ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996                TAG: 9608230045
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: GRANTS PASS, ORE.
SOURCE: JEFF BARNARD ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANKS THUMBS UP ON ID PLAN

MORE AND MORE BANKS are starting to fingerprint check-cashers, and many of those banks say check fraud is down.

Can an ink pad selling for $2.75 help stop millions of dollars in bogus check losses for banks and other financial institutions?

Banking groups in 16 states think so - and they're urging members to put noncustomers' thumb prints on the backs of checks so that if one turns out to be bogus, police have a leg up on catching the crook.

With 63 billion checks written each year, fraud is big money. The American Bankers Association found commercial banks lost $815 million to check fraud in 1993, while bank robbers took just $65 million, said spokesman John Hall.

Around the country, more and more banks are starting to fingerprint check-cashers; of those who have implemented a program, many have seen fewer fraud cases.

Some larger Virginia banks have mixed reactions about the idea.

Melba Spencer, spokeswoman for NationsBank, said the system has been discussed and "will not be used by NationsBank."

Douglas Waters, Roanoke regional executive officer for NationsBank, said thumb printing was tried in the 1980s and was withdrawn after a test. He said it offended too many people.

David Scanzoni, spokesman for First Union National Bank, said the idea is being tested on noncustomers in Miami and at some of that bank's locations in South Carolina. If the system reduces fraud, he said, it will be extended elsewhere.

Scanzoni emphasized that First Union customers would not have their prints taken.

Crestar Bank is "looking at it," but no action has been taken, said spokeswoman Cheryl Jenkins. Signet Bank has no plans to enact such a system.

At Central Fidelity Bank, spokeswoman Susan Lawrence Mistr said she could not find anyone who had heard of the idea.

The Virginia Bankers Association is studying the situation and may take a position on it. The chairman of the study committee, Mitch Webber, security director at Signet Bank, could not be reached.

The banks don't keep fingerprints on file. The print goes on the back of the check and stays there unless the check turns out to be phony. Then police can use it to positively identify the person who cashed it.

The Texas Bankers Association is leading the way in fingerprinting. Three months after thumb prints became a requirement, seven regional banks showed an average 59 percent reduction in check fraud losses, said association spokesman Lenelle Freeman.

Others states considering fingerprinting include Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

While no one yet has been convicted as a result of the prints, many industry watchers believe that the deterrence alone can be a powerful tool.

``Crooks will tell you there are two things you want to avoid - going to places to write bad paper that take your picture, and most of all they don't want to cash a check at a place that takes a print,'' said Beaverton, Ore., police detective Chuck Warren.

But others say smart criminals still will find ways around the system.

``It is certainly not going to stop somebody who has any common sense of the fingerprinting system or who has never been fingerprinted,'' said security consultant Frank Abagnale of Tulsa, Okla., who claims to have written $2.5 million in bogus checks before spending 12 years in federal prison.

And some bank customers don't like it.

Judy Draper was shocked when her local bank, the Bank of Southern Oregon in Medford, began requiring thumb prints in May.

Draper doesn't like checking accounts. She prefers to cash her paycheck and pay her bills with money orders.

``The clerk knew me by name,'' said Draper. ``They know my boss.''

Still, many banks are happy with the results and see no reason not to thumb print if it will help curb fraud at its branch offices.

``If it cuts fraud and it cuts losses, that's pretty much what we all want,'' said Bank of Southern Oregon Vice President Rick Larson.

Staff writer Mag Poff contributed to this story.

LENGTH: Medium:   83 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Banking associations in 16 states are urging members
          to put noncustomers' thumb prints on checks, as shown in this photo 
          illustration.