Consumer complaint received 2024-08-19
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Fee problem
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

I was a First Republic checking account customer. When Chase purchased First Republic, I automatically became a customer of Chase. This transition occurred approximately XX/XX/year>. The checking account product I've had since this transition is Chase 's Premier Plus Checking, the comparable account they offered me based on my First Republic account status at the time of the acquisition. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter titled " Important information regarding the recent transition of your account ( XXXX ) ''. 

The letter states : " Dear Valued Customer, to better meet your banking needs, we have re-evaluated the recent transition of your First Republic account. As a result, we will change your account to a new Chase account with additional features and benefits on XX/XX/year> ''. 

The new account is identified as " Chase XXXX Checking ''. 

The letter continues : " If you change your account to another account type before XX/XX/year>, you will stay in the account you select and you can disregard this letter. Otherwise, you will change to ( Chase Sapphire Checking ) ''. 

Nowhere in the letter does it say I have the option to keep my previous checking account, the account Chase supplied to me following the First Republic acquisition. In fact, the only two options suggested by the language above are a. ) I accept the change to Chase Sapphire, or, b. ) I change to another account. 

It should be noted that the Chase Sapphire account requires a much higher requirement to avoid a $ 25 Monthly Service Fee. The daily minimum starting balance ( of the account or linked qualifying investments ) is {$75000.00} to avoid the monthly fee. My current account features a requirement of {$15000.00} in order for Chase to waive the monthly service fee. 

After determining that Chase was not eliminating the Premier Plus Checking account I currently have, I called Chase customer support to say I simply wanted to keep the account I currently have and that I found the letter to be highly deceptive, as it failed to offer the option of maintaining my current account status. At this point, customer support told me that in order to keep my current account and make NO CHANGE to my current customer status, that I need to visit a Chase bank branch and speak with a customer representative. 

Believing this couldn't possibly be true, I called again and spoke with a different customer support agent. The second agent also told me that I must visit a bank branch in order to make NO CHANGE to my current checking account. I requested to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor told me the agents were correct. I notified the supervisor that I live in rural XXXX XXXX ( CA ), and that the nearest Chase branch was at least a XXXX minute XXXX XXXX. She acknowledged that requiring a customer to visit a bank branch for no reason whatsoever was unreasonable, but that this is Chase policy. I told her I refuse to comply, and will be filing a complaint. She told me she " would submit a back office ticket '' and that I would receive a call from Chase within two hours.

Approximately 20 minutes later I received a call from a fourth Chase agent. However, this agent notified me that he was unable to assist as he is in the " Chase Retail Research '' division. It's clear the supervisor devised the " submit a ticket '' ruse simply to get me off the phone. 

I strongly question the legality of requiring a customer to visit a bank branch to simply keep their current account status. Further, I find the letter that I received from Chase to be highly deceptive as it clearly suggests ( through omission ) that simply maintaining my current account status is not an option. Please note the above mentioned use of " change your account to another account type ''. 

This type of deceptive marketing and account management is utterly reprehensible. I will be closing my Chase account as soon as I can and will actively share my experience so others can appreciate the depths to which Chase management has sunk. 

Shame on Chase.