When a customer changes their name (most often in the case of marriage), is it a requirement that they sign a new signature card? If we have their new signature on another document, such as their new ID, would that suffice for signature verification, or must the new signature be captured on the signature card?

We are not aware of any Illinois laws or regulations that would require you to update signature cards after a customer changes their name (for example, after a marriage, divorce, or adoption), nor do FinCEN’s Customer Identification Program (CIP) regulations require specific procedures for memorializing name changes (which of course you should verify as provided in your bank’s CIP policy). However, we recommend requiring your customers to sign new signature cards and other agreements signed with their old name as a best practice. While you likely will be able to enforce existing agreements after a customer’s name change, we believe requiring these customers to sign new signature cards will help your bank use the signature cards to identify and defend against potential forgery claims.

Note that loans affected by a customer’s name change may require further action. For example, if a loan is secured by a “blanket” financing statement (UCC-1), you may need to amend the financing statement within four months of the name change to ensure that the financing statement remains effective for property acquired after the borrower’s name change, as required under the Illinois Uniform Commercial Code.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

31 CFR 1020.220(a)(2) (“The CIP must include risk-based procedures for verifying the identity of each customer to the extent reasonable and practicable. The procedures must enable the bank to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of each customer. . . .”)

Illinois UCC, 810 ILCS 5/9-507(c) (“If the name that a filed financing statement provides for a debtor becomes insufficient as the name of the debtor under Section 9-503(a) so that the financing statement becomes seriously misleading under Section 9-506 . . . (2) the financing statement is not effective to perfect a security interest in collateral acquired by the debtor more than four months after the filed financing statement becomes seriously misleading, unless an amendment to the financing statement which renders the financing statement not seriously misleading is filed within four months after the filed financing statement becomes seriously misleading.”)