Outrage: Bank Refuses to Cash Check for Man Without Arms

When Steve Valdez, 54, went to a Bank of America branch recently to cash a check, it seemed like a simple enough transaction. But the Tampa resident does not have a Bank of America account and things soon became very sticky.

That’s because non-account holders must provide a fingerprint in order to cash checks. But Valdez uses prosthetic arms and could not provide the print.

Prepared, he offered up two government forms of identification, which had always proved sufficient at other banks. The teller and branch manager, however, said this was insufficient and gave Valdez two choices: Open a Bank of America account or return to the bank with his wife, an account holder who had written the check.

“All I wanted to do was cash their check,” says Valdez, who pointed out to the bank staff that their lack of accommodation represented a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. “They said ‘whatever.’ ”

But when Valdez’s story hit the local paper, Bank of America representatives were suddenly very apologetic, he says. Nonetheless, they remained unclear about what the proper procedure should have been, which left Valdez, who works as a customer service manager, dissatisfied.

When contacted for comment, a bank representative insisted that the institution does have a policy for situations like Valdez’s.

“It just wasn’t implemented here,” says Nicole Nastacie, a Bank of America spokeswoman. “We should have accepted the two forms of ID and cashed the check.”

Since learning of the problem Valdez encountered—Nastacie says it was an isolated incident—the policy has been redistributed to employees at all of Bank of America’s 6,100 banking centers nationally.

Michelle Diament is a frequent contributor to the AARP Bulletin and Bulletin Today.