Consumer complaint received 2023-04-28
Company: Self Financial Inc.
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
Hello. On XXXX XXXX XXXX I received an e-mail from Self Financial stating that my card has been locked. A few minutes later, I received another e-mail stating the following : " During a routine review of your Self account we have determined that well need some further documentation from you in order to complete that review. Verifying your identity and payment information helps us keep your account secure and is required by law. In order to complete this request, please upload the listed documents to your profile here. 
State Issued Identification Card Bank Statement ending in XXXX If youre unable to provide one or all of these documents, see this Help page which lists alternatives and explains our requests. 

In order to verify your account and complete our review, well need to receive your files within 15 days of this request. If we dont receive your documents by the 15 day deadline, well need to close your account. '' I called the Company immediately and went through the documents that they requested. I sent them in that day ( my bank statement and my ID ). I called the Company to ask for an update. The service reps said that it was being handled by a special department and I was on hold for 1.25 hours while I waited for the connection to be made. Once I was put through, the fraud department asked again for the paperwork and I again sent it in. I was told that they would confirm it and that this would be resolved within 5-10 business days. 

The next day, XXXX XXXX XXXX I was sent another e-mail stating that my account would close by XXXX that evening. 

" Your Self Visa Credit Card Account is Scheduled to Close Hi XXXX, Were in the process of closing your Self Visa Credit Card. You can expect the account closure to be completed by XXXX CT and you will receive an email to confirm the account is closed. 

If you did not request an account closure, please contact us as soon as possible. Our support team is available until XXXX CT. '' Since I did not request a closure and I was doing everything I could to prevent it, I then spent almost half the day talking to reps at Self who told me to ignore that e-mail and that, having submitted the paperwork, it was just a matter of a few days and it would be cleared. 

On XX/XX/2023, at XXXX XXXX, I received this e-mail : " Self Visa Credit Card : Your account has been closed Hi XXXX, We are contacting you to let you know that your Self Visa Credit Card account has been closed. 

If you owe money on your card, your credit card security deposit will be used to pay off this amount. Any remaining security deposit funds will be returned to your Credit Builder Account if possible. If your Credit Builder Account is closed, or we are unable to move the fund to your Credit Builder Account, any remaining funds will be returned using the payout preference we have on file in approximately 14 calendar days. Please note that outstanding transactions or payments may result in additional payout processing time. 

If the money owed on your card exceeds your security deposit amount, you will be required to payoff your remaining balance. 
Regards, The Self Team self.inc '' They then closed my " credit builder '' account : " Self : your credit builder loan is canceled Hi XXXX, After carefully reviewing your customer profile, we have decided to cancel your Credit Builder Account with XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX 

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this notice. 
Sincerely, Self Team self.inc '' I have worked hard for the last 7 years to turn my credit around. I put a lot of time and money into the SELF credit card system -- XXXX securing my line and then gradually having it build. I am not sure why this is happening but I really can't afford to lose my credit cards. I have never been late and I have always paid my bills from the same account. 

I would like to request that this be investigated. A company should not be able to unilaterally close your account for unknown reasons, refuse to inform you as to why, and ignore its own terms and e-mails ( " you have 15 days '' to submit this paperwork- only to close the account the next day. '' ) Thank you for taking the time to review this. I am at your disposal for any information or assistance needed. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX )

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation