Bank customers asked to remove hats, hoods, glasses

Some banks want their tellers — and surveillance cameras — to have a better view of customers.

National City customers are being asked to remove their hats, hoods and sunglasses before entering bank branches as part of a nationwide trend to prevent bank robberies.

Mahoning Valley branches adopted the policy this summer and posted signs outside the branches, said Kelly Wagner-Amen, a company spokeswoman.

Getting a good look at customers helps bank tellers to be more familiar with them, which improves customer service but also enhances safety and reduces fraud, she said.

Wagner-Amen didn’t want to comment on safety procedures, but the policy started in other parts of the country so surveillance cameras could capture better images of lawbreakers. Warnings posted outside branches are designed to ward off criminals or help police in the investigations of robberies as well as fraud and forgery cases.

The Massachusetts Bankers Association told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this year that the no-hats policy originated in that state in 2002 on the recommendation of a task force of bankers, police officials and security experts.

Bank associations in Missouri and Florida also have suggested the policy to members, although it remains optional.

Robert Palmer, president and chief executive of the Community Bankers Association of Ohio, said he isn’t aware of any community banks in the Youngstown area that have adopted the policy. His organization represents banks that have less than $10 billion in assets.

He said few community banks have instituted the policy because they haven’t seen the levels of bank robberies that larger banks have experienced.

Bank robberies are more prevalent in larger, urban areas, he said. Also, small town banks don’t feel the need to ban hats because most customers still would be recognized by tellers, he said.

Amber Wallace, vice president of marketing at Farmers National Bank in Canfield, said executives are aware of the trend but have no plans for banning hats.

“We don’t feel the need to act swiftly,” she said.

Officials will watch what happens in other areas and continue to monitor the safety of their employees, she said.

Tiffany Bell, a spokeswoman for First National Bank of Pennsylvania in Hermitage, Pa., said that bank also has not adopted the policy.

Sometimes, it is local police that ask for the no hats policy.

Earlier this year, police in the Columbus suburb of Westerville asked banks and credit unions to post signs directing customers to remove hats, hoods and sunglasses. Police said the initiative encouraged banks to participate because they could tell upset customers that it was a recommendation from law enforcement.

Wagner-Amen from National City said branch employees are trained to respect requests from customers who wear head coverings for religious reasons.

shilling@vindy.com