Imagine your wife is stationed in Iraq, defending our freedom and so forth. You are holding down the home fort, complete with a JAG-supplied power of attorney (POA) to handle financial transactions. You go in to deposit her paycheck, POA in hand. But the bank’s regulations require not just any old POA supplied by, say, the Judge Advocate General’s office… you have to have their in-house POA. And this is what happens:
Me: So how do I go about getting these checks deposited?
Bank Mgr: She will need to come-in and complete our POA.
Me: She’s in Iraq, that’s why I have this POA.
Bank Mgr: I understand that. That’s why she needs to have a POA.
Me: So this POA means nothing?
Pop quiz, hotshot: What do you do? What DO you do? The answer will have you laughing and shaking your head.
(From SIMU)
I’m currently a Bank of America customer and when they “lost” the personal information of several hundred thousand customers to hackers, I thought it was time to switch banks. Well, this story clinches the deal and when I close my account in person, I’m going to hand a copy of this exchange to the bank manager. I suggest others do the same.