TL;DR: incompetent, uninformed staff who happen to be racist and xenophobic. Take your business elsewhere. The staff who work here practice discriminatory behavior and seem to think that it's okay to be ignorant. On 2/11/25, I visited this branch with my husband to open a new bank account. When my husband stepped out to withdraw some cash to deposit, Kate, the banker tasked with opening our joint account, asked if I were a US citizen, even though she had a copy of my driver's license and social security card in front of her. Despite my pronounced Southern Californian affectation and living no where else but the US my whole life, Kate automatically assumed that I was a foreigner because I wasn't white. I've held bank accounts all across the US for over 30 years and have never been asked that by a banker before. After I told her yes and hoped that it would be her last indiscretion, I was wrong. When my husband (who happens to be white and is an immigrant) came back, he gave Kate 2 forms of ID, his driver's license and green card. After seeing my husband's green card, Kate, went to her manager and asked if we needed to fill out an IRS w-8 BEN. An IRS w-8 BEN is a form for non-immigrants who happen to hold assets in the US and don't pay income taxes as they are not authorized to live in the US long-term. This form would take an additional 30% tax on what we both deposit into this bank account (as it's a joint account). This would be unnecessary and completely unfair as we are both high earners who are already taxed at a higher income bracket. I told Kate that this form wasn't necessary as my husband is a documented long term resident who has been employed by several US employers over the years and happens to be married to a US citizen. I even showed her the IRS website that said permanent residents and citizens should not fill out this form. Kate didn't listen and even said that not filling out the w-8 BEN could result in the revocation of our account. To add insult to injury, she even asked for my husband's last foreign address, even though he's lived in the US for over 3 decades. The next day my husband went to the branch on route 28 and told them what happened. They confirmed that Kate was wrong and apologized to him. However, we decided to close the account anyway, as we wouldn't want people like Kate and her manager benefitting from our business. I've reported this incident to NBT's customer service line, the NY AG, and plan to report this to the CFPB. Don't give these xenophobic, racists your time and money. read more