Working with a Customer's Bank for Routine Requests
Questions from our Readers
By Michael
C. Dennis, MBA, CBF
Question.
How can I get a customer's bank to respond to a routine request to
verify their relationship with an applicant, and is there any way
to avoid the fees that banks, more and more frequently are charging
for this service:
Answer.
Remember, there are no federal laws that require banks to share information
about their customers with other banks or other creditors. If the
customer's bank refuses to respond at all, or insists that you submit
a request for the information you need via U.S. mail, one idea is
to call the applicant/customer, explain the problem and ask them
to arrange for their bank to respond to the request promptly. In
response to your question about the fee, these fees are a significant
source of revenue. Unless banking laws are changed and banks are
precluded from charging these fees it is hard to imagine they will
disappear any time soon.
This information is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor
a substitute for legal advice.
4/21/03 Reader Comments:
In reference to your comments that a creditor can do little about paying service
charges from a bank in order to obtain a credit reference. Here is a suggestion
that has worked for me: Have your customer provide a bank officer's name
and direct fax number and fax your inquiry to that person along with your
customer's written authorization to release info. This often gets you that
reference without having to pay a service charge.
Submitted by: Joanne Simone,
Credit Manager, Namasco Corp. |