Walmart's MoneyGram requires gv't ID -- but not Western Union [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

===

Declan,

Hi. If you find the following rant appropriate for Politechbot, feel free
to post it [without my last name or email address].

I went to make a routine, legitimate bill payment to a name-brand,
nationally-known institution of about $900.00 at a local Wal-Mart
today via the MoneyGram service, and found the clerk, and
the customer service manager, and the store assistant manager
insisting they weren't going to complete the transaction unless I
first showed them my driver's license.

I protested to the assistant store manager, "D. J." that the form
already had my name, address, and phone number on it, and why did
they really need my ID for a routine bill payment to a well-known
institution? But apparently that wasn't good enough for either him
or for Moneygram. I clearly told him that I thought my civil
liberties were being violated by such an apparently unreasonable
requirement. He mumbled something about "Patriot Act" and then
told me, "I could care less."

I then took my business 25 feet away to a Western Union agent
within that same Wal-Mart store, and made my payment that way.
The Western Union agent did not hassle me for ID, but then they
charged more for the service than MoneyGram would have.

I later found that page 11 of The MoneyGram Agent Guide
http://www.moneygram.com/forms/agentguide.pdf
details this "requirement".
[Page 
http://www.moneygram.com/servlet/DefaultApplyXSL?xslURL=/Display/temgweb.xsl&URL=/document/s8__MSB_Form.xml
also seemed relevant.]
But I still think this "requirement" is way above
and beyond any federal anti-money-laundering mandate I know of.

Tony
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