topic Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love) in Credit Cards

SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 14:13:21 GMT

I used (or rather attempted to use) my new Sofi card for a transaction. It declined and sent me an SMS asking if it was me. When I replied yes, it said I could do the transaction again. I did, and this time got asked for verification, either by a) an SMS number I no longer have, or b) email (which is right. The old number came about because I apparently joined SoFI in 2017) I chose b), got a code. The transaction was declined, repeated the process, got a new code, declined again. At that point I used my Citizens card, immediate success.

I had made sure on the app that the right SMS was listed (and Sofi was using it for 2FA) so I was suprised by the wrong one. I made the mistake of contacting SoFi.

I was transferred 3 times, each checking security and telling me to change it on the app (where the wrong number doesn't appear). The fourth transfer dropped the call. Called back, 2 more transfers, and finally they claim it is done. (Won't know till next dubious transaction). 90 minutes on holds with Fintech! I'm sure a boring old big bank would have taken, well, 10 minutes....

I also got mixed messages about why the transaction was declined after the verification codes "merchant couldn't match the three digits"? and "it was updated but timed out". Who knows!

Anyway, my usual shout out to Citizens, who approve all my foreign transactions even when they maybe shouldn't. Wrong name (mixture of mine and my daughters via autofill), wrong billing address etc, never fazes them. There really is an advantage to this in foreign transactions. Many of us on MyFico like issuers who quickly detect fraud. But, as we are not responsible, there is some advantage to being a little permissive (at least with some history). I have never had fraud on Citizens, so even though it's only 1.8%, unless SoFi starts working well, they will continue to be my goto for non category foreign spend.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

mrpuffrabbit — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 14:41:05 GMT

Hey longtimelurker,

I've read something similar about the SoFi card being extrastricton oversea purchases. The (expat) redditor states that they would to tell SoFi on a tri-monthly basis if they planned on making oversea purchases.

It's the only reason I've stayed away from their card as an expat, since I know MC has better FX rates (on averagE) than visa for EUR/USD exchanges.

It's great that Citizen bank is treating you well, its a MC and even though its <2%, it's well worth it in my eyes.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

FinStar — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 19:12:03 GMT

@Anonymous -- was this triggered by a transaction outside of the US? If so, was this an online transaction or in physical presence with the merchant? I've heard of mixed reviews from others about SoFi having a tendency to decline foreign transactions for odd reasons despite their verification process 🤷‍♂️

I have also noticed that their UI (on the app) isn't always in sync with the desktop version, data-wise.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 19:30:57 GMT

Yes, this was online with a UK website. (ETA: I was sure I had put that in the OP, but apparently not. Got lost in an edit!)

To be fair, my next similar transaction (CoronaTestCentre, a REALLY good chain if you ever need Covid testing certificates in the UK!) worked fine.

I think the difference is that this one allowed me to enter a different billing name/address, whereas the first one didn't and assumed my daughter's name and UK address.

So, understandable, but Citizens is happy enough with number/exp/CVV from the same place, and SoFi did verify via email/SMS, which (IMO and apparently SoFi agrees), should have been enough.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Credit12Fico — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 03:30:58 GMT

I'm aware of the process you are describing. I made an online order from Japan a while ago and was prompted for the "Mastercard Securecode 2FA" which is basically what all online international merchants taking US cards will make you do. I didn't have a problem with it. Strange. YMMV naturally.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 05:09:00 GMT

@Credit12Fico wrote:
I'm aware of the process you are describing. I made an online order from Japan a while ago and was prompted for the "Mastercard Securecode 2FA" which is basically what all online international merchants taking US cards will make you do. I didn't have a problem with it. Strange. YMMV naturally.

Yes, I guess when I wrote the OP, I was more annoyed at the support process than the 2FA (even though once I "passed", I think the transaction should have been approved).

My guess is that Citizens is more the exception, with most issuers wanting some match with the billing address, at least ZIP. To be fair, Citizens has no problem when I send stuff to new foreign addresses, and taking that as the billing address, which MIGHT be going too far, or they may have done some e.g. machine learning from my previous transactions that this is OK. But they have certainly made themselves my go-to card for speed "Yes, send it to anyone@anywhere, and yes, use that shipping name and address for the billing address." And for whatever reason, it works....

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

abdi12 — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 20:22:03 GMT

Your experience with SoFi was mine too but with Capital One. Whenever I tried making a purchase online on a foreign website, it was always declined. But before, they would send me a SMS code for verification. No matter how many times I got and pasted the code, the transaction was never approved. Physically didn't had any problems at all. I think some banks/lenders are just like that.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Remedios — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 20:32:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this was online with a UK website. (ETA: I was sure I had put that in the OP, but apparently not. Got lost in an edit!)

To be fair, my next similar transaction (CoronaTestCentre, a REALLY good chain if you ever need Covid testing certificates in the UK!) worked fine.

I think the difference is that this one allowed me to enter a different billing name/address, whereas the first one didn't and assumed my daughter's name and UK address.

So, understandable, but Citizens is happy enough with number/exp/CVV from the same place, and SoFi did verify via email/SMS, which (IMO and apparently SoFi agrees), should have been enough.

If you give me card numbers, I'll test it with my name and address. Science and all that.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 20:42:21 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this was online with a UK website. (ETA: I was sure I had put that in the OP, but apparently not. Got lost in an edit!)

To be fair, my next similar transaction (CoronaTestCentre, a REALLY good chain if you ever need Covid testing certificates in the UK!) worked fine.

I think the difference is that this one allowed me to enter a different billing name/address, whereas the first one didn't and assumed my daughter's name and UK address.

So, understandable, but Citizens is happy enough with number/exp/CVV from the same place, and SoFi did verify via email/SMS, which (IMO and apparently SoFi agrees), should have been enough.

If you give me card numbers, I'll test it with my name and address. Science and all that.

5240 3802 1465 0822 exp 9/23 CVV 415

Please let us know (and keep it under $50 please!)

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Remedios — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 21:17:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this was online with a UK website. (ETA: I was sure I had put that in the OP, but apparently not. Got lost in an edit!)

To be fair, my next similar transaction (CoronaTestCentre, a REALLY good chain if you ever need Covid testing certificates in the UK!) worked fine.

I think the difference is that this one allowed me to enter a different billing name/address, whereas the first one didn't and assumed my daughter's name and UK address.

So, understandable, but Citizens is happy enough with number/exp/CVV from the same place, and SoFi did verify via email/SMS, which (IMO and apparently SoFi agrees), should have been enough.

If you give me card numbers, I'll test it with my name and address. Science and all that.
5240 3802 1465 0822 exp 9/23 CVV 415

Please let us know (and keep it under $50 please!)

$50.00? Okay, I'll buy 5 liters of gas (adding gas station to the mix increases scientific difficulty).

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

FinStar — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 21:39:15 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this was online with a UK website. (ETA: I was sure I had put that in the OP, but apparently not. Got lost in an edit!)

To be fair, my next similar transaction (CoronaTestCentre, a REALLY good chain if you ever need Covid testing certificates in the UK!) worked fine.

I think the difference is that this one allowed me to enter a different billing name/address, whereas the first one didn't and assumed my daughter's name and UK address.

So, understandable, but Citizens is happy enough with number/exp/CVV from the same place, and SoFi did verify via email/SMS, which (IMO and apparently SoFi agrees), should have been enough.

If you give me card numbers, I'll test it with my name and address. Science and all that.
5240 3802 1465 0822 exp 9/23 CVV 415

Please let us know (and keep it under $50 please!)
$50.00? Okay, I'll buy 5 liters of gas (adding gas station to the mix increases scientific difficulty).

I was gonna say...$50? 😁

After you're done, I'm next... for science, of course.

LTL, your CL is $30K, right?

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:10:44 GMT

@FinStar wrote:

LTL, your CL is $30K, right?

Yes, but.... I just got a fraud alert.

An attempted sale of $467.67 to "Big Sue's SPECIAL Massage Inc" in Greenbrier AL

Doesn't sound like gas, so probably not @Remedios and more than $50 so not @FinStar ....

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Remedios — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:17:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@FinStar wrote:

LTL, your CL is $30K, right?
Yes, but.... I just got a fraud alert.

An attempted sale of $467.67 to "Big Sue's SPECIAL Massage Inc" in Greenbrier AL

Doesn't sound like gas, so probably not @Remedios and more than $50 so not @FinStar ....

Big Sue? Yeah, that's definitely @FinStar

Looks like he got longevity discount, though.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

FinStar — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:35:17 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@FinStar wrote:

LTL, your CL is $30K, right?
Yes, but.... I just got a fraud alert.

An attempted sale of $467.67 to "Big Sue's SPECIAL Massage Inc" in Greenbrier AL

Doesn't sound like gas, so probably not @Remedios and more than $50 so not @FinStar ....

Big Sue? Yeah, that's definitely @FinStar
Looks like he got longevity discount, though.

Whoopsie 😬 You found me out!

In all honesty, @Anonymous didn't specify where his SoFi (high roller) CC could not be used. Yes, I'm all for 'SPECIAL' discounts, plus in all fairness, this was to build your soon to be long-standing relationship/longevity with SoFi and letting AI learn your...ummm...card's habits! 😂

I also recall you mentioned upthread "Yes, send it to anyone@anywhere, and yes, use that shipping name and address for the billing address." ...so I did 😊

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Remedios — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 01:00:13 GMT

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

coldfusion — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 01:15:30 GMT

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

FalconSteve — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 02:14:48 GMT

SoFi has done that to me several times with amazon (not even marketplace) and I just resorted to my Citi card (still 2%). I even called them. I'm not happy with the Bank of Missouri (SoFi card), but I like it otherwise.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 15:08:48 GMT

@FalconSteve wrote:
SoFi has done that to me several times with amazon (not even marketplace) and I just resorted to my Citi card (still 2%). I even called them. I'm not happy with the Bank of Missouri (SoFi card), but I like it otherwise.

Right. Tried another purchase today (on Amazon UK, which has worked before). Declined. Auto chat sends me to a debit card rep who cannot see the transaction (because....!) Told to call credit card number he gives me in the chat. Credit card person says it is marked as suspected fraud, not sure why I wasn't sent a fraud notification, but she transfers me to the fraud department. "Tell me the phone number you received the message" Well, I didn't.... He cannot see anything when I give him my number, and helpfully transfers me, back to the credit card department. They tell me it will take AT LEAST 48 hours to clear (and I have no real confidence there is anything to clear!).

But fortunately, I am told that this is all done for my protection, so I feel extra safe.

So, switch the Amazon payment method to citizens and it's done!

So this time 1 hour, 4 sessions of id verification and no resolution. Worse, the credit card info line is nowhere on the card or app, which would be OK if the thing was remotely useful.

I asked the rep (not his fault) if things get better, giving him the chance to talk about learning patterns etc. But if foreign transaction (the point of the card for me) fails and leads to hour phone calls, I am not all that willing to participate in training!

So to feel extra extra safe, I guess I will stop using the card.

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

Remedios — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 15:27:18 GMT

@Anonymous why this particular card for foreign transactions? You gotta have others (in addition to Citizens).

Is it the earning rate?

It just seems a little on ridiculous side to prominently advertise "No foreign transaction fee" when the reality seems to be "No foreign transaction fee because we will never allow foreign transaction"

Re: SoFi Card/support Rant (and Citizens love)

CardGameStrong — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 15:33:50 GMT

I use my SoFi card in Canada all the time, both by using the card, or the tap feature via Google Pay, I have never had any problems.