2 replies to this topic

[markber]

The following story was posted by manku on FW:

Last October, when netbank was having its twin $75 promos, i opened up two accounts with $1500 in mm, $150 in checking. I electronically transfered the money a few days after opening.

A couple weeks (or days, can't recall) later, I got an "affidavit of identification" in the mail from them. This form was ridiculous: it requested copies of my drivers license, ss card, utility bill and paycheck. It then needed to be notarized! I chucked it - my credit rating is over 720, and never have had ding on my credit nor have had any identity theft (knock on wood)..

The other day, I check on my balances. My $75 bonuses aren't there. I call, and the agent transfers me to "Security"...huh?

Apparently, my account is not active yet because I didn't fill out this affidavit. Why did I get it? Because I used my business address in lieu of my home address, and they couldn't confirm with Equifax. Fine, then change the address. They can't do it without written authorization, and since they don't have proof of my identity, they can't accept communication from me until they have it. Holy Catch-22!!!

They then say I can close the account and get my money back, all I have to do is email them. Fine...so I do. Sorry, again, we must have affidavit.

Question: How can they open and account and let me fund it, and then not let me withdraw such funds? Isn't that illegal?

I would do the affidavit, but a couple things: I have no SS card - I think my mom has it, or maybe I chucked it. Getting one is a hassle. And a notary costs money - around $20.

Any suggestions?

Manku

Source: fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=52&threadid=565643

[mnl8844]

i had a similar problem with farm bureau bank. and notary services do not cost money, its free at most banks (if you are a customer) and the most it will cost for a non-customer is $1-$2 (which the bank sometimes waives.)

[alee]

You want a NetBank horror story? I'm still in the middle of one. Late in December, I opened checking and money market accounts at NetBank to get the $150 in bonuses. (I wasn't planning on opening a CD to get the $25 bonus for that.) When I tried to fund the accounts via online transfer from their "Account Status" page, the links simply didn't do anything when I clicked on them.

I received a large packet from them in the mail on New Year's Eve, and again couldn't fund my new accounts from their "Account Status" page, but I saw that I could set up online access and account aggregation. However, it wouldn't let me make any transfers, including from my accounts at other banks to my NetBank accounts, because I hadn't funded my NetBank accounts yet. So I decided to put in the money from outside. I went to my credit union, added my NetBank accounts to the account aggregation, chose the NetBank routing number from several choices they had for NetBank, and it found my account numbers from the aggregation and was then going to verify my account numbers. I also tried linking my NetBank accounts to my PayPal accounts.

My credit union verifies accounts at other banks for ACH transfers in mostly the same way that PayPal, ING Direct, VirtualBank, HSBC, and probably many other banks do: by making two small, random deposits that you then have to look up and tell them the amounts of. The difference is that my credit union makes two withdrawals the same day for the same amounts as the deposits. When I checked my accounts at NetBank a few days later, they registered that they had processed one withdrawal on each account, rejected one withdrawal on each account, and charged $30 for each withdrawal, processed or rejected, for a total of $120 in service charges. There was no sign of the test deposits from my credit union. Nor was there any sign of the test deposits from PayPal.

My credit union's Web site said that the test deposits had been rejected due to an incorrect routing number or account number. PayPal said the same thing. In both cases, they wouldn't link to my NetBank accounts for ACH transfers, so I couldn't make deposits through them, not that I would want to under the circumstances. NetBank insists that my credit union only made withdrawals, and not deposits, and refuses to remove the service charges. They are demanding that I get written proof from my credit union that they tried to make the test deposits first, which I'm trying to get. NetBank has also sent me two letters by mail for each account warning of the overdrafts, threatening to report them to ChexSystems after 30 days, and that it would go on my credit report. For these, they have spent $1.27 in postage alone, nearly as much as the two withdrawals they actually paid out.

Are other people finding that NetBank systematically drops ACH deposits initiated from outside, while accepting withdrawals? If so, why? To generate overdraft fees and below minimum balance fees? Who can I report this to besides the BBB?