What are you talking about? Anytime you go and do anything with opening a Bank account you're asked to show you SS Card. Anytime you go and get a new driver's license you're asked for proof of residency, SS Card and another form of ID. Anytime you get a new job, what do they want? A copy of your SS card. How is this not used for an ID? Typically someone asks for ID you give them a photo ID, but your SS card is used as a form of ID.
What are you talking about? I've never once been asked to present even a copy of my Social Security card for any reason, not at a bank, not when getting a job, not when renting an apartment, not when getting a driver's license, not ever. What I have been asked to provide to banks and employers is the SS number. That's what people use for identity theft, or so I understand. My state used to use SSNs for the driver's license number too, but stopped years ago because of fears of identity theft. You lose your wallet, somebody gets your SSN just like that. I also thought that banks were gearing away from using the it as proof of ID, asking for your birthday or some other safety question when you want to deal with them. You're not even supposed to carry the card around with you anymore, I think. The darn thing's so fragile anyway. Mine's all ripped and smudged to hell. And the Animal is right, the SSN was never intended for general proof of ID, only to access your Social Security benefits. Later on other institutions started accepting it 'cause it was convenient I guess.
Hmm, Ceit, I suppose that's your personal experience, but I got two summer jobs this past year, and both of them wanted a copy of my social security card.
but that is completely different... you have to give your social security number to an employer - that is how they report and pay your taxes.
Yes, the number. But Ktot is saying she had to provide a copy of the card itself, which I have never had to do, not even to employers. She also says "last year" and I haven't gotten a new job in the US in the past 5 years, so maybe it's becoming more common for employers to ask for a copy of the card and not just the number? Even if it is, that still doesn't mean you should use your SSN as ID an any other situation, e.g. at a bank, as in the OP.
where I work, and I have been here 8 years now, I had to provide an actual SS card for number verification (caused me a bit of a problem because I had long since lost my original SS card and had to apply for a duplicate) - but then, we are a government agency and I had to have security clearance at a federal level...
There's a lot of talk in politics about fining companies who hire illegals and such so it is becoming much common to require the proof of # by presenting the card.
Well maybe it's different in your state. In my state we have to worry about Mexicans coming over the border and working illegally under another person's ssn. Hence the reason they want to copy your ss card. I bank at Bank of America, they took DL, SS Card, my MasterCard, school ID, before opening an acct. My job copied my SS card, prior to employment.
