Consumer complaint received 2019-06-04
Company: BB&T CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Unable to open an account

Complaint:
I own a small business providing various services to merchants, a small part of which includes a few XXXX. I applied for two business checking accounts online through BB & T and was approved on XX/XX/XXXX ( Case ID : XXXX-XXXX ). One was to be an operating account for ordinary income, expenses, and payroll. The other was dedicated for XXXX XXXX cash and settlements. I received an email confirmation of the accounts opening which stated that I would receive a signature card and corporate resolution in 7-10 business days to return by mail. 

The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I withdrew the available balance from my existing outside accounts and deposited those cashiers checks totaling {$81000.00} into the new BB & T accounts with XXXX. After making the deposit, he told me the full amount would be held until XX/XX/XXXX because I was a new customer. I updated all my vendor and customer accounts to move ACH credits and bill payments to my BB & T accounts and began receiving deposits on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On Wed XX/XX/XXXX I called the branch and ordered cash from XXXX for a withdrawal from my XXXX account two days in advance. When I went to pick it up on Fri XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX told me they did not have my signature card on file ( I had just received it by mail the previous day ) and they were not able to print one for me to sign because they also needed a list of additional documents, which she obtained by calling a back office. She explained that my account was not fully open since I had done it online and I could not transact at the branch until they were submitted and reviewed, which should take 2-3 business days. I returned less than an hour later with the list of documents they required : -Signature card & corporate resolution -Articles of Incorporation -IRS declaration of EIN -3 months previous bank statements -recent tax return -XXXX processing agreement -List of XXXX locations I spent over an hour completing a detailed questionnaire regarding my business details with XXXX  who was helping out from another branch and was unfamiliar with merchant services. She also scanned all my documents and emailed them to the back office for review. The person who received them said she would try to look at them the same day since I was already delayed in making the withdrawal that I needed that day to operate my business. 

On Tue XX/XX/XXXX I called and asked the branch manager, XXXX, if I could come in to make the withdrawal. He transferred me to XXXX who informed me that my account was unfortunately being closed. He had been instructed that I could come in for a cashier 's check that week and after that time a check would automatically be issued by mail. The next day, I switched all my billpay accounts and ACH deposits back to my previous bank and went in to withdraw my combined balance of {$88000.00}. After some hesitation and a phone call to a back office, I was told that the process had already been initiated and I would have to wait for checks to be sent my mail in 5 business days. 

I said this was unacceptable, considering I had already waited most of the month for the funds to become available to me in the first place. I had needed the cash I ordered the prior week and now had to wait another week to receive a check that would probably be held again by the other bank before I could make a withdrawal. I was given the same explanation that my account was never fully opened because I had done it online and there was no one else I could speak to in order to override the process and leave with a cashier 's check. However, XXXX in the back office did call me and said basically the same thing again. My account had been frozen so there was no way for me to take out my own money and I had to wait for a check. 

It has now been 25 days since I opened these accounts and BB & T has accepted nearly {$100000.00} of my money without allowing me access to any of it. My payroll debit and two checks have now been returned because the funds that were supposed to be replaced into my previous account could not be issued to me upon account closure. In addition, my normal business operations are disrupted because the funds needed to load the XXXX have been tied up for almost a month and I have no way to pay off my business credit cards, health insurance, payroll or taxes. The XXXX are a small part of my business and all XXXX  activity was limited to one account for reconciliation purposes. Yet, the other account for ordinary business income and expenses unrelated to XXXX was also closed. 

I was given zero advance notice of the decision to close my accounts and no options that would allow me to keep them open. I have been in business for 15 years with no complaints and no instances of fraud at any of my XXXX. I was very transparent in my applications and specifically identified the business as a full-service XXXX provider which was one of the pre-coded options. I described my business operations in detail at the bank and provided supporting documents as needed. I know personally other private XXXX  deployers who load their own XXXX from accounts at BB & T. I have also since learned that other ISOs of my XXXX processor bank at BB & T by meeting the condition of using the bank 's treasury services to deliver their cash rather making withdrawals at the branch. At no point did someone suggest to me that I needed or even could use these services in order to meet bank requirements for my account. 

The branch bankers I interacted with were friendly and tried to be helpful, my experience with BB & T has been a frustrating disaster that is costing me money and hurting my business.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation