Barratou Barry, an RBC bank client of 15 years, says on Aug. 18, she went to her regular branch location on Bank Street to make a cash deposit in her account and to pick up her new credit card.
“The first transaction went well. I put money into my account, I gave them my debit card; everything was smooth. To pick up my credit card I needed identification,” she says. “I did not have my driver’s license handy with me at that time. I had my health card.”
I’m sorry dog when the problem is a typo on an otherwise fine passport calling the cops isn’t the first course of action. Asking “are you aware your name is misspelled on your passport” seems like a pretty obvious step one. Especially when she still had her old passport with her.
It’s a legal obligation for the bank to escalate it. You can’t just ask them, informing someone you suspect of an unusual transaction is specifically called out in anti-moneylaundering / anti-terrorist financing regulations.
The problem is “otherwise fine” is not a determination bank staff can make. The passport has one glaring issue, but the branch staff aren’t document experts and can’t run identification confirmation checks on government databases. The police can.
Passports have watermarks and aren’t easily forged. There is someone at the bank who is trained well enough to know about watermarks.