Banking Troubles
To the editor:
I am writing out of a desire to understand why, residents whose longtime local bank accounts were transferred to a major national bank, are not being offered, or even told about a long-established tool designed exactly for situations like this. The Automated Enrollment (ENR), a non-monetary transaction within the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. has been available to banks since the mid-1990s. It allows a bank to electronically notify the Social Security Administration — and other direct deposit payers — of a customer’s new routing and account numbers in a single, secure step. According to the Social Security Administration’s own website, banks can send updated direct deposit information directly to SSA through the ENR process “no call or office visit required”, no SSA Online Account setup. SSAparticipates in the program and processes these entries from participating banks. It is presented as a convenient, preferred option for customers. Yet this national bank is “forcing” (call it what you will) every affected customer to do the heavy lifting themselves. We must now individually contact Social Security, our former employers, pension administrators, and any other entities that deposit money into our accounts. For seniors and others on fixed incomes who rely on multiple automatic deposits, this creates unnecessary stress. Why would a large national bank — with sophisticated systems and resources — choose not to use a free, standardized ACH feature that has existed for nearly three decades? Why shift the burden onto hundreds of customers instead of automating the notification process for their new account holders? Technology exists according to secure.ssa. gov, umacha.gov, and federalreserve. gov to make this transition smooth and customerfriendly.
Banks sometimes cite liability concerns as a reason for not offering ENR, noting that they could be held responsible if incorrect information is submitted and payments are misdirected. While these risks are real, they are manageable with proper internal verification processes. In contrast, forcing seniors in their 70s and 80s — along with their often equally elderly spouses, adult children, or well-meaning friends — to manually contact every direct deposit source creates far greater risks. These include transcription errors when reading routing and account numbers over the phone or from small print, significant payment delays, missed deadlines, emotional stress, and potential vulnerability to fraud when sharing sensitive banking details with multiple organizations. An automated, bank-initiated process like ENR is objectively safer and more reliable than scattered manual updates performed by non-experts under pressure.
Many banks and credit unions already use ENR successfully. It is disappointing that a large national bank appears unwilling to do the same. I hope regulators and banking industry leaders will encourage broader adoption of this simple, effective tool so that future bank transitions don’t punish the very customers they are supposed to serve.
We’ll all get through this according to the procedure directed by the bank; hopefully it will be easier for all who follow.