As a Glossary point: "Tax ID number" or "TIN" would be a generic term for the set that includes both Employer Identification Numbers and Social Security Numbers. EID, EIN, and EIN number would all refer to numbers given to non-persons. SSN, SS numbers are given to individuals. Both have the same number of digits, the number of hyphens is different.

Having been personally involved in openeing literally thousands of bank acocunts for businesses over the last 20 year. . . I can tell you that each bank has their own policy, and that each person working for the bank interprets that policy as they see fit. Feel free top quote your personal exceptions.

Banks have an obligation to associate all of their accounts with the persons that associated with it. The standardized way to make that association is by Tax ID number. If you open a separate account for the LLC, and use the EIN, you will most likely be required to provide your personal SSN as a signer on the account.

It is true that you have the right to refuse to give your social security number to anyone, just as the bank has the right to refuse service to anyone that is not willing to comply with their requirements. In some respects it is still a free country.

Please also realize that your SSN is no the only way to tie you to the bank account and the business, your signature is a pretty individualized unique verifier.

And your name, address and phone on the bank documents could be used to get a pretty good idea of who and where you are.

If you choose to do business as an LLC and chose to be disregarded by the IRS, you could easily do business under your personal SSN. As an aside,it is interesting that so many here seem to think that an LLC provides some amount of liability protection when the court precedence has been so clear that the LLC can be pierced for a multitude of reasons, including informality, under capitalization, acts of the principals, or simply by failing to adequately disclose the LLC's existance.

But that is another thread.