@mikka1 wrote:Hi all,
Haven't been posting here for a few years, but folks here know everything, so I figured I'd reach out to you too
Note: I also posted it in one of the banking/personal finance-related subs on /r/, not because I don't trust you, but rather just to boost the collective wisdom as much as I could
Anyways, I well heard of banks placing some fraud prevention "freezes" / restrictions on accounts, but this one was totally new and unexpected...
PNC is our main bank for the last 5 or so years (my wife and I both have accounts there and our salaries are deposited directly to our accounts). I rarely use a debit card, but use online banking extensively (basically, almost all bills are paid electronically). Never used Zelle / never deposited/withdrawn large sums at once, never had a bad check written / deposited etc. etc. etc., so really nothing that should raise a red flag with them.
Some time ago they introduced a "Card Free ATM access feature" on their app and I liked it very much. I used it a few times, but then at some point it just stopped working - every time I would try it, I see something like "Service is unavailable at this time, please try again later" and the app would crash. Okay, no biggie, thus slightly annoying.
Then some time later I got a call from a Fraud Prevention specialist who questioned me about some recent activity on my account (some small ATM withdrawals / deposits, nothing major). She also asked me if I was trying to use my app abroad or on a corporate network which might have had a foreign IP address, and I told her that I was in Canada recently and also could have theoretically been on a corporate network as we have an office in Toronto. Concern cleared? Well, not really ...
Apparently that single time I might've used the app "in a wrong way" raised such a huuuuge red flag for the bank, that it blacklisted my phone by its Device ID, and now I cannot use some of the app functions.
Not a big deal again - call again and clear the concern? Well, not so fast with PNC.
At this point I spent more than 2 hours talking with different people with PNC. At least once I have been told that the issue had been cleared by the supervisor only to find out a day later that my phone still does not work with some PNC app functionality. The last call with the escalation team "on a recorded line" ended with "we can't do anything, you will have to wait for 60 days for this record to fall off our blacklist - we will NOT remove it manually for you". Naturally I asked a question "Hey, I am going to Europe next week, will you yet again place me on a blacklist if I try opening the app there?!" which - as totally expected - remain unanswered.
What surprises me even more is the way PNC handled this from the beginning - as I said before, I received no single security warning (like you would expect from other banks when they suspect someone is trying to gain an unauthorized access) and nowhere it says the app had any regional restrictions. The bank basically behaves like it's me who is somehow a criminal and fraudster trying to do something fraudulent, thus placing such a restriction even on my device...
Any interesting thoughts / ideas? I am not sure I am staying with PNC after such a hostility to a long-standing customer for no reason, but do you think it makes sense to reach out to their executive office with this story? I honestly find it insane - it looks like this bank can place restrictions on your profile for no reason and without even informing you about it (and don't even think about any apologies!) and then behave like you did something terrible to it...
Thanks!
I would reach out to the Executive Office, just to be sure the record gets straightened out and you don't wind up with something adverse on Chex Systems or something like that.
But I would be cultivating other financial relationships as well, no matter how PNC ultimately handles this.
So, just an update, received a message from PNC social media team:
(...) I've checked with our escalations team regarding the issue with your phone and the mobile app. That issue will expire in the time frame that was originally provided. In the meantime if there's anything you need please don't hesitate to message us for assistance. Have a nice week!
So, in essence, I was told to pound sand and wait for PNC to gracefully unblock my phone after its jail time of 2 months lol without any further explanations 
Sadly I'm too busy at work this week to draft anything to the executive office, but it doesn't look promising. As soon as all checks are cleared and direct deposits start flowing to my other account, I'm moving whatever I still have there by this time and shutting all my PNC accounts down. I'll update if anything changes though.
In any case, PNC customers - beware...