in to process the deposit.

I'd like to point out another danger (more at the nuisance level, generally, but a SERIOUS nuisance):

Every other April Fools' Day or so, some prankster decides to write a fake robbery note on the back of the deposit slips. Not funny at all, to either the teller or the innocent customer who then gets treated as a robber until it's sorted out.

I do know a teller who received one of these, so it does happen.