In this report:

• Opponents say tellers would become money cops
• 'Big Brother' banking

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than 14,000 people have fired off e-mail messages and letters, most of them angry, in response to a federal proposal to track banking clients' habits in an attempt to stem illegal money-laundering.

Most of the messages expressing concern about banking privacy were sent to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The flood of angry e-mail began in December as a 90-day public comment period opened for the proposal. It closes March 8.

The proposed regulations, dubbed "Know Your Customer" rules, would require banks to verify their customers' identities, know where their money comes from, and determine their normal pattern of transactions. The current requirements for banks to report any "suspicious" transactions to law enforcement authorities would be expanded.

The nation's bankers have joined the chorus of people and groups urging federal banking agencies to withdraw the proposals, warning they could make Americans lose confidence in the banking system and in government.

At least two federal banking regulators say they are now reconsidering the anti-money laundering rules.

"We're going to have to do something different. ... We can't leave it as is," Christie Sciacca, associate director of supervision at the FDIC, said Friday.

Sciacca said the FDIC is considering a range of options, from loosening the proposed rules to dropping them altogether.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke Jr., who oversees nationally chartered banks, "thinks there are serious questions about whether this (proposal) is the right approach," said his spokesman, Robert Garsson. "He believes very strongly in the relationship between a bank and its customers, and confidentiality is a key element in that relationship."

The proposal is designed to combat money laundering techniques used by drug traffickers and other criminals to hide illegal profits. Laundering includes the use of wire transfers and bank drafts as well as "smurfing," the practice of breaking down transactions into smaller amounts that do not have to be reported under banking laws.

Privacy advocates and bank customers have complained that the rules would transform every bank teller into a cop.

The FDIC, as a visible symbol of the federal government with a plaque in every bank branch, has borne the brunt of the protest. Spokesmen said more than 14,000 messages, including e-mail and letters, had arrived as of Friday.

The American Bankers Association, in a letter sent Thursday to the FDIC and other federal banking regulators, cited "the widespread and growing negative perception" of the proposal.

"We are very concerned about the prospect of having the public lose confidence in the banking industry, and in government institutions generally, if this proposal is not withdrawn," the bankers' group wrote.

The proposal "increases regulatory burdens on banking institutions and raises serious privacy concerns on the part of bank customers," the bankers said.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who calls the proposal "Big Brother banking," has said he plans to propose legislation next week that would bar the federal regulators -- the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision -- from going through with it.

OTS spokesman William Fulwider declined comment on the matter Friday, and a spokesmen for the Federal Reserve didn't immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.