topic Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information" in Credit Cards

Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 12:58:21 GMT

Very strange situation with US Bank.

I applied last week for the US Bank Cash+ card and was approved roughly 24 hours later (1000 CL). I received my card yesterday but also received another envelope with the attached letter:

"Dear XXXXXX

We have reviewed your US Bank Visa account and are unable to verify existing account information on file. Therefore, the use of the above referenced card has been restricted effective May 13, 2019. This process if designed to ensure we protect your identity and credit.

If you wish to lift the restriction from this card, please send copies of the following documents within 15 business days of the date on this letter:

NEED ALL THE FOLLOWING BY END OF DAY 6/4/19 FOR ALL CARDHOLDERS: DRIVERS LICENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, COMPLETED SSA VERIFY FORM, LAST 2 YEARS FEDERAL INCOME TAX STATEMENTS, COMPLETED FORM 4506-T, RECENT PAYSTUB, LEASE OR MORTGAGE STATEMENT

If we do not receive a response from you within 15 business days, we will be unable to lift the restriction on this account. You will continue to receive regular monthly statements for any remaining balance on this account."

Anyone know what is up here? I know this is sometimes done if you're a risk to max out your card and run, but for a card I literally haven't even activated yet with a $1000 limit?

I spoke with someone from credit card services for about 5 minutes and was forwarded to an incredibly rude "investigator" who told me they randomly flag accounts for this (which is obviously not true?).

Regardless, this is an incredibly frustrating situation. Has anyone had this happen to them, or have any insights?

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:05:04 GMT

Sorry this has occurred to you. Its possible that they randomly flag applicants for investigation but I have some history with US Bank, both on the banking and credit sides, and I've never heard of such an onerous request.

Have you checked your credit reports recently to see if you're a possible victim of identity theft? Have you placed fraud alerts on any of your credit reports?

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:09:41 GMT

Nope--I check my credit score regularly (most recently yesterday). And it seems to me like if there were concerns they would have addressed them before they let me open an account?

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Remedios — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:12:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Nope--I check my credit score regularly (most recently yesterday). And it seems to me like if there were concerns they would have addressed them before they let me open an account?

Looks like it went through secondary review. The only way to keep the card is to provide them with the documents they are requesting.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:14:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Nope--I check my credit score regularly (most recently yesterday). And it seems to me like if there were concerns they would have addressed them before they let me open an account?

I wasn't referring to your "credit score"...I'm talking about your credit reports from the 3 major credit reporting agencies that you can get at annualcreditreport.com. You need to examine them carefully to determine that they aren't compromised and that no one attempted to open credit accounts in your name.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:22:02 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Nope--I check my credit score regularly (most recently yesterday). And it seems to me like if there were concerns they would have addressed them before they let me open an account?
Looks like it went through secondary review. The only way to keep the card is to provide them with the documents they are requesting.

True, but that request seems quite broad to me. Even Amex only asks for the Form 4605-T; and some banks might ask for copies of driver's license and social security card.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Remedios — Fri, 17 May 2019 13:36:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Nope--I check my credit score regularly (most recently yesterday). And it seems to me like if there were concerns they would have addressed them before they let me open an account?
Looks like it went through secondary review. The only way to keep the card is to provide them with the documents they are requesting.

True, but that request seems quite broad to me. Even Amex only asks for the Form 4605-T; and some banks might ask for copies of driver's license and social security card.

Could be income discrepancy or issues on banking end elsewhere. During my app when I played 100 questions, UW had access to Sage Stream and EWS reports. OP's account got flagged for whatever reason, but decent chunk of documents requested pertains to income so, who knows 🤷

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 14:07:53 GMT

Seems a bit over the top for a $1000 risk to me. Might be best to just move on to another lender OP, that’s a lot of hassle.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

bourgogne — Fri, 17 May 2019 14:40:17 GMT

and people complain about chase lol. this is a stupid amount of hoops to jump through for any credit card. move on imo. tax returns lol, what a joke. employment and banking verification I can see to some extent in the future, that is how the rest of the world deals with credit but its not where the usa is @ yet. us bank is the penfed of the banking world

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 17 May 2019 14:48:46 GMT

No, thats a crazy amount of hoops for a 1k credit card. Would be nice to know what caused it but i would just move on. So many more lenders our there. I recently tried for a USBank checking to help get a card but something didnt match or verify and they declined so i said cool, looks like ill never have a US Bsnk product snd thats fine. I have enough lenders and at the end of the day , any credit card swipes as well as any fancy credit card

Ps, lol at US Bank being the Penfed of big banks haha ,so true

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

JR_TX — Fri, 17 May 2019 15:01:52 GMT

Wow I’m surprised they didn’t ask you to visit a branch to get swabbed for DNA identification!! Lol

All those for a $1K credit??!! IRS 4506-T??!!! Seriously??!!
I would just move on OP. There’s still plenty of lenders out there.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 15:53:28 GMT

Thanks all. Good to hear others find this odd.

My only concern is that they've already opened the account (although with a zero dollar balance). That is to say, if they close it from me failing to provide these documents, will it adversely affect my credit besides for the wasted hp?

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

bourgogne — Fri, 17 May 2019 15:55:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks all. Good to hear others find this odd.

My only concern is that they've already opened the account. That is to say, if they close it from me failing to provide these documents, will it adversely affect my credit besides for the wasted hp?

might say closed by grantor. the uw is not bad to deal with there, I would have a chat with them to see if they can vacate the account. have you talked with them at all yet? this also might just be some sort of error. I would be inclined to just wait it out. do you have an online portal and if so what is the cards status? what are your fico scores and how much total exposure to you have and over how many cards?

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

K-in-Boston — Fri, 17 May 2019 16:09:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks all. Good to hear others find this odd.

My only concern is that they've already opened the account (although with a zero dollar balance). That is to say, if they close it from me failing to provide these documents, will it adversely affect my credit besides for the wasted hp?

The account has already been opened, so other than the HP it's likely to reduce your average age of accounts, drop your age of newest account to 0 or 1 months, and remain on your credit reports for up to 10 years. Have you moved or changed employers recently? If not, I would second taking a look through your full credit reports for all 3 CRAs (and those of the other reporting agencies; at least the ones that US Bank uses) to make sure that you have not fallen victim to identity theft or possibly just having incorrect information on your reports that causes them to believe that you are not you. I know it doesn't seem logical, but it's not that uncommon for identity thieves to actually pay your bills on time every month so you wouldn't notice a score drop.

It sounds like a lot of information to give them, but it's certainly not a random thing, and something has sent up a red flag for them to do this. USB can be a good relationship to nurture as well.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 16:21:35 GMT

That's a ubsured amount of info they're asking for, it's a 1k credit line not a mortgage.
I think I would be tempted to send in a stool sample instead.😝

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 16:48:13 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks all. Good to hear others find this odd.

My only concern is that they've already opened the account (although with a zero dollar balance). That is to say, if they close it from me failing to provide these documents, will it adversely affect my credit besides for the wasted hp?
The account has already been opened, so other than the HP it's likely to reduce your average age of accounts, drop your age of newest account to 0 or 1 months, and remain on your credit reports for up to 10 years. Have you moved or changed employers recently? If not, I would second taking a look through your full credit reports for all 3 CRAs (and those of the other reporting agencies; at least the ones that US Bank uses) to make sure that you have not fallen victim to identity theft or possibly just having incorrect information on your reports that causes them to believe that you are not you. I know it doesn't seem logical, but it's not that uncommon for identity thieves to actually pay your bills on time every month so you wouldn't notice a score drop.

It sounds like a lot of information to give them, but it's certainly not a random thing, and something has sent up a red flag for them to do this. USB can be a good relationship to nurture as well.

This! While I get everyone saying that this is absurd for a $1K credit, US Bank isn't doing this because they want to have fun, something looks wrong to them and it's worth OP trying to find out why, whether or not they decide to comply with the doc request. Might be nothing or could be something that needs attention!

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

ChargedUp — Fri, 17 May 2019 19:16:25 GMT

I wonder if Sage or Lexis Nexus is has something wonky on their reports regarding you. USB is known to pull them as well. It's pretty well known around here to freeze those two reports before apping with USB.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 19:32:56 GMT

I wish they would have sent me a 4506-T when I apped for my Cash+ card because if it were anything like when I had to fill one out for AMEX I would have seen a sizeable increase after they completed their review. USB isn't a lender I would want to burn so I personally wouldn't have a problem throwing the requested documents at them. Ymmv.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

Anonymous — Fri, 17 May 2019 21:06:15 GMT

Thanks guys. I called in this morning trying to figure out what was going on and credit card services forwarded me to a woman in investigations. She was incredibly dismissive when I sought some explanation of what was going on so to be honest a frustrating first experience with this bank.

I checked my reports and no suspicious activity. This income point is interesting so thanks for raising.

Other than the time wasted, it seems there's no harm in submitting the documents, right? I'd still like to have access to the account.

Re: Help! US Bank "verifying existing account information"

bourgogne — Fri, 17 May 2019 21:10:07 GMT

if you want to keep the card give them what they want, guess everythign is just a pdf away. good luck, what a pita