Answer:
Answer by John Burnett: Exactly! And that's one reason a lot of banks have stopped selling these items to non-customers.
I don't think it would be helpful to describe how the laundering could work.
Answer:
Answer by Ken Golliher: Any bank selling official checks to noncustomers for cash above $3,000 should sit down with a calculator and figure out:
- How much fee income it generated last year and subtract from that:
- How much it costs to obtain and retain the information and
- The value of the additional time it takes to do 314(a) searches (26 times a year) on official check sales solely because you might have a remitter outside your customer base.
Whether you evaluate it from a law enforcement perspective or a profit & loss perspective, it's simply a poor idea to deal with non customers and significant amounts of cash.
First published on BankersOnline.com 12/15/03
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