Grand Rapids State Bank

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/17) */
On June 8, 2015 Mr. [redacted] presented a check in the amount of approxiamently $74,000 payable to three parties. Of which only two of the parties where present for identification. The third party was physically in Indiana. It is not financial...

prudent and not our policy to transact checks in this manner without proper identification of each payee in person. Phone conversations of approval, emails or any other type of non-physical identification is not acceptable policy at Grand Rapids State Bank. Our approach is to protect the liability of the bank and our customers along with "other" persons that have rights to these funds. It was explained to Mr. [redacted] by two different bank employees, myself included, what our policy is and supported that with what the liability is to the bank and them as payee's of the check. It was clear that he thought differently. There was never any contact made with the third party listed on the check. I did however speak with a person that identified himself as an attorney but did not receive any confirmation of that. There was no documentation provide supporting the statement that the check was made payable over to Mr. [redacted] in the presence of a lawyer. No notarization of any signatures was provided to Grand Rapids State Bank. Our solution to the situation was to have the check re-issued individually to both parties and this was explained to Mr. [redacted]. In my dialogue with the person on the phone that identified himself as a lawyer this was discussed and he verbally agreed. It was evident that all parties could not logistically come together to satisfy the requirements of processing the check. The solution presented was our attempt to help Mr. [redacted] resolve the issue of payees so that Grand Rapids State Bank would be in a position both legally and prudently transact the check and protect the interests of all parties involved. It is our responsibility to represent and protect the rights of all parties involved which is inclusive of the Bank, our customers, and non-customers alike that have legal rights to funds transacted on their behalf.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/06/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I went to another bank and opened an account there. They were willing to run a security check and credit check on us. They felt comfortable with accepting our check. It went thru the insurance company and cleared just fine. The third party on the check has received his one third share in the presence of the same lawyer that witnessed him signing it. The insurance company was reluctant to split the check and we had already wrangled and waited on them long enough.While it is true that there is a lot of fraud in this day and age, Maybe you should rethink your customer service. Take precautions, but don't treat your customers as guilty until proven innocent. I feel that at minimum, an apology for our treatment is in order.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2015/06/22) */
Grand Rapids State Bank is not in a position to apologize for following policies and procedures we have in place to protect the interests of all parties involved. This is a legal responsibility that we do not take lightly. We are however sympathetic to his situation that was not created by Grand Rapids State Bank, but as is apparent got pulled into to resolve. There was no accusations of guilt from anyone involved with this transaction. We simply stated our policies in handling of these types of transactions and even offered options to help resolve the matter so that we could transact the check according to our Board approved policies and procedures. Being a customer of our bank does not relinquish our responsibilities of following our policies and procedures to protect the interests of ALL parties involved. We are glad for Mr. [redacted] that he found another institution that would settle his transactional need. He has since closed his personal accounts with Grand Rapids State Bank and we wish him well in his new found personal banking relationships.