Was racism or due diligence to blame for trouble at bank?

Re ‘I was humiliated,’ Paradkar, Feb. 7

I don’t doubt any aspect of Dana Ramadan’s version of events, except for her contention that it was the result of racial prejudice.

Banks are under a lot of pressure to prevent all kinds of fraud, as well as money-laundering and terrorist financing. Perhaps it was their hypervigilance that led to this surprising treatment of one of their customers. And maybe if staffing wasn’t cut to the bone, employees might even recognize their clients.

Anita Dermer, Toronto

The woman who felt humiliated when she went to withdraw thousands of dollars is disregarding a very important service the bank provides: protecting her account. The bank did not want someone faking her identity and walking out with thousands of her dollars. She was not known to the bank so it was being very cautious. What is wrong with that?

Banks deal with thousands of withdrawals per day and some of those turn out to be theft. Dana Ramadan should have realized that the bank was looking out for her interests. For her to use the fact she is not Caucasian as the reason for the bank to not take her word and request further identification is missing the point. Identity theft happens and she should be aware of that.

David Gladstone, Toronto

I use a different bank, but when I ask for any withdrawals over $4,000, they don’t oblige. They have also asked me for ID, which I don’t find humiliating. There is a reason. The banks want to be safe, not sorry. My bank is very security conscious and I don’t blame them.

All I know is this: To get respect, we also need to show respect, no matter what our ethnicity or and where we were born.

Shobha Kaicker, Mississauga