"You Know Me" at the Teller Window
Teller Marcus has worked at the Riverside branch for nine months. At 12:15 p.m. his cousin Denise comes to his window with a $1,850 check drawn on a contractor's account at an out-of-state bank and payable to her employer, “Halloway Roofing LLC.” The back already bears Halloway's stamped business endorsement and Denise's signature. Denise explains that her boss is out of town and asked her to cash the check and deposit the proceeds into her own account. She has her debit card and a company ID badge, but no driver's license - she says it was lost and is being replaced. “Come on, you know me, you were at my wedding,” she says. The line is eight deep, the branch manager is at lunch, and Marcus's own personal account is at this branch. The branch's identification policy requires an unexpired government-issued photo ID for any check being cashed or deposited by a non-payee, with no exceptions delegated below the branch manager.
1. Does Marcus's personal knowledge of Denise satisfy the identification requirement? What other problems does this item present?
Read the worked answer
No. Knowing a customer is not verification. The ID requirement exists to create a record that the person presenting the item is who they claim to be, and a personal relationship supplies no documentary evidence and no audit trail. A company badge is not an acceptable ID under the stated policy - it is issued by an interested party and is trivially forged. Marcus should also notice three separate issues stacked on one item:
She is not the payee. The check is payable to Halloway Roofing LLC. A stamped endorsement is normal for a business, but the bank still needs evidence that the person presenting it is authorized to negotiate it - a signature card, a corporate resolution, or verification with the account holder on a number the bank obtains independently.
It is a third-party item being deposited to her personal account. If it returns, the bank debits her account and pursues her; she may not understand that she, not the bank, absorbs the loss.
Conflict of interest. Marcus should not process and certainly cannot approve anything for a relative, particularly with his own account at the branch. The clean move is to hand the transaction to another teller or the supervisor, which also removes the appearance problem.
2. Write what Marcus should actually say at the window, and list the options he can offer Denise.
Read the worked answer
The script needs to be warm, short, and non-accusatory, and it should never suggest she is lying.
“Denise, I'd help you with anything, and this is exactly the kind of thing where I can't cut corners - if I skip ID for family, I'm putting my job and your money at risk. Let me get [supervisor] or [teller] to take care of you so there's no question later.”
Then offer real paths forward:
- Deposit to the company account. If Halloway Roofing banks here or can provide account details, the check goes in as a normal business deposit.
- Bring the ID. Once the replacement license arrives, the deposit is routine - subject to a hold on the third-party item.
- Written authorization plus callback. A signed letter from the owner authorizing Denise to negotiate the item, verified by a callback to a number the bank looks up independently, not a number on the letter.
- Have the owner present it. Simplest and cleanest.
What Marcus must not do: endorse or instruct her to add “for deposit only” to fix the problem, promise the funds will be available immediately, or suggest she come back when a different teller is on duty.
3. The manager returns from lunch and, under pressure, approves an exception. What still has to happen, and how should Marcus handle the line behind her?
Read the worked answer
An exception is not a waiver of records. The manager's approval must be documented on the item or in the account notes: what was accepted in place of the required ID, who approved it, the approval code, and the reason. A verification call to the maker's bank or to Halloway Roofing should be attempted and the result recorded. The check should be taken for deposit, not cash, with an exception hold appropriate to a third-party item, and Denise should be told clearly when the funds will be available and that the hold is not personal. If the stamped endorsement cannot be verified, the transaction is referred rather than approved.
On the line: the queue is a service problem, not a reason to compress verification. Marcus acknowledges the wait once, keeps his voice low so Denise's business is not broadcast, and asks the supervisor to open a second window or take the next customers. If the delay stretches, an apology and a specific estimate (“about five more minutes”) is better than silence.
Finally, Marcus should ask that another teller key the transaction even after approval. The approval removed a policy block; it did not remove the conflict of interest of a teller processing a relative's item with his own account at the branch.