Consumer complaint received 2015-08-13
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: PA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Transaction issue

Complaint:
I have a Chase Visa credit card and I am filing this complaint because Chase automatically blocks payments to a specific payee without : ( 1 ) contacting the cardholder before declining the transaction ; and ( XXXX ) providing the cardholder with prior notice that, despite the fact that the cardholder authorizes a transaction, certain payees are blocked on its system and payments to these payees will be automatically declined. 

The transaction in question involves the payment of a fee in connection with my daughter 's recent application for a XXXX ( i.e., an official govt. approval, not a XXXX credit card ) for academic study in the XXXX XXXX ( " XXXX '' ). The XXXX XXXX application can only be made online, and filing the application is a long, complicated process. Telephone contact with the XXXX XXXX office is difficult and available only if additional fees are paid. 

On XXXX XXXX, 2015 I authorized the payment of a {$510.00} application fee in connection with her application. When I checked my email on the morning of XXXX XXXX, I found an email from " Chase Fraud Alert '' asking me to let them know if I used my Chase card for the following transaction : " XXXX XXXX Fee {$510.00} Declined XXXX XXXX. '' The options were " YES '' and " NO. '' I responded " YES '' via email. 

I immediately contacted Chase Visa by phone to check on the status of the payment. I was told that it was automatically declined. I subsequently spoke with numerous customer service representatives to see if the transaction could be reinstated and processed. At XXXX point I asked a Chase representative to contact XXXX about it and we spoke with someone at XXXX in XXXX to see if we could get a phone number for the XXXX payee so the payment could be re-initiated. We were not able to make phone contact with the XXXX payee. 

I was ultimately told there was no way Chase and/or XXXX could reinstate the payment the payment that had been blocked by Chase. 

In contrast, I paid another XXXX XXXX application-related fee using my XXXX XXXX XXXX. The payment was processed. After XXXX XXXX processed it, I received a suspicious credit card activity alert and in response to the alert, I confirmed that it was authorized. It appears that XXXX XXXX processed the payment, but flagged it for potential fraud, and then asked for confirmation. No problem! 

Unfortunately, the automatic block Chase places on the payee in question, a " XXXX '' payee, resulted in non-payment of the XXXX XXXX application fee and rejection of her application for a XXXX XXXX. 

And, as a result of non-payment of the application fee, her XXXX appointment at a local XXXX XXXX office was cancelled and she could not be considered for a XXXX XXXX until she filed a brand new application online ( and repeat the hours-long, complicated filing process ). 

She has filed a new application, made a request that the other fee paid ( using my XXXX XXXX card ) in connection with her initial application be refunded, and has re-scheduled the biometric appointment at a XXXX immigration office, but at a later date. 

The delay resulting from Chase 's block has put her outside the deadline for normal processing time for a XXXX XXXX application. Now, in order to ensure that her XXXX XXXX application will be processed in time for her to begin her academic program, I have paid an expedited processing fee of {$190.00}. I hereby request that Chase XXXX immediately refund me for this fee. 

Chase 's unilateral block on the specific " XXXX '' payee is the sole cause of the delay in processing her application. The block is placed by Chase to limit its risks, not the cardholder 's. The cardholder 's risk is limited by Regulation Z, which provides that a cardholder can not be held liable for more than {$50.00} for the unauthorized use of the card. 

By overly restricting payments to this XXXX payee, Chase has made a ch

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation