On February 7, 2025, FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill wrote to FinCEN Ddirecto Andrea Gacki expressing his support for updating the Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements to better align with modern financial services practices. Hill thanked FinCEN and the Department of the Treasury for their collaborative efforts on the issue.
Hill highlighted that many nonbank FinTechs utilize processes in which customers provide the last four digits of their tax identification number (TIN) and authorize access to the complete TIN from trusted third-party sources like credit bureaus. Some banks have sought the ability to onboard customers using this method, but there is a belief that current CIP rules may not allow it. He supported ongoing discussions to revise the CIP rule to ease customer onboarding processes for banks and FinTechs. He emphasized that both the USA PATRIOT Act and its regulations enable the Treasury Department and federal financial regulators to exempt certain institutions or account types from existing requirements.
In addition, Hill argued that aligning regulatory practices with contemporary onboarding processes is necessary and advocated for extending the onboarding approach currently permitted for credit card customers to a broader application.
The Hill’s letter to Gacki can be found here.