WASHINGTON—To provide banks with greater flexibility in fulfilling compliance obligations, today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an order permitting banks to collect Tax Identification Number (TIN) information from a third party rather than from the bank’s customer. This order takes into account public comments received in response to an interagency request for information.
“We recognize that the way customers interact with banks and receive financial services has changed significantly since 2001, when the initial requirement was enacted into law under the USA PATRIOT Act,” said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. “This order reduces burden by providing banks with greater flexibility in determining how to fulfill their existing regulatory obligations without presenting a heightened risk of money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit finance activity.”
FinCEN issued this order in coordination with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration (collectively, “the Agencies”). The order permits a bank subject to the jurisdiction of the Agencies to use an alternative collection method to obtain TIN information from a third-party rather than from the customer, provided that the bank otherwise complies with the Customer Identification Program (CIP) Rule.
The CIP Rule requires written procedures that: (1) enable the bank to obtain TIN information prior to opening an account; (2) are based on the bank’s assessment of the relevant risks; and (3) are risk-based for the purpose of verifying the identity of each customer to the extent reasonable and practicable, enabling the bank to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of each customer. The use of this exemption by banks is optional, and they are not required to use an alternative collection method for TIN information.
In March 2024, FinCEN and the Agencies issued a request for information that sought public input on the potential risks and benefits, as well as safeguards that could be established, if banks were permitted to obtain part or all of a customer’s TIN information from a third-party source prior to opening an account rather than from the customer. FinCEN and the Agencies considered comments received—as well as the significant innovation in identity verification tools available to banks and other factors—in granting this exemption from one aspect of the CIP TIN collection requirements.
Order: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/CIP-TIN-Exemption-Order-final508.pdf
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