FDIC Federal Register Citations

From: Steve DeWitt
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 5:16 PM
To: Comments
Subject: Customer Identification Programs for Banks

Thank you for allowing us to comment on this important subject.

The USA Patriot Act in general is a good idea and has it purpose, however as we reviewed the proposed requirements for Customer Identification Programs, we couldn't help but wonder why banks haven't already been following these procedures when opening accounts as part of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer Policies which most banks should already have
in place. Most of these procedures seem to serve more as a reminder rather than instilling "brand-new" processes in banking.

One particular part of the "Comparison with Government lists" proposal does seem unnecessary. Why is it necessary to post another sign in the lobby or provide a customer with another disclosure that they will be requested to provide information to verify their identity? Most all individuals or business entities seeking new account relationships with a financial institution already come prepared with proper identification. If they do not provide proper identification, an account is not opened. Accordingly,
we think this part of the proposal is very unnecessary.

Again we do feel fortunate to live in a country where we can comment on issues such as these and hope our comments are taken into consideration when drafting the final proposal.

Sincerely,
Steven DeWitt
Sr. Vice-President and Cashier
The First State Bank of Burlingame, Kansas