The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB)—also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999—repealed laws that prevented the merger of banks, brokerage companies and insurance companies. Increasing the risk that financial institutions would have access to more personal information, it also added privacy protections that required all financial institutions to provide privacy notices to their customers and put measures in place to safeguard customers’ personal information.
Federal law requires banks and other financial institutions to put Customer Identification Programs in place to identify and verify the identity of their customers to prevent money laundering and the funding of terrorism.
While the bank has some flexibility in what they request from you, the minimum pieces of information that they’re required to gather for opening a new account are
A National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) report contains customer data reported by NCTUE member utility service providers. It’s a good idea to get one if you’re the victim of identity theft or worried that someone might’ve opened a phone, cable or other utility account in your name.
It is a good idea to get a MIB report if you’re applying for private life, long-term care or disability insurance. MIB reports contain medical and prescription drug history information and may affect the the price you pay for insurance (or even your ability to get it).
CLUE reports contain homeowner and automobile insurance claims history, and can affect the the price you pay for insurance (or even your ability to get it). It’s good to get one if you
A ChexSystems report contains information on banking/check writing history, so it’s a good idea to get one if you’ve had problems with your checking/savings accounts or are a victim of identity theft and someone else has written/cashed checks on your account.
If your credit card number is stolen (not the actual card), you aren’t liable for the unauthorized charges. Just dispute the charges with your credit card company. You can do this in a number of ways
No, only information about property loss claims made against homeowner or automobile policies are included in these reports. However, these aren’t the only tools insurers use. Your credit history can still play an important role in an insurance company’s decision to insure you and determine your cost.
You can complain about a credit card company’s privacy practices by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payment services (PayPal, Venmo) enable you to easily send, receive or request payments to or from others. Originally intended for small payments between people who know each other (splitting a restaurant bill, sending gifts, paying a babysitter), P2P payments have expanded to new contexts—bringing added risk. However, there are a number of things you can do to reduce that risk.