On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 09:07:07 GMT, strabo wrote:
On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 06:01:42 GMT, "Martin H. Eastburn"
It may be just a Texas thing, but a social security number is required
to open an account at any Texas bank.
I think it is a matter of taxes. If the bank pays 0.000001% it amounts to
something and must be reported.

Then tell 'em you want a non-interest bearing account.

That won't exempt you anymore. One of the new provisions of the banking
laws, designed to catch money laundering, requires every bank account
to have a taxpayer ID number. For individuals, that's almost always their
SS number, though they can apply to the IRS for a different number.
The latter requires them to prove their identity to the IRS, which amounts
to the same problem for illegals.

Of course illegals routinely trade in counterfeit IDs. But it does add a
level of extra risk for them if they have to deal with a bank or the IRS
using fake documents.

Gary