“Where can I get these checks?” Black KC artist cross-examines huge bank deposits


If you still don’t understand why your company needs diversity training, Nationally known Harold Smith Black Kansas City artist humiliated on Tuesday Kansas City Security BankHe has been a customer for about 40 years.

He drove to the bank’s drive-through window and deposited some checks. But instead of the polite “How are you today?”, This was the question the treasurer had: “Where did you get these checks?”

This wasn’t the first time this happened to him at his bank. Seven months ago, Smith tried to deposit three checks. These include checks signed by him and checks paid in large quantities from major television studios.

A security bank central avenue branch office tells Smith that the first check cannot be deposited without a signer. Then she asked where he received the TV check. The name of the studio was clearly printed on the check.

Initially, Smith refused to convince himself that he was racially profiled in his many years of banking, writing down “the situation of a teller who is in desperate need of customer service training.” rice field. He thought that if he talked to the manager, they would fix this and probably set the customer’s treatment straight to that teller.

Instead, Smith says he was told that the treasurer might ask about the source of the check, based on “feelings.” Maybe someone who looks like you shouldn’t deposit this much money?

Is banking between blacks a problem?

Of course, I called the bank for an explanation. Vice President David Mulvaney said Teller was actually trying to protect Smith and them from fraud.

“As you may know, check fraud is very common nowadays. Our frontline staff is the first line of defense to protect both our customers and our banks,” Malverny told Smith. In a letter to him, an email he planned to publish this behavior. “We are struggling to strike a balance between good customer service and risk mitigation.”

If that’s true, why didn’t anyone explain it to Smith first or second time? I need a better policy. Or, as Smith suggested, the script to use: “Sir, you want to make sure you’re safe from fraud, so you need to ask a few questions to protect you.”

Leaving it to the treasurer to choose when, who, and how to ask such personal and personal questions will allow employees to indulge in their prejudices. And it guarantees that what happened to Smith will happen again.

But it doesn’t involve Smith. A longtime security customer withdrew his money and took his business elsewhere.