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A worker was horrified to discover their employer can access their bank account, after a payroll error revealed their boss knew their exact savings balance.
In a post to the No Stupid Questions subreddit, user u/2scared wrote that there had been an issue with their employer’s payroll system. Direct deposits were unable to go through, so their boss took a check straight to the bank and deposited it into the Reddit user’s account.
“The next day, [he] came in commenting about how much I had in my savings,” 2scared wrote. “He knew the exact amount. How is it possible for him to get that information?”
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Yuri Kruman, CEO at HR, Talent & Systems consulting firm, told Newsweek that there are two plausible explanations for how the poster’s boss knew the account balance.
“He could have represented himself as an authorized representative for the employee and somehow convinced the banker to share the balance info,” Kruman said.
In this scenario, the boss could have got the account information from 2scared’s payroll details. However, the savings account would have to be the same one that his monthly pay check is deposited into.
“Or the employer could have told the banker that the employee asked him to put it into an account with the lower balance of the two,” Kruman said. “Meaning the banker would have been duped into giving the balance in the savings account.”
Although the first scenario suggests the boss used underhanded tactics to access his employee’s account balances, both explanations mean the bank was at fault.
“Neither scenario is in any way ethical or regulatorily permissible from the bank’s end,” Kruman said.
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“This should be punishable internally at the risk of sanction from regulatory authorities,” added Kruman.
Reddit users had their own theories about how 2scared’s boss was allowed access to their banking information.
“Teller probably f***** up and gave him the receipt with your account balances,” wrote cyberhwk.
Veritas__a3quitas__ agreed, writing: “I worked at a bank. If you want a balance you have to verify ID. Pretty big deal honestly.”
“The bank teller should be fired or retrained,” posted Laughedindeathsface.
“I have worked in both banks and credit unions,” commented dee_stephens. “Both trained me that if someone other than who is on the account made a deposit, give a receipt but use a black marker and mark out the balance.”
“Call your bank and tell them what happened, and give the name of the teller,” wrote sadvertising101. “You deserve for them to make it right somehow, or at least for them to offer the peace of mind that your personal information is safe in their hands.”
Newsweek reached out to u/2scared for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.
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