Popular US Bank Faces Surge in Complaints Over Frozen Accounts: Report

Numerous complaints of frozen accounts at a leading US bank have prompted a review by the Better Business Bureau.

Green Dot Bank, affiliated with Walmart and TurboTax, has been under the spotlight for two consecutive weeks. Numerous customers have voiced their inability to access their funds, a concerning trend highlighted by NBC News. This bank, boasting a clientele of 33 million, is currently under the watchful eye of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) due to a significant surge in complaints.

UpDownRadar, a web outage tracker, has been inundated with daily comments from frustrated Green Dot customers. These comments predominantly revolve around issues related to accessing funds. To delve deeper into this issue, NBC News took the initiative to interview seven affected individuals over the past two weeks. Their findings were revealing. A majority, five out of the seven, were informed that maintenance glitches were the root cause of their woes. In contrast, the remaining two were alerted that their accounts had been flagged for potentially suspicious activities.

In response to the mounting concerns, Green Dot's spokesperson, Alison Lubert, addressed the public. She attributed the recent spate of issues to technological upgrades that inadvertently led to temporary service outages. Lubert was quick to assure that these technical hitches have since been rectified. She further emphasized that the disruptions impacted only a "minor segment" of their vast customer base. As a remedial measure, the bank has issued credits to those adversely affected by the outages.

However, it's worth noting that not all issues have been fully resolved. At least one individual, from the group interviewed by NBC, remains in limbo, unable to access their funds. This ongoing situation has inevitably caught the attention of higher authorities. A spokesperson from the Federal Reserve acknowledged being aware of the fresh wave of complaints directed at Green Dot. However, they remained non-committal, neither confirming nor denying the initiation of a formal inquiry into the bank's practices.

Aug 27, 2023