Don’t expect too much from the personal approach. I had a similar problem with Bank of America where they wouldn’t open a business account for me because the risk management department vetoed it. Visiting the local branch didn’t help: the local staff was friendly and tried to assist, but were equally stonewalled by the home office.

They refused to give me any clue how to address their concerns, so I just moved my accounts — all of them — to another bank. But that was mostly out of spite, not because I believe the new bank doesn’t have equally troublesome possibilities.

BTW, I have got to be about the least risky imaginable person to open an account for.