This story deals with a coding error on the deposit request which got my new account closed before it was ever really open. This may have been mentioned by other myfico members but I don't remember coming across it while I was researching the discover secured card.
I applied for a discover secured card online the evening of 10/10/19 (Thursday). I was notified after about 30 seconds that I was approved and then was directed to enter bank account information for the deposit transfer. I completed this final step that evening. I didn't see the funds come out of my account Friday, which wasn't surprising since I figured it would take at least a business day or two to process. Monday was a holiday, so I started really paying attention midday Tuesday. By the end of Tuesday the $200 was still in my account. I called them on Wednesday to make sure everything was okay and to see if they did in fact initiate the transfer and the rep wasn't too helpful. He said it should have already been requested and I should see the transfer anyday now. I said "okay so if it isn't out by end of the week should I call back? what about by monday?" And he replied "oh definitely by monday".
Meanwhile I got all of the onboarding information from discover via email. They sent emails notifying me of my deposit confirmation as well as to download the app etc. All the while no money was taken out of my account. Fast forward to today ( a full week from my application). I called my bank and asked if they saw a transfer in their system that was pending. My banker was very helpful and said yes sir we see a transfer that was initiated on 10/15/19 but there was the wrong coding information. She said the transfer was coded as checking and not savings so the funds couldn't be released unless the coding switched.
I immediately called Discover and let them know that for whatever reason (perhaps it was my fault for selecting checking on the application) the coding on the request was wrong and they simply needed to make another request with a savings coding. The rep was not helpful and said "that will not be possible this account has been closed". I asked her what she meant closed since it was not even really ever open. She said if there are any issues with a deposit for the secured card they just auto close the account. Keep in mind they didn't bother emailing me or calling. When I called to check in on it since my gut told me something was off they told me everything was normal. Seems ridiculous. She said I would have to apply again and run through the process again. I asked if there was anyone I could speak to and she said no, the account is 100% closed and no one can reopen it.
So I went through the online app again which took 2 minutes and got an auto rejection because "there was an application currently processing or I recently had applied for a card". And....of course this resulted in a SECOND hard pull to experian. After about 30 more minutes on the phone with a number of different reps I reached the application processing department (they were very helpful). She was able to manually accept the second application I submitted today and we made sure the banking info was squared away on the phone. Then I had to call Experian and they removed the second hard inquiry with surprisingly little fuss. I believe he said anytime they see two inquiries from the same company within 30 days they will remove one if you request.
To add insult to injury, after all of this I go down to check my mailbox and sitting there is a package from discover....with my discover secured card for the account that was closed. I tried to activate the card just for grins but received some random error as expected. Discover should honestly put some safeguards in place to prevent this from happening. Their card delivery systems, automated account setup emails, and deposit payment all run independently of one another and are absolutely not linked as one would expect. In fact they say they won't even send the card until they get the deposit. I got the feeling they wanted to punish me for potentially a typo on the banking information form by closing the account so unceremoniously .
So basically don't screw up your ACH transfer or your account is dead in the water. If the money isn't out of your account in 2-3 business days call them and do another transfer before they close your account. My only hope now is that this doesn't somehow delay card graduation for the new account. Time will tell.
