[mrsteveman1]

Same here, and I think it's a better way to handle it.

If the person opening the account is physically standing in the bank lobby, showing ID is strong evidence they are who they say they are.

But accepting a scanned copy of an ID online is in many ways more risky than alternative verification methods, it only tells you that the person had access to a picture of an ID. It's assumed that would be difficult if they weren't who they say they are, but that's not a reasonable assumption and banks clearly know that.

I wouldn't be surprised if identity thieves have access to real scans of IDs at this point. A lot of online services have been asking people to scan and upload them for things like "verifying" your Twitter or Facebook account, so people may not be as cautious about doing that as they should be.

[mikeash]

It has to be trivial to photoshop an ID scan, too. None of the fancy anti-forgery measures they have would help.