Consumer complaint received 2022-06-15
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

On XX/XX/2022 Chase Bank, via their website, offered me {$200.00} to open a checking account ( attached ), if said account had at least one direct deposit made within the first 90 days of opening. I accepted their offer and filled out an on-line application via their website, where I provided my full, true, and legal name, address, date of birth, social security number, XXXX drivers license number, and an authorization for them to verify my identity with the Social Security Administration , and an authorization to allow them to review my consumer credit report. 

Chase Bank does a real-time, instant verification that an applicants name matches the social security number they give, and will not allow them to proceed further on their website to submit their application if it does not. 

After submitting my application, Chase Bank sent me a letter ( attached ) on XX/XX/2022, declining to open the checking account, stating they werent able to verify my identity, based upon my XXXX credit report. The letter offered no way to directly contact anyone at Chase, or alternative to verify my identity. Trying to call the customer service number listed on their website only results in them hanging up on you, if you dont have an account number with them, to enter. 

The question must be asked, why is Chase Bank using a consumer credit reporting agency to verify checking account applicants identity, when such agencies provide a wealth of information about consumers implied wealth, income and actual credit usage, but do NOT verify the identity of consumers they hold information on, and when the the sources of their information neither verify the identity of the consumers they report information on, or are not required to? 

The question must also be asked why is Chase Bank using a consumer credit reporting agency to verify checking account applicants identity, when they are collecting the applicants social security number and state issued identification numbers, both of which can be used in some states, and the social security number which can be used, regardless of state, to verify identity? 

More pressing still, if Chase is actually interested in simply the identity of an applicant, why are they choosing to use a consumer credit reporting agency, which which does not verify or report from sources that verify consumers identity, instead of using a consumer checking account reporting agency ( e.g. XXXX ) which DOES report information from sources that DO in-person identification checks on consumers? 

Also, if it is only identity verification that Chase Bank honoring its offer is contingent upon, and if Chase banks third parties are unable to do so, then why does Chase Bank not give the applicant any alternative to produce evidence of identity? 

But the MOST pressing question is, why did Chase Bank factually lie in stating it could not verify my identity, based upon my XXXX credit report ( attached ) when they did INDEED verify my identity, based upon said consumer credit report that included a full match on name, social security number, date of birth and address - AS WELL AS the definitively reliable Social Security Administration? 

In choosing to forgo sources of identity verification far more reliable than consumer credit reporting agencies while at the same time gaining vast amounts of personal, unrelated data on their checking account applicants, while at the same time in fact ignoring identity verification provided by government agencies which are the source of identity records, and in choosing to decline my application for the stated reason of not being able to verify my identity, even when identity verification was provided by both government sources and their chosen consumer credit reporting agency, Chase Bank has falsely advertised and extended an offer of {$200.00} in bad faith, that it has not honored, which its clear, it never intended to honor, unless undisclosed stipulations of a certain level of wealth, based on credit report information, is met. And under such misrepresentation, they have extracted from me, highly confidential personal data, of value for marketing purposes.