> having a SAR filed can be bad, because too many filed about you will likely cause banks to refuse to open accounts for you.

Aren't SARs private? I thought having too many filed against a person would cause a bank to terminate a banking relationship, but not prevent other banks from opening new accounts.

From what I understand, there are other reporting systems in the US like ChexSystems and EWS that do facilitate this form of information sharing.

Idk, maybe I heard wrong way back when. When I deposited a large amount of money, at another credit union, they knew who I was, but they asked for my driver license number (which I verbally told them) presumably for some report on their computer. Also when I withdrew the money from the first credit union, it seemed like they were filling out some ling form as well.