Consumer complaint received 2022-05-23
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: DE
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2022, my account funds were depleted due to 4 unauthorized transactions via XXXX ( time stamps show these transactions were initiated in 60 seconds ). As a result, my account was overdrawn. 

I called Chime as soon as I noted the activity and had my card cancelled and re-issued. I waited until activity posted to initiate a dispute. 

Meanwhile, same day I spoke with XXXX customer service who confirmed these transactions were not made under my XXXX account. 

At approximately XXXX on XX/XX/2022 I observed the charges had posted to the account and immediately contacted Chime to initiate the dispute process. 

Immediately following the call, I sent an email to Chime ( per the request of the dispute team ) with following details : Name, date and time of call with XXXX Screenshot taken of my account history with XXXX showing that there were no transactions initiated by me for the amounts of the activity in dispute. 

It's worth noting, that XXXX customer care was not available as my dispute was initiated outside of the merchant hours. 
To my dismay, at XXXX ( less than 2 hours later ) I received an email stating my dispute was being denied as they found no evidence of error. 
TAt XXXX I received notification that my claim was reopened after being in receipt of rebuttal documentation. I never sent further documentation. This suggests that Chime has an automated process in place to deny claims without investigation as my evidence was not taken into account before closing my claim. 

I was then advised via email sent at XXXX that per my request the claim was reopened and upon review, the decision to deny my claim would remain. 


AS of XXXX I received documentation from Chime in support of their decision to deny my claim. 

Their decision ( per the notification I received ) was made because of hte following : I had the card in my possession No lost/stolen items reported ( I '' m assuming like a wallet or purse ) I initiated a XXXX transfer not long before the activity. 

I've replied back explaining the transfer I initiated which was to cover what would have been insufficient funds for an AUTHORIZED transaction which still was returned unpaid as my account was depleted by the activity with XXXX. 

AS of writing this complaint, Chime has failed to comply with XXXX regulations, provided insufficient documentation. Clearly has an insufficient program in place to protect its customers. 

I will be contacting a lawyer to seek assistance in recovering my funds + legal fees against Chime. 
I've attempted to contact XXXX Bank ( with whom Chime partners with to provide these services ). Attempts to reach XXXX were unsuccessful as their phone menu redirects all Chime customers back to Chime. 

Further, the team handling disputes at Chime appears to be only in place to record the complaints but that investigations are conducted by a separate team with whom customers are NOT given the ability to communicate with outside of emails. Something must be done, XXXX should be held liable for facilitating a partnership with this company. Chime should be further scrutinized for misleading its customers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation