Do you need a birth certificate or state ID to open a checking account?

Answer 1

After 9/11, the Bank Secrecy Act was passed that required that all banks that are federally insured to have a CIP (Customer Identification Program). With BSA, there are specific guidlines for IDs to open an account. 1. You must have a social security number. Most banks require that you bring your card so they can photocopy it. 2. Your PRIMARY ID must be government issued, have a serial number, expiration date, your name, AND YOUR PHOTO. The only exception will be some US Military IDs because most DO NOT have an expiration date. But if there is no expiration date, there must be an issue date. Primary IDs include: Driver Licences, State IDs, Passports, Matricula Consular (Although in Spanish, they are US issued), Military IDs 3. Most if not all banks require SECONDARY IDs: Like the primary IDs, you need a serial number, name and expiration date on it, but a photo is NOT required. It is easier to get a primary ID than it is to get a secondary ID. The rule of thumb is, if you don't need a primary ID to get it, it's probably not secondary. Secondary IDs include: current school IDs and credit cards. So, to answer your question, yes you do need your State ID, but your birth certificate would not be sufficient.