Consumer complaint received 2019-11-15
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KS
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Can't use card to make purchases

Complaint:
I received a pre-approval for an account in the mail. I applied for, and was granted, a credit card account with Capital One. At the time, I did not have a Social Security Number ; I instead applied with a valid ITIN. Upon approval, a hold was placed on the account and I was asked to submit further information. This information included my passport, a copy of the ITIN, and a utility bill showing proof of address. This was provided and the hold was not removed, as Capital One stated that they now required a valid SSN. 

After a month or two, I was issued a Social Security Number, as well as a permanent residency card from the federal government. Both of these documents were submitted to Capital One. The hold was still not removed. At that time, I was then asked for a copy of a State ID or Driver 's License, which I have not yet obtained, as I don't need one for my day-to-day and it would require both myself and my husband to take time off work and spend further money on this issue. The Terms and Conditions of the account do state that a government-issued ID may be required ; multiple forms of government-issued ID have been provided to the company. When I spoke to Capital One, they advised me that requiring a state-issued ID was a new policy with the company and that they did not inform customers of this change, but they would not be releasing the account until a State ID or Driver 's License is provided. The verification information required by the Terms and Conditions of the account has been satisfied, and the representative of Capital One agreed with that on a recorded line, XX/XX/2019. I volunteered to send in further documentation from the US federal government showing date of birth, address, etc, and I was denied. This is a potential UDAAP violation. 

Further, Capital One has stated that they are, in fact, reporting to the credit bureaus using the provided SSN. This means that there will now be a direct hit to my credit, possibly including the indication of an account hold. This is a potential FCRA violation. 

The Terms and Conditions of the account as agreed upon by myself and Capital One do not state that cardholders must have/obtain a state-issued ID. The company is therefore operating on the assumption that all applicants will have this identification, but they do not state that it is a requirement on their website or in the Terms/Conditions, or on the pre-approval that was mailed to me. They are, however, willing to open the account and report to the bureaus prior to requesting this information from new consumers. This is a potential UDAAP and FCRA violation. 

Capital One has also indicated that they have confirmed the validity of the documentation we have already provided, which more than satisfies the legal verification requirements of the PATRIOT Act, sec 326. 

My husband, who is a natural-born US Citizen, has two existing accounts with this bank and has never been asked to provide state-issued documentation of any sort. I am listed on one of those accounts as an authorized user. I have also asked other US citizens about their experience with Capital One and was told that this form of documentation was never requested of them. When speaking to Capital One, they state that this is not standard practice for all accounts, only specific types of accounts, but they would not disclose specifics as to why this account was impacted. This seems to be discrimination based on national origin ( a protected class ), with a direct impact to my credit, which is also potentially a UDAAP and/or Fair Lending violation. We have made no less than 3 attempts to rectify this situation with the bank.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation