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Posted on 04/16/2026 6:36:43 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
Banks in the U.S. may not like the idea of being forced to collect citizenship data on customers, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says they better be prepared for the task.
“If Treasury and the banking regulators say it’s their job, it’s their job,” Bessent told CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the Invest in America Forum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
An executive order that has been discussed for months took a step closer to reality earlier this week when Bessent said in an interview with Semafor that the EO is “in process.”
The planned EO is one more plank in President Donald Trump’s broader effort to tie his immigration policy to collection of information in the United States, including for voting and Census efforts.
In the U.S., citizenship documents are not necessary in order to open a bank account. Banks are required to verify identity.
The U.S., like many countries, uses “Know Your Customer” rules for bank accounts to prevent money laundering and other forms of financial crime, verifying client identities, assessing risks, and monitoring transactions to prevent fraud. Laws including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the USA PATRIOT Act also underpin efforts to verify customers. Banks collect Social Security numbers, or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), names, dates of birth, and addresses, among other documents.
But that doesn’t satisfy Bessent. “Why can unknown foreign nationals come and open a bank account?” he said at the CNBC event. “Our bank executives job is to know your customer. How do you know your customer if you don’t know if they have legal or illegal status, whether they are a U.S. citizen or green card holder?”
Overseas, citizenship information is more often required for banking access, but there is no universal mandate. Bessent told Eisen, “Every other country does it. Every other country. ... There should be stricter rules.”
Republicans have voiced support for the idea.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill in March to require FDIC or NCUA-insured banks and credit unions to verify that anyone opening an account is a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or in the country on a valid visa, with an additional verification check on legal status.
Bessent has previously said that Real IDs would not be considered legal documents under this new executive order.
Last October, Cotton wrote to the Treasury “to urge the Department of the Treasury to undertake review of current rules that allow illegal aliens to obtain financial services and access to U.S. banking system.”
In addition to legal questions, some policy experts and banks have warned about damage to the economy if people are denied access to the banking system and deposit accounts, as well as potentially big increases in administrative costs for banks.
Allowing non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, to legally open bank accounts using documentation, such as an ITIN, means they can pay taxes and avoid being part of the “unbanked” existing in a purely cash economy. Being unbanked is often associated with less ability to move up the social ladder and contribute to economic growth.
For banks, center-right think tank American Action Forum estimated a citizenship verification requirement could add anywhere from 30 million to 70 million paperwork hours and $2.6–$5.6 billion in costs. “Verifying new accounts is the tip of the iceberg; the lack of details makes it difficult to estimate the costs of verifying existing accountholders,” it wrote in a March analysis.
Illegal immigrants “don’t have a right to be in the banking system,” Bessent told CNBC.
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Other countries require citizenship documents to open a bank account, so why should the USA be different????
If we’d just deport them all, we wouldn’t have to tighten the squeeze on citizens.
Can we tie this to the idea that non-citizens are under the jurisdiction of a foreign nation and that this may have an impact on banking matters? Cite the 14th Amendment which may be relevant to such matters.
The illegals have been ensconced in the system for so long, it's almost a necessity, at least for a few years.
Kind of like chemo affecting the whole body to kill the cancer.
“””If we’d just deport them all, we wouldn’t have to tighten the squeeze on citizens.”””
It would be great if deportation was easy to do.
I like the idea of putting the squeeze on non-citizens who deposit their welfare checks at a bank.
Furthermore, there is no law against foreigners having accounts in US banks (regardless of where they live).
So what exactly has changed, if anything?
Who is a citizen?
Somebody whose foreign pregnant mommy made America a vacation spot when they popped out?
A great indicator of the immanency of NESARA/GESARA. One will need to make an appointment and go to a local bank OF YOUR NATIONALITY, for redemption and conversion of your wealth.
I don’t like this. I get why he is doing this but the more data the government forces banks to collect on citizens, the more abuse will happen when the next Dem administration takes over. The Dems already are itching to get back into the debanking business. This makes it easier. Bessent should be building walls between the government and banks.
“”””Allowing non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, to legally open bank accounts using documentation, such as an ITIN, means they can pay taxes and avoid being part of the “unbanked” existing in a purely cash economy. “”””
Allowing non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, to legally REGISTER TO VOTE using documentation, such as a DRIVER’S LICENSE, means they can VOTE and avoid being part of the “UNINVOLVED” in politics.
When I worked at a bank we would run into this all the time. We would require a Social Security number. If the person wasn’t a citizen, they did not have one—and there were procedures to follow in those cases. Most often, this happened when foreign students came to one of the dozen universities in our area.
Did we verify citizenship on people who provided social security numbers? Nope. But it would not have been a big deal if we did. It certainly would have put a damper on our “on line” account opening. But in the early 2000s this wasn’t a huge deal.
And, how about putting high fees on ANY foreign transfer made from (USA based) individual to (a foreign) individual.
How much of our tax dollars are being Western Union’d to Mexico and beyond?
I thought I’d read, previously, that some form of this was going to happen. Maybe I dreamed it.
One bank...I had to submit a thumb print.
Banks insist on a Taxpayer Identification Number.
The IRS should be able to figure out which TINs belong to citizens.
I was at local Walmart recently, and noticed there is now a 1% fee on Western Union (or whatever service it is). Wonder it said as of Jan 1, 2026. So THAT was recent. Needs to be more...imho.
Not disagreeing with banks knowing their customers, but your argument is the wrong one. The US is different from many countries in many ways, take 1st and 2nd Amendments as prominent examples.
The argument against real ID has been fourth amendment infringement, but the constitutional rights apply to citizens, not foreigners. So denoting citizenship on a license is not infringing on citizens rights. Its calling out those who do not have those same rights. The people (citizens) of this country should have mechanisms that prevent unlawful use of our own systems (i.e. banking) against us.
1st gay VP? Rubio/Bessent?
What would Rand say?
100% minimum
And no suit cases of cash at the air port either
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