This Is Why There Are Rules

A few decades ago, I was working in a bank that merged with another. The local branches of each were so busy that all the staff was simply combined, with just a few positions adjusted in management.

One day, a man comes to my window to cash a check he has made out himself, except his name is not on the check nor the account. The teller next to me recognizes him as the assistant to an elderly regular from the bank we just merged with and assures me he’s authorized to write and cash checks on the account. Figuring the information just hasn’t been put into the system yet, I go to verify the permission on the signature cards that have been brought over from the other bank.

But he’s not on the card, and there’s no reference to a Power of Attorney or other form that might give him permission to use the account. Back I go to tell the customer I can’t cash his check.

Customer: “I’ve never had a problem before.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but I have nothing that says you’re allowed to write checks or withdraw money from this account.”

Coworker: “Oh, it’s fine, He’s in with [Account Owner] all the time.”

Me: “That may be, but there’s no authorization.”

Coworker: “I’m authorizing you.”

Me: “You’re not a manager. Without the paperwork in place, I’m not cashing this.”

Coworker: “Fine, I’ll do it. [Customer], come over here. I’ll take care of you.”

I shrugged, handed the check back to the customer, and continued my day.

A couple of weeks later, all staff was brought in for a mandatory meeting. We were informed that thousands of dollars were missing from a customer’s account. Yep, it was [Account Owner]’s.

It turned out that [Account Owner] had never authorized or intended to authorize her assistant on her account. Staff from the other bank had simply assumed that this person who came in with [Account Owner] twice a week was allowed to and that [Account Owner] just forgot to do the paperwork because she was old. [Customer] played off that familiarity to make regular withdrawals, and because part of his job was handling the mail, he just didn’t give [Account Owner] anything from the old bank. When asked, he’d just reassure her he’d seen the statement and all was well. This went on for months, and [Account Owner] only found out because [Customer] forgot that the statements would come in with the new bank name.

The manager and assistant manager from the other bank were fired. Every teller from the other bank got a written warning for cashing those checks, as well as a few of our own who’d ignored the discrepancy on the reassurance of the other bank’s staff. Everyone from both banks got retrained in our procedures and protecting both our customers and ourselves. It turned out that there were a ton of rules and regulations the staff at the other bank had been ignoring because of familiarity, and they’d been telling our staff that the busy work was an unnecessary hassle.