Drivers license, Credit card, blood sample, first born........

I went to Bank of America yesterday to open an account for my son, and not to discredit the Bank of America, but do you really need to give blood to deposit money? I walked into the branch and was greeted ever so nicely, “Welcome to Bank of America, Can I help you?” “Yes, I would like to open a savings account for my son.” “Ok, follow me over here and we’ll get started. My name is Cathy, and I’ll need two forms of id. Your driver’s license and a major credit card.” So I pull out my license and my debit card (which I have from a different bank) and lay them on the desk. Now if you own a debit card you know that it has a “VISA or MASTERCARD” logo on it and is, in many cases, considered a major credit card. Cathy: “I’m sorry but we don’t accept debit cards. Do you have anything else with a picture?” (Keep in mind major credit cards do not have a picture on it to begin with so I don’t know why I had to show something with a picture on it after that didn’t work). I said, “No, because I do not keep everything in my purse”. (Contents of my purse: License, debit card, Tops bonus card, Wegman’s shoppers club card, insurance card, AAA card, coffee card with 5 punches) I do not carry everything in my purse due to the fact that if it gets stolen then someone can steal my entire identity. With all this in mind I did not get the account, I said thanks for wasting my time and left.

I had to deposit $340 in this account. That’s it. All for my 7 month old son who doesn’t even know what money is yet, but he got some from his baptism. I could understand all of this hassle if I was withdrawing from my billion dollar Swiss bank account, but not for $340.

Thanks M&T for taking my money….