What to do when 24-Hour bank deposit box is closed?

[RealityCheck]

Once a year like "clockwork" the bank that we are supposed to deposit our donation batch to has their 24-hour (outside-the-building) deposit box locked up and is inaccessible on Sunday. What are we supposed to do with the donation batch when this happens?

The bank is Wells Fargo. There are 4 or 5 other Wells Fargo branches in the area. When the branch location we typically deposit donations with has their 24-hour deposit box made unavailable, we always visit the other local Wells Fargo locations hoping to find one with a working 24-hour deposit box. Much to our dismay, all of the other locations also have their 24-hour deposit box unavailable - on the same day!

We have a key to the Wells Fargo 24-hour deposit box but it does not resolve the problem - the key only allows us to open the "jaws" of the deposit box wider than normal (for example, when their is a BIG donation batch). The key has not successfully allowed us to make a deposit when the 24-hour deposit boxes appear to have been made intentionally inaccessible. Weird...

Does anyone know why Wells Fargo does this?

[russellhltn]

I'd call Local Unit Support and inform them of the situation. If they can't get to the bottom of this, they might want to change banks they do business with.

[jdlessley]

What are we supposed to do with the donation batch when this happens?

The procedure currently provided in Deposit Donations is "If a 24-hour bank depository is not available and the bank is closed on the Sabbath, the bishopric member and clerk should follow deposit instructions from the area controller." This instruction is not helpful at all when the situation is immediate and unplanned. There are no finance videos on RKATS yet so that is no help.

The instructions provided in the old, no longer accessible, processing donations video stated that the bishopric member could take the donations bag home and secure it in a locked place such as a safe. Then on the first business day, usually Monday, take the deposit bag in to the bank and get a deposit receipt. That receipt should be checked by both the bishopric member and the clerk processing the donations to ensure the amounts listed on the receipt agree with the amounts listed on the deposit report. Then both the bishopric member and the clerk should sign the deposit receipt and file it with the other donation documentation for that batch.

[aebrown]

There are no finance videos on RKATS yet so that is no help.

Oh yes there are -- there have been several finance videos on RKATS for at least a couple of months.

In this particular regard, the video at Weekly Donations (sign in required) says the following (on slide 35):

In areas where a 24-hour deposit box is not available and the bank is closed when the deposit would normally be made, the following alternative procedure must be followed.
A Melchizedek Priesthood holder, normally a bishopric member, is assigned to make the deposit at the bank during the next business day. He should make sure the bank stamps the deposit slip, showing that the deposit was made. On the following Sunday, before the donations for that day are processed, the bishopric member and a clerk compare the stamped deposit slip to the “Tithing and Offerings Batch Report” and the “Deposit Report” from the previous Sunday to make sure the correct amount was deposited. They should sign the deposit slip to show they verified that the amounts are equal.
The deposit slip is then filed with other donation documents for the previous week’s deposit.
With this procedure, the companionship principle is still observed because two priesthood holders verify from the deposit slip that the correct amount was deposited at the bank.

[jdlessley]

There are no finance videos on RKATS yet so that is no help.

Oh yes there are -- there have been several finance videos on RKATS for at least a couple of months.

It would be nice if a link was designated has having a video in the article. I must have gone through four donations links other than the Deposit Donations article looking to see if there are any videos. Weekly Donations was not one of them. I will have to submit feedback about that.