Leica has made me a criminal! Help!

[Ko.Fe.]

Usually, if country is run by criminals, everyone except them are criminals by default.

As for so called West... I had same situations. First in nineties with major UK bank refusing to open account even with guarantor.
And last year, major Belgium bank gave me ride for trying to deposit cash on arrival from Canada.

Everything is in driving distance in USA. It is build to be drivable coast to coast.
From Oregon (small population) to Tamarkin in Chicago. Or via cheap plane ticket.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

US Bank. I checked with my wife and she says we've been a customer with them for just under 30 years.

If I'd been treated like this after being a patron of the bank for that long I'd be raising holy he!! with the manager.
It's funny, none of our banks have even lasted that long before being bought out by other banks.
Why not use your credit union credit card to make the purchase of the camera when/if you find one and use the cash to pay off the credit card?
In the mean time, go find another bank that will treat you with the respect a 30 year customer deserves.

 

[chuckroast]

If I'd been treated like this after being a patron of the bank for that long I'd be raising holy he!! with the manager.
It's funny, none of our banks have even lasted that long before being bought out by other banks.
Why not use your credit union credit card to make the purchase of the camera when/if you find one and use the cash to pay off the credit card?
In the mean time, go find another bank that will treat you with the respect a 30 year customer deserves.

I'm not sure this is entirely the fault of the banks.

The Department Of Homemade Security and other branches of the US regulatory state have infected banking with their usual the-horse-has-left-the-barn responses to terrorist attack and drug peddlers. DOJ loves these kinds of rules because it gives them unilateral power over the people. Many of these things got kicked off in the War On Drugs era and were amplified and increased over time by both political parties.

Banks are thus in the tough position of having to serve their legitimate customers while proving they are doing everything legally required to identify illegal money transactions. So blaming them for this is probably not entirely fair.