B of A offers cc to people without SSN's

[gackle]

Link

How does everybody think that this will affect our economy/banking system? I would think that with no social security number illegal immigrants would be much harder to track down for debt collection purposes, thus easier to spend and run and leave the tab for the rest of us. I used to be in debt collections and the more info we had on a delinquent customer the easier it was to find them. It sounds like a risky way on Bank of America's part to make more money.

[mom-from-missouri]

I know they don't have SSN numbers, but don't they have a number that is unique assigned to immigrants? At least they used to have them on their green cards. I worked with a German lady who had one. Her husband was US Air Force and she had married him while he was stationed overseas. She used it just like a social.

[scfr]

My husband is a permanent resident (aka LEGAL) alien. He has both an Alien registration number (formerly called green card) and a Social Security number. He wouldn't have been able to get a job unless he had a SS#.

He also pays the same amount of US taxes as he would if he were a US citizen, just isn't entitled to the same benefits. And yes, to answer the question some of you must be thinking, having him get citizenship is definitely being considered.

But getting back to gackle's original post ... the link says credit card applicants would have to have a checking account for at least 3 months, and I don't understand how they can get that without a SS#! Doesn't the Patriot Act require one?

[usnavy_233]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

I know they don't have SSN numbers, but don't they have a number that is unique assigned to immigrants? At least they used to have them on their green cards. I worked with a German lady who had one. Her husband was US Air Force and she had married him while he was stationed overseas. She used it just like a social.

Only legal immigrants. That's the whole problem. BOA is directly targeting illegal immigrants. Frankly, it sickens me. We should NOT be catering to those that break the law and enter our country illegally.

[gackle]

usnavy_233 beat me to it. The point is they're illegal thus not having any identification number. I don't like what Bank of America did from a moral and patriotic standpoint. But from a business standpoint there's money to be made off of the illegals, the banks are in business to make money, and the illegal immigrants aren't going away anytime soon.

The problem is that it's no different from the credit card company sharks targeting people that have no business having credit cards. These people are coming to the U.S. because they are poor and are seeking to make more money and live the American dream. I'd bet that most of them are not educated about credit card finances and debt. Their lifestyle is actually probably envious to most people on this board - no credit cards (until now), pay everything in cash, if you don't have the cash then you can't afford to get it.

[Ima saver]

I think it is a terrible idea!

[JanH]

The state my parents live in tried to do this with giving driver's licenses. They had so many driving without them I guess. I don't know if they succeeded, but I, too, wondered how you give an official document to an unofficial person. And what do you do about an unofficial person being required to have insurance for a driver's license- like in this state. I don't know how the system is doing this. I know people who are here officially and I wonder what they think of all this.

[mom-from-missouri]

In MO you really can't drive without insurance--too many checkpoints.
You have to show proof of insurance to get a drivers license, to license the car, when you pay your property tax on the car (only in some counties I understand), anytime you are pulled over, and sometimes there are road blocks just to check for DL and insurance cards. If you drive for a school field trip you have to show it as well, and some businesses that may have you do driving for them while on the clock--such as pizza delivery, or drug store delivery, or nursing homes/assisted living homes that have you do patient shoppings, even if you work at the library and do the book deliveries to shut ins.
I had to show it at church to help drive kids to church camp and to go pick up donated groceries for the food pantry.

[disneysteve]

What an incredibly stupid idea. Maybe next they'll be offering thieves free safe deposit boxes to store their stolen goods. I can just see the big sign out front, "Criminals welcome."

As far as I know, you can't open a bank account without a SSN, so I'm not sure how this will work anyway.

[Pupart]

Originally Posted by gackle

The problem is that it's no different from the credit card company sharks targeting people that have no business having credit cards. These people are coming to the U.S. because they are poor and are seeking to make more money and live the American dream. I'd bet that most of them are not educated about credit card finances and debt. Their lifestyle is actually probably envious to most people on this board - no credit cards (until now), pay everything in cash, if you don't have the cash then you can't afford to get it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I agree with what you wrote.
What a nightmare waiting to happen for many.

[scfr]

The more I think about it, it just so does not make sense! Not only is it just plain wrong, but wouldn't Homeland Security be all over those records in a heartbeat???

[BignRichfan]

In the long run we Americans will be paying for the debt they run up and don't pay! This is a load of crap and I think anyone who has an account with this bank should close their accounts if they do this. Show this bank that if they are going to accept illegals with no SS# then we will not use their banks anymore.

[gackle]

I agree, BignRichfan. We have an account at Bank of America and have been tempted to close it due to other problems, but it's such a pain. Who knows if this will be the final straw. Probably not. I just don't think enough people will care to make a difference.

Like I said earlier, I can see why they did this from a business persective. As business people, they are trained to look for gaps in the market and new opportunities. The morals of the credit lending world are so devoid right now that I think if they didn't jump at this and get the first piece of the pie, then somebody else would have. It all comes down to the money. But I'm not excusing what they did either. It stinks and it's just plain wrong.

[PRICEPLUS]

BOA keeps o offending people apparently. I have heard very few good words uttered about them here on this site. I think money is their botton line and everything else be damned. What can you do? Boycott and/or protest!

Originally Posted by gackle

The problem is that it's no different from the credit card company sharks targeting people that have no business having credit cards.

haven't we all already decided pretty much the credit card industry is scum?


why do we continue to be surprised by things like this?




on the other hand, for those with a more conspiratorial turn of mind, you could always believe this is some sort of grand plot between the finance industry and the government to track illegals without them realizing they're being tracked.


wait a minute...look which government I'm talking about...never mind.

[BTC]

As someone else has already pointed out, provisions of the Patriot Act require that financial institutions obtain "customer identification that includes name, date of birth, address and an identification number, which would be a taxpayer identification number for American citizens or a government-issued document for noncitizens" prior to allowing someone to open an account. They must also maintain records of any documents used to verify identification. Considering that BofA requires these individuals to have held a checking account for three months, claiming that they are targeting illegal immigrants seems like very sloppy journalism at best, and possibly even libel.

[gackle]

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants

I would agree with you BTC, but they mentioned in the article about the banks offering checking accounts to undocumented immigrants. While the illegal immigrant reference in the article may have been irreseponsible speculation on their part, the above quote is a historical reference and could be an easily disputable fact. If what you say is true, then they're violating the Patriot Act here as well.

[Gemini9981]

Banks are allowed to offer loans and credit cards to illegal immigrants. However, the immigrant needs to have applied for and received and ITIN number. It is a federally issued identification number that allows them to file taxes, etc. There is legislation pending as to take away the right of banks to issue loans to illegal immigrants (see articles at http://www.10news.com/money/6377080/detail.html and http://www.realestatejournal.com/buy...11-jordan.html

[usnavy_233]

Originally Posted by Gemini9981

Banks are allowed to offer loans and credit cards to illegal immigrants. However, the immigrant needs to have applied for and received and ITIN number. It is a federally issued identification number that allows them to file taxes, etc.

Anyone else feel sick to their stomach after reading that??

[gackle]

Thanks for the good info and cites, Gemini. My stomach is turning.