Rabobank to close foreign residents' accounts
Rabobank has confirmed that it will be closing the consumer accounts of customers who are not US citizens or who do not reside primarily in the US as of November 20, since ﻿the cost of managing business and increased compliance risk for these accounts has risen too high.

Rosalie Murphy

The Desert Sun

Starting Nov. 20, Rabobank N.A. — with offices in Coachella, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Thousand Palms — will close the consumer accounts of customers who are not U.S. citizens or who do not reside primarily in the U.S.

Electronic banking and debit card access for affected customers will be discontinued on Oct. 21, according to a letter sent to Rabobank customers abroad and corroborated by senior vice president Gregory Jones. Jones said the bank will send another notification letter to customers in late October, warning them that accounts will close out Nov. 20.

Shortly thereafter, the Roseville-based bank plans to send customers closing letters and cashier’s checks containing any remaining funds.

Customers can request to close their accounts early without penalty.

According to Jones, “the costs of managing business and compliance risk for this type of account have become extraordinarily high.”

Consumer accounts, or personal accounts, for foreign customers require Rabobank to do additional due dilligence, Jones explained. The monitoring they require also costs the company money.

This change does not apply to customers who have social security numbers or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, customers who are permanent legal U.S. residents and customers who are W-9 certified, Jones said. Also exempted are commercial loan customers and foreign business entity customers.

Jones added that Rabobank will honor certificates of deposit until they mature.

Rosalie Murphy covers real estate and business at The Desert Sun. Reach her at rosalie.murphy@desertsun.com or on Twitter @rozmurph.