Compliance Alliance Question of the Week

Question:
What are the risks/concerns to the Bank if we allow a customer to view multiple accounts under the same log in in our Online Banking? The customer would have “View Only” access to these accounts. The accounts are a mix of Business accounts (LLCs, Partnerships, Sole Proprietorships, etc.) and personal accounts. Would this be a risk based decision, or is there regulations against it?
 
Answer:
This is a risk-based decision. It is generally not considered best practice, except for sole proprietorships. Some banks do allow "view only" so that the customers can at least see everything in one place but do not allow the customer to transfer funds. Allowing transferring of funds would run the risk of commingling funds, possible tax fraud, etc. When there are multiple owners, it could cause issues if one owner is transferring money out to their personal account. Although that is ultimately the responsibility of the owners and not the bank, the bank may still be involved if a dispute were to come up.