Consumer complaint received 2022-09-29
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: MN
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
Call XXXX : 1. Called Discover bank because their online system notified me that an out of country log-in attempt may have occurred. 
XXXX. Employee suggested I lock the account without explaining how difficult it would be to regain access to my own funds and account because they couldnt XXXX with XXXX using my cell phone which I could see was listed as a mobile device in my XXXX ( online banking ). Every other bank including XXXX XXXX bank is accepting my mobile for XXXX. 
Call XXXX : XXXX : XXXX. Called back to figure out how to access my account. 
Was provided more detail about how I needed to submit both my SS card and ID again since 2 factor authentication was unavailable ( they dont make the review easy as you must wait 48 hours for your documents to be reviewed regardless of your situation per information I was provided ). 
Call XXXX : XXXX : XXXX. Was informed that I need to access a specific URL webpage to upload my documents. 
XXXX. Uploaded documents and waited 48 hours to call again. 
Call XXXX : XXXX : XXXX. I was just informed that I now need to upload the back of my ID. 
XXXX. Uploaded the back of my ID and was told that I must wait 48 hours again and not given any other option by the bank. 
Call XXXX : XXXX : several business days have gone by with the end of month approaching ( when bills are usually due ) and now the bank tells me that my ID and SS card and back of ID have a slight blur to them. When asked for faster review options the bank only has fax technology as an option and isnt providing consumers the ability to use secure e-mail or obtain manager access without a process that will take additional days. As of today, XXXX all of my funds will remain locked for at least 48 more hours ( 2 additional business days ). My funds will have remained locked by Discover bank for over XXXX total business days with no option to obtain manager help for receiving a secure e-mail from a manager to get documents to them to review in an expedited manner. This is dangerous for consumers to get caught in Discovers account lock - and the process leading up to the locked state didnt clearly explain the implication if I opted to lock the account from the first interaction with the first employee. 
On the call on XXXX the employee made the claim that Discover bank just has to be more secure than other banks and claimed they are being more secure than banks that use my number for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  included ) because Discover has only digital banking. However, XXXX XXXX XXXX  is only digital in my area in the twin cities, so their argument wouldnt be valid even if they could prove that there is a more secure process in place on the back end where they are scrubbing numbers through whether they are with a major carrier such as XXXX, XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Whether Discover has a more secure process is up for debate, but they certainly arent implementing methods to enable consumers to access their own money expediently to prove their identity after they lock it up.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation