How DO I open a bank account that is not attached to any SS number or State ID?

[allodial]

Interesting word choices. You "could" and you "can" ... but you've never done it in the past, and you're not about to start now, eh?

Me and banks...long story. I avoid them. It became clear to me that in the US in the past 20 years or so purpose has been to obstruct/prevent/interfere and spy. In the past say five years I have spent more time teaching branch managers than getting useful services out of them. If I got involved directly it would likely be me talking with bank counsel rather than a teller. Of course, I am for redeeming for lawful money or non-endorsement. Point was -> inkjets can be used instead of stamps to do non-endorsement--using practice/test blanks helps prevent ruining a check. Knowing what color socks I wear probably isn't going to assist with remedy unless you want to be as cool as me. Have you met Shoonra yet?

P.S. Trying psychology on me is LOL. "These aren't are the droids you're looking for."

[JohnnyCash]

I'm interested in your story; whenever you have time. You seem quite knowledgeable about banks & banking.

As mentioned, a fictitious reg. or a certificate of authority + an IRS EIN assignment can be utilized as part of opening accounts. Also a company can open accounts as a trustee/agent with account titles like "COMPANY CO AAF JOHN DOE".

A fictitious registration you say? Would one need a fake ID too?
I remember Shoonra the Useful; you've met him?

[allodial]

I'm interested in your story; whenever you have time. You seem quite knowledgeable about banks & banking.

A fictitious registration you say? Would one need a fake ID too?
I remember Shoonra the Useful; you've met him?

"They" call it a "Fictitious Registration" or "Fictitious Name Registration" i.e. where one 'registers' a d/b/a. Oddly enough one state had such a form that had an agreement to a prison penalty for making false statements or misrepresentations in connection with a fictitiousname registration...

--wuut?

For State of Colorado its referred to as "Statement of Trade Name".

P.S. As for fake ID, maybe try your local DMV or passport office?

• Statement of Trade Name of an Individual (Colorado)
• Statement of Trade Name of an Estate, a Trust, a State or an Other Jurisdiction (Colorado)
• Certificate of Assumed Name (New York)
• Application for Registration of Fictitious Name (Florida)
• Trade Name Registration (Washington State)

[David Merrill]

The quality of the content here at StSC is astounding!

[allodial]

Very interesting answer, thank you. If my questions make you at all uncomfortable simply tell me. I wonder ... if presented an out-of-state check as payment for services ... what would you do with it?

For your and the readers' sake I also add this:

Even internationally a bank such as Citibank will likely have an arrangement with a bank in say the UK whereby there is a post office box in UK where checks can be mailed for deposit to Citibank (USA) accounts. Basically two banks in different jurisdiction that are correspondents often have a system whereby one can send a check to a PO box and deposit in that country so that to the sender it seems like the deposit is being made locally. Queen Bank (UK) might have its 'USA gateway' bank as Bank of NY(USA) for the UK meaning someone in the US could deposit into an account at Queen Bank (UK) by check by sending the check to a PO Box at Bank of New York in the US!

Instead of Western Union, if you are in, say, Papau New Guinea and Granny is uncomfortable with sending you a check overseas or the like, you could have them send it to say a PO Box of their correspondent (you might arrange a special/indirect account # so that the deposit can be simple). To the Granny in the USA it would seem as if she was depositing to a USA bank. The banks would handle the correspondent arrangement internally and the funds would wind up at your bank at PNG. You might have to make special arrangements for a unique account number to simplify things for Granny.

As for fees, that would be on a case by case basis. Basically doing one's homework is key. You can go into any branch and ask for their list of international and domestic correspondents. I've been lied to by bank staff around the world but in the USA, they've tended to take it to a whole different level of lying.

I had bank staff lie to me once upon a time (surprise?) saying such didn't exist--I contacted the president of the bank and he was upset and forced them to hand me their book with the information I wanted.

Just FYI. Keeping a list of your banks international and domestic correspondents can be very helpful.

P.S. The same can apply to wire transfers or EFT (as the term is used overseas).

[Chex]

Something like this?

A bankers’ bank, which is organized and chartered to do business with other banks, is generally owned by the banks it services. Bankers’ banks, which do not conduct business directly with the public, offer correspondent banking services to independent community banks, thrifts, credit unions, and real estate investment trusts. Bankers’ banks provide services directly, through outsourcing arrangements, or by sponsoring or endorsing third parties. The products bankers’ banks offer normally consist of traditional correspondent banking services. Bankers’ banks should have risk-based policies, procedures, and processes to manage the BSA/AML risks involved in these correspondent relationships to detect and report suspicious activities. http://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobas...al/OLM_045.htm or this http://listofbanksin.com/List-of-cor...WIFT-Codes.htm

[allodial]

Well not always necessarily a 'banker's bank'. The FRB is a banker's bank. The FRB is basically a correspondent system for banks--think correspondent as in 'pen pals'. By having accounts at a common FI (the FRB) banks can 'correspond' financially. Any bank that offers correspondent services might offer international or domestic correspondent services. Say you have an account with Tiny Bank in Arkansas. That bank might have a correspondent relationship with Bank of New York whereby someone can deposit into your account at Bank of New York as if it was done directly Tiny Bank. In other words you don't necessarily need to have an account at multiple banks to pull some things off and its possible to have an 'dummy account' at BoNY that BoNY that will cause deposits at BoNY to be deposited at Tiny Bank through the correspondent relationship. Basically one bank might provide services to yet another bank and vice versa. They simply correspond. If you look into the history of banks and credit cards, you'll likely see that money and post or courier services were usually 'married'. Look at Chase and Wells Fargo history. Banks provide courier services among other services or so-called services (if obstructing commerce is a service).

Of course Visa, Mastercard or Western Union would love for you to think that you always need them. The catch of course can be in the fees. If your transactions are frequent or high-dollar enough it might not matter. Are you surprised that it might cost a bank only $.20 cents to send a Wire Transfer but they charge $20 for the service?

Also MAJOR TIP: it is often easier to open an overseas account at a CORRESPONDENT OF YOUR BANK than any other bank. Because in a sense because that your bank has an account with that bank you already have an account. But no one told you--except me. And Captain Obvious would be pleading to interject that once you do that, it would be very very easy to fund that account through the CORRESPONDENT RELATIONSHIP.

Someone just anyone could just for fun go to their bank and ask for a list of their foreign/international correspondents and just give a general report here. There used to be a book that banks kept on hand that lists ALL KNOWN bank's correspondents in the world-thick like a phonebook. When you ask they might ask you to specify the country. You could ask for China. Ask them to give you all details: typically name of bank, IBAN, SWIFT, box service info, etc. You can even ask them for domestic (US) correspondents. That information allows you to see what banks your bank is connected to throughout the USA and throughout "the world".

Consider that this information is helpful if you travel and want to deposit a check into your USA account while you are overseas or vice versa. The information has always been there but...they weren't necessarily motivated to tell you...and perhaps you weren't all that motivated to ask.

[EZrhythm]

I am hearing that people are having success opening a bank account without stating an SSN using a passport and a W-8BEN, indicating that the NAME is a non-resident alien.
http://famguardian.org/taxfreedom/In...lingStatus.htm

[allodial]

I am hearing that people are having success opening a bank account without stating an SSN using a passport and a W-8BEN, indicating that the NAME is a non-resident alien.
http://famguardian.org/taxfreedom/In...lingStatus.htm

Makes sense. A U.S. national is not a U.S. citizen. A national of an organic state of America is also not a U.S. citizen.

[Chex]

I like •3.17 Quit Social Security and Rescind the number assigned to you, and I want the contributions my employer and I put into the SSA account.

Termination at the request of the recipient.

There are 14 Updates appearing in the Federal Register for 20 CFR 416. http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/416.1333