Consumer complaint received 2024-09-27
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (OH)

On XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX, I ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) initiated a {$370.00} XXXX transfer using my USBank account mobile app XXXX option. Monies were being sent to XXXX XXXX using his cell phone number, XXXX. I received email confirmation from US Bank on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX that my XXXX XXXX had gone to XXXX XXXX XXXX US Bank app XXXX Report for XX/XX/XXXX also stated that the transfer of {$370.00} was complete to " XXXX XXXX '' using his cell number XXXX. 

On Friday XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX received a XXXX Bank XXXX stating, You received a XXXX Payment of {$370.00} from XXXX XXXX. This payment was sent to account XXXX ''. The problem is, my nephew, XXXX XXXX, does NOT bank at XXXX. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX, my nephew, XXXX XXXX, and I tried to follow the money and attempted to seek help from all of the parties involved ( US Bank, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX mobile ). NONE would take action. All advised that we contact the other party and stated that they were not responsible and there was nothing they could do. 

I decided to conduct my own internet research to try to find who was the last owner of my nephews cell phone number XXXX. I discovered that the cell number was owned by XXXX XXXX who operates a cleaning service " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '', at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, OH XXXX. XXXX XXXX lists her business contact number as XXXX. This is the same cell number that XXXX XXXX XXXX had issued to my nephew approximately 6 months prior. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, given this information I had discovered on XXXX XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX. XXXX would not confirm for me that account XXXX was owned by XXXX XXXX but they did suggest that I talk with XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Office : XXXX, Email : XXXX I shared with XXXX XXXX, XXXX, the information I had gathered from screen shots and internet searches. Specifically, the information on XXXX XXXX and her connection to XXXX XXXX cell number attached to an account at XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX suggested that I send her all of the info I had gathered and they would investigate. 

On XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a lengthy email to XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, again explaining the process I experienced with XXXX which resulted in my transfer mistakenly going into a XXXX account of XXXX XXXX, instead of to XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX. I included several supporting documents for their review, and asked for them to review the situation again and try to claw back my funds from XXXX XXXX. 
US Bank : I received a letter from US Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX, dated XX/XX/XXXX, regarding my claim # XXXX which I filed on XX/XX/XXXX. US Bank indicated that During our investigation, we determined the transaction posted as requested ; therefore, our claim has been denied. Once receiving the deny letter from US Bank, I called them back, discussing the info I had discovered on XXXX XXXX and requested that they reconsider my claim. US Bank reopened Dispute claim # XXXX so I could forward them the info I had collected regarding the XXXX account and XXXX XXXX and how my XXXX transfer for XXXX XXXX likely ended up in an account owned by XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I forwarded to US Bank at XXXX, the email and information I had sent to XXXX XXXX. I asked US Bank to please contact XXXX XXXX at XXXX Bank to work with them to try to resolve this situation. 

On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from XXXX, from US Bank, Office of the President, at XXXX. My claim she stated had been elevated to her office. We discussed the situation, and XXXX was able to view the information submitted. XXXX concluded to me that there was nothing US Bank could do. XXXX stated to me that XXXX, even though offered on the US Bank mobile app, is a XXXX party provider and US Bank can not do anything once the transaction goes to XXXX. 

On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I received the official position letter from XXXX, from US Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX which stated the following : " After receiving your request for assistance, we conducted a subsequent review of our denied fraud claim. Following a thorough review, we can confirm our original decision to deny is accurate. Although our claim was denied, as part of our standard process, we sent a request to recover the funds from the receiving financial institutions after your claim was denied. Please know, that the receiving institution is not obligated to return these funds or respond to our request. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX  denied the claims for the funds unrecoverable. '' On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX Customer Service and had a lengthy discussion with their representative. XXXX position was also We can not do anything about this. But your Bank should be able to help you. So the US Bank points me to XXXX. XXXX points me to US Bank. XXXX XXXX  points me to XXXX and to US Bank. It appears that not XXXX of these institutions is willing to protect their own consumers. Not XXXX. XXXX contended that if a transfer is initiated through the bank mobile app, that XXXX has no control. Only the initiating bank has control. 

What XXXX could confirm for me though is that the transfer did in fact go to XXXX XXXX at XXXX account XXXX. For any investigating officers, or others, this information is available under Case # XXXX. The XXXX rep also stated that my nephews phone number is still linked to XXXX XXXX and the XXXX account. Even though my nephew established his own XXXX account and QR code using the XXXX XXXX. 

Sire/Madam, I am at my wits end with each of these financial institutions just continuing to point me back to the other. 

What I have here is not a case of fraud, which does seem to have some consumer protections under Federal Reserve Regulation E, but a case of a flaw in the process. We as consumers have always had, maybe naively, a certain faith in the banking system that our money is protected. But what I see here is that there is no one to work on behalf of the consumer when clearly there is a system that is not safe. XXXX is a service offered through my bank, US Bank. So I as a US Bank customer, assume if the Bank is representing a service such as XXXX, that they, US Bank, is accountable for the accuracy and trustworthiness of the products they are representing and the system that I am being directed to use via the bank mobile app. 

All of the communications I received were from US Bank, not from XXXX. All of the communications my nephew received were from XXXX XXXX, not from XXXX. When my transfer ends up in the wrong recipients account, why are the banks claiming no responsibility???? If XXXX admits that the cell phone number for XXXX XXXX is still linked to a XXXX account under the name of XXXX XXXX, then why isnt XXXX responsible for stopping the transfer and then communicating this info back to US Bank??? 

When Banks use a product like XXXX, they do it because it is good for the Bank. It saves them money. So if the Banks are making money by using XXXX, then shouldnt they be responsible for errors in the system? US Bank should be the protective wall for me, their customer. My dispute is small. Only {$370.00}. But its XXXX XXXX. Somewhere in the system there is flaw. But not XXXX of these banking institutions investigate or take responsibility. They will only point me in another direction for me, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and my nephew, a XXXX XXXX XXXX, to solve ourselves. This can not be right. And to suggest that I physically go to the house of the recipient in XXXX and ask for my money back is ludicrous and frankly dangerous. 
The actors in my story are multi-billion-dollar corporations. They must have some responsibility to protect the consumers they market to. 

US Bank : In XXXX US Bank had {$250.00} XXXX in net income. US Bank claims that there is nothing they can do for me since XXXX is its own entity. Once the transfer takes place, it is out of their control. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX net income for the XXXX months ending XX/XX/XXXX was {$12.00} XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX sold by nephew a new cell phone, and gave him a mobile number that had been owned by a prior user. He was given no direction or information that he needed to take any protective actions since the phone had a prior owner. 

XXXX : XXXX handled XXXX XXXX transactions totaling {$800.00} XXXX in XXXX. XXXX is a XXXX XXXX XXXX payments network run by a private financial services company owned by the banks XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, U.S. Bank, and XXXX XXXX. So AGAIN, if XXXX appears to be run by the very Banks involved in my complaint. Why arent the Banks responsible for this error in the process??? The banks claim that XXXX is its own entity, but in fact the banks own the company that operates XXXX!! 
XXXX XXXX  : XXXX Net Income of {$5.00} XXXX Respectfully submitted XXXX XXXX