Have you ever tried to deposit cash at Bank of America and been surprised to find that you need to provide ID? You’re not alone.
Bank of America, like many banks, requires ID for cash deposits to confirm your identity. You may wonder why you need to prove who you are – after all, you are putting money into an account, not taking it out.
Banks require ID for cash deposits to prevent fraud and crimes like money laundering.
These days, banks don’t want customers making deposits into other customers’ accounts. So, they will confirm that the account that you want to deposit cash is your account.
In fact, Bank of America, along with other major banks, generally requires two forms of ID when you conduct business like making cash deposits.
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How Does Money Laundering Work?
Money laundering is the process of trying to hide the source of where the money came from. Criminals use money laundering to hide the fact that the cash may have come illegal activities.
Money laundering takes several steps – and it can take many forms.
First, criminals place money gained illegally into, say, a bank or financial institution through, for example, a cash deposit or a wire transfer. Some criminals also use businesses to place illegal money.
The next stage might be moving the money around, or “layering.” The money may be moved from the established financial institution to an overseas account or another company or investment, for example.
Finally, at some stage, the criminal gets the money back.
Because of the laundering, it appears that the criminal received their money from a legal source. In reality, the money came from an illegal activity. This is the kind of activity that Bank of America and other banks want to stop by checking your ID when you make cash deposits.
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What Forms of ID Does Bank of America Accept?
Bank of America’s list of the forms of Primary IDs, or identification that you must provide at least one for conducting business like making a cash deposit include (according to its website):
- Driver’s license (with photo)
- U.S. non-driver’s license state-issued ID (with photo)
- U.S. driver’s permit (with photo)
- U.S. Military ID Common Access Card (CAC) (with photo)
- United States Armed Services ID (with photo)
- United States state, or local government issued identification card (with photo)
- U.S. passport (with photo)
- Canadian Citizenship Certificate Card (with photo)
- U.S. Alien Registration Receipt Card – Form I-551 (with photo)
- U.S. Nonimmigrant Visa and Border Crossing Card – DSP-150 (with photo)
- Foreign passport with or without passport Visa (with photo)
- INS Employment Authorization Card – Form I-766 or I-688 (with photo)
- Mexican Consular ID Card (with photo)
- Dominican Republic Consular ID (with photo)
- Colombian Consular ID (with photo)
- Guatemalan Consular ID Card (with photo)
- Bank of America branded debit card or credit card (with photo)
- Bank of America debit card, ATM Card, or credit card (without photo)
Bank of America also has a list of Secondary ID forms that are acceptable alogn with one primary form of ID. They include:
- Major credit card from another financial institution (including American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Novus/Discover) (with or without photo)
- Major retail credit card from a nationally well-known department store or other nationally well-known retail company (such as Chevron, Macy’s) (with or without photo)
- Debit card (check card) with Visa® or MasterCard® logo from another financial institution (with or without a photo)
- U.S. college/university ID – validated for current term or school year (with photo)
- U.S. student ID card from a local high school validated for current school year (with/without photo)
- U.S. issued employment/work ID card or badge (with/without photo)
- Account Opening: Can be accepted at both offsite and banking center locations
- U.S. driver’s license (without photo)
- U.S. Dept of State Diplomat driver’s license (with photo)
- U.S. Dept of State Diplomat ID (with photo)
- Foreign driver’s license (such as Brazil, France) (with photo)
- Mexican driver’s license (with photo)
- Canadian driver’s license (with photo)
- Indian Tribal ID from a local reservation (with or without a photo)
- Mexican Voter Registration Card (with photo)
- AARP Card
- Current lease agreement (must contain name and current address)
- Current Property Tax Statement
- Current utility bill (must contain name and current address)
- Current vehicle registration
- Department of Correction ID
- Driver’s permit (temporary or beginner’s) from any state (without photo)
- Health insurance card
- Hong Kong Travel Document
- Membership card (BJ’s, COSTCO, Auto Club)
- Sheriff’s card
- Social Security card
- U. S. state or local government-issued license, permit or ID (examples: fishing, hunting, or gun permit)
- Union card
- United States Armed Services ID (without photo)
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