Wells Fargo to Accept ID Cards Issued by Mexico

An emerging trend to give illegal immigrants greater access to financial services received a powerful endorsement Wednesday from Wells Fargo Bank, which said it will begin accepting identification cards issued by the Mexican government.

Although other banks have quietly begun accepting the cards as well, Wells Fargo--with more than 3,000 branches in 23 states--is the largest institution to adopt their use, and the first bank to publicly promote them.

Bank officials said they hope the move will help them tap a lucrative market of consumers who are now outside the mainstream, relying on costly check-cashing services and living in a cash economy.

“Now, immigrants can avoid the worry and risk of keeping their money in the house,” John Murillo, a Wells Fargo Bank vice president, said at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles at a news conference aimed at the Spanish-language media. “We welcome you to come to one of our branches, where our Spanish-speaking staff will help you and where we won’t question your legal status.”

Customers must still produce a second form of ID (such as a passport or credit card) to open accounts, and they must provide either a Social Security number or a federal taxpayer-identification number. If they have neither, however, they can open bank accounts by signing an Internal Revenue Service form for nonresident immigrants that puts their home address on file with the IRS.

Also Wednesday, police chiefs in Orange County unanimously approved plans to allow officers to accept the same ID cards, issued by the Mexican Consulate, as proof of identity for people detained for minor infractions.

Both actions reflect the growing acceptance of the cards.

U.S. Bancorp quietly began accepting the cards last week, and plans to publicize the program soon, a spokeswoman said. Union Bank of California also accepts the cards as identification, although unlike Wells it has not promoted the program.

And credit unions, which have stepped up efforts to lure immigrant customers with low-cost money transfer programs, have eased identification restrictions in recent years, and many say they accept the cards.

But Wells Fargo is the first bank to team with the Mexican Consulate to entice illegal immigrants to join the financial mainstream, said Martha I. Lara, Mexico’s consul general in Los Angeles.

Immigration officials did not express concern over the plan.

“Our priorities are to go after illegal immigrants involved in committing crime,” said Tony Lew, a spokesman for the INS’ Los Angeles district office. “If they are law-abiding citizens, we don’t have the resources to go looking for them.”

Lara said the program is part of Mexican President Vicente Fox’s plan to bolster the safety and living standards of Mexican nationals here, many of them undocumented.

Lara contacted the bank about six months ago after learning of a Wells pilot program in Austin, Texas.

That program was initiated by police concerned by the high number of cash-carrying immigrants being robbed and assaulted. Police there sought a bank that would accept the cards from Mexican nationals.

“For those who haven’t sought an account, this opens the possibility for all to begin a relationship with a bank and better manage their finances,” Lara said.

Wells officials said they were open to accepting similar cards issued by other governments, but so far only Mexico has an established ID card.

In accepting the cards, Wells joins other banks and credit unions across the country eager to tap the massive market of immigrants, particularly Latinos, who do not use banking services.

Demographers estimate 8 million to more than 12 million illegal immigrants are living in the U.S., many of them Mexicans.

Although bank policies vary, many financial institutions have required the Social Security numbers of customers seeking to open accounts.

That barrier--combined with a mistrust of financial institutions and a dearth of bank branches in neighborhoods where immigrants live--has forced many to operate in a cash economy.

For immigrants, that often means vulnerability to crime, a higher cost of borrowing, and lack of access to home mortgages and other basic services.

For banks, it means a thriving untapped market of potential customers who could form the base of business growth. Union Bank of California, for example, purchased a 40% stake in Nix Check Cashing last year to try to capture that market.

A bus shelter ad campaign that says in Spanish “Let us help you save what you don’t send home” is aimed at Mexican immigrants, with the assumption that many are here illegally, said Union Bank Vice Chairman Rick Hartnack.

“It’s clearly in the banking industry’s interest to make having a bank account as attractive as possible,” Hartnack said. “Everybody is coming to understand that a bank policy in Minnesota that says you’ve got to have a Social Security number to have an account is not going to fly in the immigrant-laden Southwest.”

Banks are not compelled to ask for Social Security numbers, but they must abide by IRS and federal Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Those are aimed at ensuring that people pay taxes on interest-bearing accounts and at detecting money launderers and potential terrorists.

For those who do not have Social Security numbers, the IRS accepts taxpayer-identification numbers, which it began issuing in 1996, said Bill Brunson, an IRS spokesman.

And if customers have neither, they can fill out a form stating they are foreigners seeking an account, bank officials said.

Wells Fargo officials said Wednesday that illegal immigrants should not fear the forms.

“Wells Fargo does not focus at all on the legal status of our customers. Rather we focus on the forms of ID,” California marketing manager Gari Helms said.

But illegal immigrants are likely to shy away from the forms.

“Our experience with nonresident aliens, primarily poor people from Latin and Asian countries, is their preference is to have an account with us but not to get involved with these government filings,” Hartnack said. “That scares them.”

The banking industry’s efforts to embrace the thriving illegal immigrant market underscore a recent trend to legitimize--and even legalize--that population.

This year, the state Senate and Assembly approved a measure that would allow undocumented immigrants who are applying for legal immigration status to obtain a driver’s license. The measure was not signed into law but drew strong backing from immigrant rights groups. The bill is expected to be introduced again next year.

Anti-immigrant groups blasted any efforts to serve the undocumented population.

“The need for better control over who comes into the country became evident to everybody on Sept. 11,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“All of these things facilitate these people coming into the country and blending into the scenery. If people are here breaking the law, it shouldn’t be the obligation of society to make it more convenient for them.”

Banking officials, however, said the immigration status of potential customers is not relevant. And a similar point was made by Orange County law enforcement officials, who have agreed to accept the cards.

“Some people seem to think that by doing this, we’re supporting illegal immigration. That’s not the case,” said Laguna Beach Police Chief Jim Spreine, president of the Orange County Chiefs of Police and Sheriff’s Assn. “The fact is, all the people we serve should be given equal protection under the law, and we believe this will help us provide that equal protection.”

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Times staff writer Monte Morin contributed to this report.