Consumer complaint received 2021-05-12
Company: BBVA FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OR
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX PST my account with Simple came to an end as they were closed down by BBVA. Customers were told to setup their online account on Saturday to be able to use online and mobile banking. I was initially concerned that for a financial institution, I was restricted to a relatively insecure password ( that could not exceed 20 characters ) and BBVA seemed to be sending my social security number to their servers via clear text, and my SSN became saved in my browser after entering it into their website. After attempting to setup this account, I was told by the system that I needed to call them. I called and got a representative in a call center in another country, which bothered me since I had to give them my social security number and they are not located in the US and therefore could steal my identity without US laws protecting me. After being on hold for over an hour, I was told by the representative that I needed to wait a few hours and try again. I inquired as to whether my account would have 2-factor authentication since the password requirements were so insecure, and I was transferred to another agent who hung up on me. 

I tried again with setting up my account online several hours later, but again was told I needed to call them, which I did and was on hold for another hour or so before being disconnected. At this point every time I called I was disconnected so I waited until the following day when I tried again with the same results. This was also my experience when I tried on Monday and Tuesday at various times throughout the day. Overall I spent upwards of 10 hours trying to reach someone so on Tuesday I called again and asked to have my account closed. I was told I was not able to close my accounts because I still had funds in my account, and I was not able to have my funds sent to me in a check, so I would need to visit a branch ( there is not one located in my state ). Out of desperation I bought XXXX credits for the amount that my balance was to bring my balance to {$0.00} and I called again, and I was told I needed to get my account setup and then I could close it, but that I should wait until Friday ( a whole week after this all started ). 

This problem seemed to impact a great number of former Simple customers, but BBVA did not bother communicating via email with us, although they did post some tweets where nobody took any responsibility for the problems they were having. There was no notice on the website or on the phone recordings about the situation, only a message blaming longer than normal hold times on PPP loans. 

These actions by BBVA show that the upper management of BBVA can not be trusted with the accounts of former Simple members, a message that was clear not only from my experience but from the stories of hundreds of frustrated customers shared on XXXX, and even a statement from the co-founder of Simple stating, " I assumed that everybody just closed their accounts, but sadly, it looks like many people gave BBVA the benefit of the doubt. ''

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation