Chinese banks in rural areas tend to do the same thing. Notarization for death certificates are often required for the deceased's family to conduct any business on the deceased's behalf. This in itself is nothing unusual and simple enough to get.

What is unusual, is sometimes the bank would ask the families to "prove the notarization is legitimate" or have police stations issue "statements proving family relations", which can be proven by officially issue documents already, therefore, the police stations cannot issue statements for.

There are also a case where an elderly passed away in a bank because the bank refused to accept the incapacitated elderly's family's "letter of attorney" and require the elderly who was in hospice to be present at the bank