topic Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access in Credit Cards

WF Says NO to Online Account Access

acb5456 — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:06:23 GMT

This is a PSA for anyone considering a credit card account at Wells Fargo:

I applied for the Wells Fargo Cash Wise card 3 weeks ago to take advantage of the intro. bonus of $200 (I know, I know, should have steared clear of WF but I figured, eh, wth? Right?).

Got the card the next week and immidiately activated the card and made a large purchase to clear the spending bonus and get that out of the way--no problem.

Afterwards, I call them to set up my online account becuase the Enroll Online function on their website says that they cannot verify my identity with my SSN and credit card number. I'm already annoyed becuase it just figures that WF, of all lenders, wouldn't let me sign up for Online Access like any other lender would be able to do no problem.

So i call the number that's provided. A nice lady answers and verifies ALL of my info--SSN, name, address, DOB, you name it, she got it. Then she put me on hold. Came back and said she would need to transfer me to Risk Management to verify my identity.

Got RM on the line--asks the SAME questions, then states that he will need to send me a verification code to my number on file, sent. Got the code and read it out loud to him--he seemed skeptical right off the bat, even asking me to repeat it THREEEEEE times, asking if I "was sure" that this was the number. It was correct, and we moved on. He then put me on hold. Came back and said he needed to transfer me to another department (I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY ACCOUNT!!!)

Transferred, this time to the same folks i had earlier. They asked THE SAME QUESTIONS and even sent another code---got that one right too.

She put me on hold and then came back and said she had to transfer me to Risk Management...again.

I was hot at this point. I just want to see my balance so I can budget.

RM gets on the phone and the lady is downright rude, insinuiating that I wasn't who i say I am. Really? I've verified every ounce of info you needed all down to everything but my blood type and you don't think I am who i say I am?! She then states that I will need to VISIT MY LOCAL BRANCH to verify my identity! SERIOUSLY?! I agreed and hung up.

Visited the closest branch on Friday of last week and sat there for 45 minutes with the Rep on the phone with RM, getting literally nowhere. He was nice but he couldn't tell me why they were blocking me from online access and why they couldn't verify who I am. (I'M IN PERSON at this point). He says wait until Wednesday of this week and you will be able to use the online funtion and create your username and password. I leave.

Wednesday evening comes and NOPE, no hope trying to create anything online. I call, again, and the guy verifies everything all over again and puts me on hold. Then sends me a code, verified. Then states that he can no longer help me and i will recieve a letter in the mail with further instructions and hangs up on me.

**bleep**?! I want to see my bill, get my rewards, pay it and CLOSE THIS STUPID CARD.

Please, for the love of God, stay away from Wells Fargo. PSA over.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

jl4 — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:10:55 GMT

That's a hell of a set of hoops to jump through. Did they ever explicitly say no to online access?

I'm also curious if you have any kind of fraud alerts on your reports. I know I have to jump through verification with anything credit related with Chase because of that.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

acb5456 — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:17:04 GMT

They haven't said No as of right now but the last Representative i spoke to said the letter would explain, so who knows what they will tell me or NOT tell me *rolls eyes*

No alerts on the credit report, no fruad, completely clean report--815 score on the letter they sent me on approval.

Just blows my mind.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

MrDFinance — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:24:49 GMT

Wells Fargo is a dumpster fire ...... Worst Bank I've ever dealt with... When they took over Wachovia my account went down hill from there....(Long Closed now)

Sorry to hear about this, that's ridiculous.....

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

acb5456 — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:31:07 GMT

Couldn't agree more--worst financial institution in the business.

By the way, YOU APPROVED ME for a $12k card yet you won't allow me to see the account online becuase you can't verify my identity?! What kind of crap logic is this?! Get your crap together WF.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:17:55 GMT

@MrDFinance wrote:
Wells Fargo is a dumpster fire ...... Worst Bank I've ever dealt with... When they took over Wachovia my account went down hill from there....(Long Closed now)

Sorry to hear about this, that's ridiculous.....

Too bad the Feds don't break them up and allow other banks to provide "to big to fail" services

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

UpperNwGuy — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:22:00 GMT

Have you removed all freezes from your credit reports? Have you pulled your credit reports recently and checked them for erroneous personal information or inquiries not initiated by you? It sounds like something in Wells Fargo's automated verification system (which is probably linked to Equifax) is overriding the efforts of their customer service reps to help you. It's inexcusable that the CSRs can't see what that something is.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Cred4All — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:39:07 GMT

Absolutely insane. Sending the verification code to your device once is dual authentication and then some. You have the digital information, you verified verbally, and received it physically. To do that another 2 to 3 times is inexcusable in my opinion. Either way, regardless of the issue, it's a huge red flag of what the future would most likely hold. I would take the unexpected hint from them, pay it off if not already in person, and walk. As the previous poster state... they approve you well enough to have a card to use, then hold you back from merely paying via online account. Not a good start, as it appears you're guilty until proven innocent and they've opted to avoid the problem rather than nicely resolve it.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:52:45 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
Have you removed all freezes from your credit reports? Have you pulled your credit reports recently and checked them for erroneous personal information or inquiries not initiated by you? It sounds like something in Wells Fargo's automated verification system (which is probably linked to Equifax) is overriding the efforts of their customer service reps to help you. It's inexcusable that the CSRs can't see what that something is.

Perhaps banks should get rid of the computers in many areas and go with humans instead, with exceptions to approvals and CLI's.... And perhaps not even approvals because sometimes a human can ask questions and approve you when a computer normally wouldn't.

I, as well as many people, get so so sick and tired of "oh, sorry, the computer won't allow that." We see it with everything including denial of product changes, denial of APR requests, and apparently now humans can't even override it when they actually verify a user's identity. Computers are very stupid machines and banks are foolish to completely rely on them for everything, and it results in extremely cruddy customer service.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Pikaboo-icu — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:53:45 GMT

Yeah, Wells Fargo can be exhasperating!!

This week; Husband's Visa Debit stopped working (the chip part).

Obviously, this is a man's wallet issue- not the first time.

We ordered a new card from our HOME phone, sent to our HOME address, jumped through a bunch of questions;

Last 2 deposits, ss# and more.

Card got here 3 days ago, went to activate it, NOPE.

Called- a banker had CANCELLED the new card before it even arrived at the house!

WTHECK??!!

They overnighted a new one AGAIN but now with a whole new number etc..

It arrived today- haven't tried to activate it yet.

Sorry for your troubles!! What a HOT MESS!

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

wingennis — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 21:05:14 GMT

How are they still in business?! Sorry about your experience

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 21:42:40 GMT

This sounds like a call center. Every wants to help, they understand and am sorry, but they can't do anything for you. They move you around to different departments because no one knows which one can actually help you. I'm a bit cynical, and they created this process to make you specifically make you going into a bank. At that point they could cross-sell you into checking accounts, lines of credit, etc. I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you get access to that credit card soon.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 22:04:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
... At that point they could cross-sell you into checking accounts, lines of credit, etc. I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you get access to that credit card soon.

Wells Fargo has pledged to stop selling products to customers since their little issue a couple of years ago.

Hopefully they're following through with it.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

UncleB — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 23:02:47 GMT

@acb5456 wrote:
This is a PSA for anyone considering a credit card account at Wells Fargo:

I applied for the Wells Fargo Cash Wise card 3 weeks ago to take advantage of the intro. bonus of $200 (I know, I know, should have steared clear of WF but I figured, eh, wth? Right?).

Got the card the next week and immidiately activated the card and made a large purchase to clear the spending bonus and get that out of the way--no problem.

Afterwards, I call them to set up my online account becuase the Enroll Online function on their website says that they cannot verify my identity with my SSN and credit card number. I'm already annoyed becuase it just figures that WF, of all lenders, wouldn't let me sign up for Online Access like any other lender would be able to do no problem.

So i call the number that's provided. A nice lady answers and verifies ALL of my info--SSN, name, address, DOB, you name it, she got it. Then she put me on hold. Came back and said she would need to transfer me to Risk Management to verify my identity.

Got RM on the line--asks the SAME questions, then states that he will need to send me a verification code to my number on file, sent. Got the code and read it out loud to him--he seemed skeptical right off the bat, even asking me to repeat it THREEEEEE times, asking if I "was sure" that this was the number. It was correct, and we moved on. He then put me on hold. Came back and said he needed to transfer me to another department (I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY ACCOUNT!!!)

Transferred, this time to the same folks i had earlier. They asked THE SAME QUESTIONS and even sent another code---got that one right too.

She put me on hold and then came back and said she had to transfer me to Risk Management...again.

I was hot at this point. I just want to see my balance so I can budget.

RM gets on the phone and the lady is downright rude, insinuiating that I wasn't who i say I am. Really? I've verified every ounce of info you needed all down to everything but my blood type and you don't think I am who i say I am?! She then states that I will need to VISIT MY LOCAL BRANCH to verify my identity! SERIOUSLY?! I agreed and hung up.

Visited the closest branch on Friday of last week and sat there for 45 minutes with the Rep on the phone with RM, getting literally nowhere. He was nice but he couldn't tell me why they were blocking me from online access and why they couldn't verify who I am. (I'M IN PERSON at this point). He says wait until Wednesday of this week and you will be able to use the online funtion and create your username and password. I leave.

Wednesday evening comes and NOPE, no hope trying to create anything online. I call, again, and the guy verifies everything all over again and puts me on hold. Then sends me a code, verified. Then states that he can no longer help me and i will recieve a letter in the mail with further instructions and hangs up on me.

**bleep**?! I want to see my bill, get my rewards, pay it and CLOSE THIS STUPID CARD.

Please, for the love of God, stay away from Wells Fargo. PSA over.

This sounds like a headache, indeed.

When you went to the branch, did you get the business card of the person who assisted you? If you did, use that person as your 'contact', since obviously they have physically verified your ID and will be familiar with what's going on. The caveat is that with WF the bank side is separate from the credit card side so the branch won't be able to 'fix' the problem themselves, but at a minimum the bank employee who helped you in person will be able to verify your ID, which seems to be where the issue lies.

When I've dealt with similarly "sticky" situations in the past I've found that having a person's name, email, and phone number can work wonders, especially if they know I'll keep coming back to them until the issue is resolved.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Cred4All — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 23:36:17 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@acb5456 wrote:
This is a PSA for anyone considering a credit card account at Wells Fargo:

I applied for the Wells Fargo Cash Wise card 3 weeks ago to take advantage of the intro. bonus of $200 (I know, I know, should have steared clear of WF but I figured, eh, wth? Right?).

Got the card the next week and immidiately activated the card and made a large purchase to clear the spending bonus and get that out of the way--no problem.

Afterwards, I call them to set up my online account becuase the Enroll Online function on their website says that they cannot verify my identity with my SSN and credit card number. I'm already annoyed becuase it just figures that WF, of all lenders, wouldn't let me sign up for Online Access like any other lender would be able to do no problem.

So i call the number that's provided. A nice lady answers and verifies ALL of my info--SSN, name, address, DOB, you name it, she got it. Then she put me on hold. Came back and said she would need to transfer me to Risk Management to verify my identity.

Got RM on the line--asks the SAME questions, then states that he will need to send me a verification code to my number on file, sent. Got the code and read it out loud to him--he seemed skeptical right off the bat, even asking me to repeat it THREEEEEE times, asking if I "was sure" that this was the number. It was correct, and we moved on. He then put me on hold. Came back and said he needed to transfer me to another department (I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY ACCOUNT!!!)

Transferred, this time to the same folks i had earlier. They asked THE SAME QUESTIONS and even sent another code---got that one right too.

She put me on hold and then came back and said she had to transfer me to Risk Management...again.

I was hot at this point. I just want to see my balance so I can budget.

RM gets on the phone and the lady is downright rude, insinuiating that I wasn't who i say I am. Really? I've verified every ounce of info you needed all down to everything but my blood type and you don't think I am who i say I am?! She then states that I will need to VISIT MY LOCAL BRANCH to verify my identity! SERIOUSLY?! I agreed and hung up.

Visited the closest branch on Friday of last week and sat there for 45 minutes with the Rep on the phone with RM, getting literally nowhere. He was nice but he couldn't tell me why they were blocking me from online access and why they couldn't verify who I am. (I'M IN PERSON at this point). He says wait until Wednesday of this week and you will be able to use the online funtion and create your username and password. I leave.

Wednesday evening comes and NOPE, no hope trying to create anything online. I call, again, and the guy verifies everything all over again and puts me on hold. Then sends me a code, verified. Then states that he can no longer help me and i will recieve a letter in the mail with further instructions and hangs up on me.

**bleep**?! I want to see my bill, get my rewards, pay it and CLOSE THIS STUPID CARD.

Please, for the love of God, stay away from Wells Fargo. PSA over.
This sounds like a headache, indeed.

When you went to the branch, did you get the business card of the person who assisted you? If you did, use that person as your 'contact', since obviously they have physically verified your ID and will be familiar with what's going on. The caveat is that with WF the bank side is separate from the credit card side so the branch won't be able to 'fix' the problem themselves, but at a minimum the bank employee who helped you in person will be able to verify your ID, which seems to be where the issue lies.

When I've dealt with similarly "sticky" situations in the past I've found that having a person's name, email, and phone number can work wonders, especially if they know I'll keep coming back to them until the issue is resolved.

UncleB this is sound advice, I agree with it, makes total sense. So, I'm going to flip this around again and do a Mic drop for the OP:

At this point, you are working for your credit, your credit is NOT working for you. The saying we all express here is not in motion, it should not take this much effort to ever spend money and give it to a bank. Time to use a bank/lender that appreciates and wants your business thus makes it easy.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

UncleB — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 23:51:29 GMT

@Cred4All wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@acb5456 wrote:
This is a PSA for anyone considering a credit card account at Wells Fargo:

I applied for the Wells Fargo Cash Wise card 3 weeks ago to take advantage of the intro. bonus of $200 (I know, I know, should have steared clear of WF but I figured, eh, wth? Right?).

Got the card the next week and immidiately activated the card and made a large purchase to clear the spending bonus and get that out of the way--no problem.

Afterwards, I call them to set up my online account becuase the Enroll Online function on their website says that they cannot verify my identity with my SSN and credit card number. I'm already annoyed becuase it just figures that WF, of all lenders, wouldn't let me sign up for Online Access like any other lender would be able to do no problem.

So i call the number that's provided. A nice lady answers and verifies ALL of my info--SSN, name, address, DOB, you name it, she got it. Then she put me on hold. Came back and said she would need to transfer me to Risk Management to verify my identity.

Got RM on the line--asks the SAME questions, then states that he will need to send me a verification code to my number on file, sent. Got the code and read it out loud to him--he seemed skeptical right off the bat, even asking me to repeat it THREEEEEE times, asking if I "was sure" that this was the number. It was correct, and we moved on. He then put me on hold. Came back and said he needed to transfer me to another department (I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY ACCOUNT!!!)

Transferred, this time to the same folks i had earlier. They asked THE SAME QUESTIONS and even sent another code---got that one right too.

She put me on hold and then came back and said she had to transfer me to Risk Management...again.

I was hot at this point. I just want to see my balance so I can budget.

RM gets on the phone and the lady is downright rude, insinuiating that I wasn't who i say I am. Really? I've verified every ounce of info you needed all down to everything but my blood type and you don't think I am who i say I am?! She then states that I will need to VISIT MY LOCAL BRANCH to verify my identity! SERIOUSLY?! I agreed and hung up.

Visited the closest branch on Friday of last week and sat there for 45 minutes with the Rep on the phone with RM, getting literally nowhere. He was nice but he couldn't tell me why they were blocking me from online access and why they couldn't verify who I am. (I'M IN PERSON at this point). He says wait until Wednesday of this week and you will be able to use the online funtion and create your username and password. I leave.

Wednesday evening comes and NOPE, no hope trying to create anything online. I call, again, and the guy verifies everything all over again and puts me on hold. Then sends me a code, verified. Then states that he can no longer help me and i will recieve a letter in the mail with further instructions and hangs up on me.

**bleep**?! I want to see my bill, get my rewards, pay it and CLOSE THIS STUPID CARD.

Please, for the love of God, stay away from Wells Fargo. PSA over.
This sounds like a headache, indeed.

When you went to the branch, did you get the business card of the person who assisted you? If you did, use that person as your 'contact', since obviously they have physically verified your ID and will be familiar with what's going on. The caveat is that with WF the bank side is separate from the credit card side so the branch won't be able to 'fix' the problem themselves, but at a minimum the bank employee who helped you in person will be able to verify your ID, which seems to be where the issue lies.

When I've dealt with similarly "sticky" situations in the past I've found that having a person's name, email, and phone number can work wonders, especially if they know I'll keep coming back to them until the issue is resolved.
UncleB this is sound advice, I agree with it, makes total sense. So, I'm going to flip this around again and do a Mic drop for the OP:

At this point, you are working for your credit, your credit is NOT working for you. The saying we all express here is not in motion, it should not take this much effort to ever spend money and give it to a bank. Time to use a bank/lender that appreciates and wants your business thus makes it easy.

Absolutely... I agree that this is more work than should be required for a credit card; my suggestion only applies if @acb5456 wants to continue to pursue things.

That said, I'm definitely not saying that he/she should (or should not) continue to pursue things with WF... that's a different discussion.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 00:38:23 GMT

OP, did you try to access the online account from home? Where did you take the verification calls?

I don't know about Wells Fargo but many banks are now using geolocation so they can cross-reference your IP address and know where you applying from etc. If the attempt to open the online account did not come from the same location where the application for credit was made that could raise red flags. Also, the security/verification teams are separate from the credit underwriting teams and can rescind an underwriting decision.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 01:49:56 GMT

Of all my 30+ banks and CCs, TD surprisingly is the most advanced. They use voice recognition system that will verify me few sentences into the conversation, pretty amazing.

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

MrDFinance — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 02:25:24 GMT

TD is current and favorite bank.... They were with me during my low days and now are with me during my high days.......

Their OverDraft policy is far from predatory like Wells Fargo....

Re: WF Says NO to Online Account Access

Kforce — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 04:01:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Of all my 30+ banks and CCs, TD surprisingly is the most advanced. They use voice recognition system that will verify me few sentences into the conversation, pretty amazing.

This way when you get angry the app's recognition software won't recognize you!