Chase Bank is not my primary bank; have no checking or savings relationship with them, although…read moremany of my branded credit cards are issued by Chase.
In the last few years, I had the need to deposit funds into my godson's [New York based] Chase Bank checking account when he needed to urgently buy a ticket for some unbelievable reason, like it was his girlfriend's birthday, she was expecting him, and he didn't have any money, even though he was working, cause he bought her an expensive piece of jewelry, blah blah blah. The kid (well, I think he is 27 now) is not a bad kid, just tends to lean toward incredulity, and he knows I am a soft touch, so he hits me up for a "loan", which often is only partly repaid (I guess he thinks its like I am a Government sponsored program with write-offs?!)
Well, why this review? Well, believe it or not, if you do not have a checking or savings account with Chase, you cannot simply walk into a branch, with either a check (even a cashier's) or especially CASH, and the correct account number of the person to whom you want these funds credited to, and have them deposited. No, you cannot. Believe me, they will not do it. WHY? Well, apparently there is a lot of money laundering in South Florida, and these money laundering dudes [and chicks?], channel CASH into other people's accounts, as a way of laundering the money, and then it gets further distributed.
Long story short, I found, through my well-reasoned Washington DC based training of 20 years, that I was able to work with a personal banker at this branch who allowed me to use one of my Chase branded credit cards as the Chase bank required affiliation, accept my cash, which was used to purchase a money order, and that was then accepted as a deposit to my godson, who wanted to see his girlfriend to give her that birthday present, and just had to fly out THAT night to accomplish all of this, or his life would end. I kept saying to the personal banker, "do I LOOK like a money launderer? And this is only a $300 deposit. If I were laundering money, wouldn't I launder $3,000? $30,000? After awhile, I remembered that line from Shakespeare about women who protest too much, so I cooled it, and allowed him to go through his own rationale and reasoning process.
I'm not mentioning who the banker was, and this occurred more than a year ago, and this review was on my list of reviews to do, and Yelp Elite Rob said I was slacking with my reviews, and thus, it is posted here. Now. To recognize GOOD REASONABLE SERVICE!
By the way, this is a special branch, like for high wealth clients, and services a lot of clients who live at the 200 East Palmetto Park Road condo, and surrounding areas. It is a JP Morgan Wealth Management Branch, and has very few windows, and lots of desks to sit and talk to staff. It's a cool branch, in one of those faux Addison Mizner designed buildings which Marqus R. likes to criticize whenever he sets foot in Boca. Its actually a handsome building, but that doesn't qualify for a star in this review.
Update: The godson broke up with that girlfriend, never paid me back the money I loaned him, and knows I am pissed at him for all the times I jumped through hoops to help him out of a bind, and he shows his gratitude by??
