Banks won't have to ask about citizenship after all

New rules coming from the White House show a big shift in how banks will handle customer information. Instead of forcing banks to check citizenship status, the focus is now on helping undocumented immigrants access banking services. This change comes after banks warned that tracking citizenship would be complicated and expensive. The plan involves two new orders. One pushes the Treasury Secretary to find ways for immigrants without legal status to open accounts or get loans. The other wants banks and tech companies to work more closely with regulators. This second order also makes the Federal Reserve review which non-bank financial groups can use its payment systems.Existing rules already ask banks to verify basic details like Social Security numbers, but citizenship wasn’t required before. Now, banks won’t have to add that extra step, which could have slowed down account openings—especially online. The earlier idea of forcing banks to check citizenship raised concerns about legal trouble if they missed something. Many banks said it would be hard to track citizenship for all customers. Banks also argued that requiring this information could push them to limit services for everyone, not just immigrants. The new approach tries to balance access to banking with practical challenges. It avoids extra costs and confusion while still keeping financial systems secure.