Dear Editor,
A few weeks ago I went to cash a cheque at a local bank. I could not find my Guyana national ID card, so before I left home I grabbed my newly issued drivers’ licence. I have been using my new drivers’ licence to conduct financial transaction. However, my brother and several other persons had told me of the horrors they experienced at that bank, so as a precaution, I also took with me my Barbados national ID card.
When I arrived at the counter I presented the cheque and my drivers’ licence. The young lady told me that the bank does not accept the new drivers’ licence at ID. I then gave her my Barbados national ID card. Much to my dismay, I was told that the bank does not accept national ID cards from other countries. At this point I asked to speak with a supervisor.
The supervisor told me just what the teller had told me. So I asked the supervisor to please explain the rational for these decisions. She told me that she does not make the rules. In an effort to have the cheque changed, I suggested that she call the issuer (they have his number), so as to verify that the cheque was indeed written to me. I was thinking that with two pieces of ID’s and a phone call to the account holder, that would have been sufficient to prove that I was who I said I was.
I was told in no uncertain terms that I would not be allowed to cash the cheque without my Guyana national ID card or my passport. I had to leave the bank and return with my passport.
Last week I heard that one man had hundreds of millions of illegal money on his account. I would not be surprised if I heard that his account was at the same bank. These pathetic rules are only smokescreens.
Sincerely,
Pastor Wendell
Jeffrey
