Bank Account and Social Security confusion

[evilmonkey 2]

My fiance received her social security card on Saturday 04 September.

However, when I went to the bank yesterday to add her to my account, the banker said the SSN was not in her system????????????!!!! How can that be???

I added her onto my credit card on Saturday (which also required a SSN) and that went fine, I received her credit card in the mail yesterday.

I brought that up to the banker but she was like their is nothing she can do. Is this common? or did I end up with someone who did not know how to open the account properly for a foreigner?

[Nik+Heather 121]

Actually, I got Nik on my credit card before he got an SSN. So, although they took her SSN, if your fiancee is just an "authorized user" then they don't really need all those details, you are still the sole account owner and solely legally responsible for the debt. The only thing getting her as an authorized user does is get a copy of the card with a different name on it.

Just like waiting after POE to get the SSN so that databases could update, you probably need to wait for the SSN database (and the bank's database) to update to be able to see her in there.

Maybe you want to wait until after you're married and have her name changed etc to get her on there anyway...

[I'm Gone 60]

I have explained this numerous times, but here goes once again.

The SSN consists of an Area number, Group number and Serial number

Area Group Serial (AAA-GG-SSSS)

SSA puts out just about every month a High Group list that shows the highest Group number that has been assigned within each SSN Area. Some businesses use the the list to determine if an SSN is valid.

http://www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnvhighgroup.htm

So either your number was assigned from a Group within your SSN Area that has just started to be assigned and is not on the current list, or the bank is using an old list.

Currently your SSN Area is generally determined by the zip code you use on the application. However, that all goes out the window June of next you year. At that time people will be assigned SSNs from the pool of available numbers, regardless of where they live. This might cause more problems until businesses catch on to what SSA is doing. A bank might say, you said you have always lived in New York, so why do you have a Florida SSN.

http://www.ssa.gov/employer/stateweb.htm

SSA says this is to better assign numbers, since there won't be big blocks of numbers sitting to be used, when they could be used in another part of the country. Plus I think they also want businesses to pay for verifying SSNs:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/cbsv/

Edited September 8, 2010 by I Quit

[evilmonkey 2]

I have explained this numerous times, but here goes once again.

The SSN consists of an Area number, Group number and Serial number

Area Group Serial (AAA-GG-SSSS)

SSA puts out just about every month a High Group list that shows the highest Group number that has been assigned within each SSN Area. Some businesses use the the list to determine if an SSN is valid.

http://www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnvhighgroup.htm

So either your number was assigned from a Group within your SSN Area that has just started to be assigned and is not on the current list, or the bank is using an old list.

Currently your SSN Area is generally determined by the zip code you use on the application. However, that all goes out the window June of next you year. At that time people will be assigned SSNs from the pool of available numbers, regardless of where they live. This might cause more problems until businesses catch on to what SSA is doing. A bank might say, you said you have always lived in New York, so why do you have a Florida SSN.

http://www.ssa.gov/employer/stateweb.htm

SSA says this is to better assign numbers, since there won't be big blocks of numbers sitting to be used, when they could be used in another part of the country. Plus I think they also want businesses to pay for verifying SSNs:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/cbsv/

Thank you so much for the useful information and I apologize for not searching properly before asking a question.

I do have a followup question, the SSN that my wife has is on the current list with a * which basically means it is effective as of 09/01/10.

What will be my best recourse to help my wife open an account? wait? take this list to the bank? try a different banking branch?

[I'm Gone 60]

Thank you so much for the useful information and I apologize for not searching properly before asking a question.

I do have a followup question, the SSN that my wife has is on the current list with a * which basically means it is effective as of 09/01/10.

What will be my best recourse to help my wife open an account? wait? take this list to the bank? try a different banking branch?

You can either try another back or wait a while and see it the bank starts using the September list. Since her SSN Area Group has just starting being used this month, it seems that the bank hasn't upgraded it's verification information to be current.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Your problem is not your wife's SSN; your problem is with 2 people:

1) an incompetent bank employee.

2) yourself.

I have on many occasions, as late as 3 weeks ago, opened bank accounts for people who were visiting the US as tourists. I've done that with Citibank, BofA, and Wells Fargo. None of these people has a SSN, nor do they need one. All they needed to show is their passport as a form of official documentation.

Fact is, you can have bank accounts in most countries of the World, and in many cases you never even need to visit any of these countries, ever, in your lifetime. Want a bank account in Switzerland, Monaco, Lichtenstein, London? No problem. You want to invest $4,000,000 in a US company and transfer money from your account in Rhiad to one you decided to open in Beverly Hills?

Oh . . . no, Sir, we at Citibank can't accept your money here; in order to open an account you will first have to get a Green Card

Right. I'll have to stop now or my brain will start to implode.

So what's the difference between you and I?

If a bank employee gave me an answer like the one you have received, I would immediately walked into the bank manager's office. If he would have shown incompetence or unwillingness to do his job, I would have filed a formal complaint with corporate, but only after having visited another bank and opened an account there.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Just Bob