imported post
I wouldn't have too much faith in PNC. I ran across this article today:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09093/960257-85.stm
In name of safety, PNC starts dress code for customer
Friday, April 03, 2009
By Patricia Sabatini, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If you bank at PNC, you may want to pay attention to what you wear.
Pittsburgh's and the state's largest bank recently began asking customers to take off their hats, sunglasses and other items that might conceal their identity while inside its branches.
"The safety of our employees and our customers is our foremost concern. We request that you remove any hats, caps, sunglasses or hoods while inside this financial institution," read signs posted within the last six months at the entry doors of PNC Financial Services Group's roughly 1,100 branches nationwide.
The so-called no-hats policy is a growing trend among banks and credit unions. The idea is to aid law enforcement in robbery, fraud and forgery investigations by helping them get a good look at suspects with surveillance cameras. The tactic also is believed to prevent robberies.
"Hopefully, [thieves] see that sign and will say they should go someplace else," said Margot Mohsberg, spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association.
Simply approaching potential robbers and asking them to remove a cap or sunglasses also may be enough to make them think twice about plans and derail them, proponents say.
The no-hats concept is believed to have started in Massachusetts in 2002 on the recommendation of a task force of bankers, law enforcement and security experts formed to generate ideas for combating bank robberies, said Bruce Spitzer, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bankers Association.
Since then, the association has asked all of its members to adopt a no-hats policy. Currently, 80 percent of bank branches in the state post the no-hats signs, Mr. Spitzer said.
"We knew that implementing this would not solve all bank robberies," he said. "But it might prevent some, and in some cases law enforcement would get better pictures if a robbery took place."
"It's hard to quantify the effect" of the program, Mr. Spitzer said, "but law enforcement loves it."
The policy is not without controversy. A few weeks ago, a Muslim woman complained to the Council on American-Islamic relations after she was asked to leave a line at a credit union in southern Maryland and be served in the back room because her head scarf violated the institution's no-hats rule, according to the Washington Post. A spokesman for the group did not return a phone call last week seeking comment.
PNC spokesman Fred Solomon said the bank is sensitive to special situations. "Our tellers receive training in what is and what is not religious garb, and we do not ask that it be removed," he said.
The policy potentially could cause problems for other individuals, such as blind customers who wear sunglasses or people undergoing cancer treatment who cover their heads when they lose their hair. "We are not inflexible," he said.
Members 1st Federal Credit Union in Harrisburg adopted a similar no-hats policy at that organization's 35 branches about six months ago on the advice of its security department, spokesman George Nahodil said.
"We wanted to be protective of our employees and let members know that if you come in ... we want to be able to identify you," he said, adding that no customers have complained.
While the initiative at Members 1st and PNC was voluntary, law enforcement officials in Washington state have lobbied legislators there to make it illegal for financial institutions to do business with customers who wear hats or sunglasses inside a branch.
Supporters say one reason for the push is that customers often don't comply with the policy, and employees don't enforce it.
Locally, neither Citizens Bank nor Dollar Bank, the region's second- and third-largest retail banks, have adopted no-hats policies.
National City branches, which PNC acquired on Dec. 31, will adopt the program as offices are converted to PNC's computer systems over the next two years, Mr. Solomon said.
The Pennsylvania Bankers Association does not have a formal position on the issue. Spokeswoman Jill Helsel said she heard about no-hats policies for the first time last week when two reporters asked about them.
