Consumer complaint received 2024-08-07
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: PNC Bank N.A. (MD)

As is the case for many Americans right now, I find myself struggling to make ends meet. Dealing simultaneously with still-high inflation costs, record-high interest rates, and banks reducing risk using practices that compound and harm consumers and their credit has resulted in day-to-day and week-to-week financial jeopardy for my household. That said, I take my financial responsibilities seriously and take pains to remain in good standing with my creditors, including PNC, the company involved in this complaint. As a result, when I became aware that I may not be able to make all of my monthly payments by their due dates in XXXX, I went to PNCs website to research options for temporary hardship assistance. I used their online application to apply for their hardship assistance program, but based on an algorithm or criteria not available to the public, I was immediately denied as ineligible with no explanation. Knowing my hardship better than PNC 's computer, I called their customer service line for hardship assistance, hoping to convey to an agent my situation and get their assistance with enrolling me in a temporary hardship assistance program. After answering the agents questions and filling out the form, he submitted the request, which again was immediately denied with no justification. Due to PNCs inability or unwillingness to work with me to keep me in good standing despite my hardship, I was unable to make the full minimum payment required for my PNC Core Visa credit card account on its due date of XX/XX/XXXX. Understanding the importance of remaining in good standing, however, and knowing the severe, lengthy negative impact a single 30-days-late missed payment can incur on a persons credit, I prioritized making the full payment due on the earliest date I would have the available funds within that 30 day window, which was Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, when I was to receive my paycheck via direct deposit. 

To ensure the payment would be made and that I would not forget, I scheduled this payment in advance using the only method PNC makes available for making credit card payments, their Transfer page. The information provided via notification by PNC when scheduling and after submitting a scheduled transfer ( highlighted screenshot attached below ), indicates that ( 1 ) future-dated and recurring payments may be edited or deleted prior to XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX on the Scheduled Payment Date, that ( 2 ) " payments that have been processed are displayed on the History List within Funds Transfers, '' and that ( 3 ) if your From ( funding ) account has an insufficient balance on the Scheduled Payment Date, your payment will not be processed, among other statements regarding PNCs transfer practices. This necessarily means that future-dated payments occur after XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX on the Scheduled Payment Date, and that for a payment to be processed, the funding account must have a sufficient balance on the Scheduled Payment Date. It also indicates that a payment displayed on the History List within Funds Transfers is a payment that has processed. Having reviewed this information carefully as instructed, I deliberately and intentionally scheduled this transfer to occur on a Date when I knew I would receive a direct deposit in the early morning hours/prior to XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  sufficient to cover the amount of the payment. I have attached my Online Banking activity for the funding checking account below, which shows in the highlighted line items that the account had a sufficient balance to cover the {$950.00} payment transfer scheduled on XX/XX/XXXX, the Scheduled Payment Date, as well as every subsequent date through Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I've also attached the Daily Balance Detail from my XXXX statement highlighting a sufficient balance in my account to cover the payment on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. 

I paid close attention to the status of the payment/transfer given its high priority and my significant interest in it being processed timely. I checked its status multiple times daily on the Scheduled Payment Date and on subsequent dates, and through at least XX/XX/XXXX, the transfer status showed as Pending. Knowing I had sufficient funds in my funding account ( as documented in my attached account activity ), and seeing the transfer as Pending, I assumed there was simply a delay in processing from PNCs end, but had no reason to believe the transfer would not ultimately be successful. In addition, the payment was displayed on the History List within Funds Transfers, leading me to believe that it was processed, in accordance with the notification provided by PNC on their Transfers page. 

So, on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was surprised to receive a letter in the mail ( dated XX/XX/XXXX but postmarked XX/XX/XXXX ; letter and postmarked envelope attached below, postmark highlighted in red ) notifying me that the transfer failed because of insufficient funds. Not only did this not accord with the information available to me regarding available funds in my account from PNC up until that point, I did not receive the notification until a full week after XX/XX/XXXX, the 30-day mark following my initial due date of XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately called the number on the back of my PNC Core Visa credit card to ( 1 ) inquire as to why the transfer failed despite scheduling it for a time when I knew and was shown in Online Banking that I had available funds, and ( 2 ) to schedule a payment for the same amount to ensure that I remain in good standing. The woman I spoke with was unable to see any evidence that the transfer was attempted ( despite it showing in my Mobile Banking app and despite the fact that PNC sent me a letter in regard to its status ), and was therefore unable to assist me in providing additional insight into the matter. I asked her to make a note of the situation and of the scheduled payment so I would not be reported as having missed a payment and therefore would not as a result receive a massive, 7-year-long hit to my credit. She then transferred me to Online Banking, indicating that they should be able to give me more information about why the transfer failed. The woman I spoke to at the Online Banking department was also unable to see any evidence that the transfer had been attempted, and was also unable to assist me. I nevertheless also asked her to make a note of the situation so I would not receive adverse credit reporting. The next day, Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notification from my credit monitoring services that PNC reported my account as 30 days past due. What coincidental timing. 

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by my PNC Choice Banking relationship manager as part of their regular check-ins to offer guidance and support around financial matters. I shared with them what Ive shared above, and they escalated a complaint around the issue to the appropriate parties internally. I was contacted shortly thereafter by the woman assigned to investigate the complaint, answered her questions, and was informed that she would be contacting Online Banking to look into the issue, and get back to me with what she found. 

Today, XX/XX/XXXX, she called me to inform me that after speaking with Online Banking, there were purportedly insufficient funds in the funding account when the transfer was attempted. Again, this stands in conflict with the information available to me in real time as I continuously checked my account the day of the scheduled transfer and in the days following, and contradicts the itemized information displayed in my Online Banking activity for the funding checking account ( highlighted in the attached ).

So, after speaking with six different representatives from PNC to make multiple good faith attempts to work with them directly to remain in good standing, they have been at times either unable or unwilling to provide information and assistance, and I have been forced instead to submit this complaint in order to obtain a reasonable resolution to this matter.

Reporting my account as 30 days late is inaccurate. The information available to me as the accountholder shows that there were sufficient funds for the transfer payment to succeed ; there is no basis for PNC 's claim that there were insufficient funds in my funding account to cover the transfer payment. Any evidence to the contrary would support a claim that PNC provided me as the consumer with incomplete or inaccurate information that influenced my behavior in such a way that prevented me from being able to take informed action by making the required payment on time and as agreed.

It can not be the case that a consumer, making every good faith effort using the methods and information available to him to make a timely payment before 30 days have elapsed, can be directly prevented from doing so solely as a result of PNCs business practices and selective/inaccurate information sharing until after 30 days have elapsed, and yet then be reported as being responsible for having missed a payment.

Please find attached documentation supporting my account of the dates, amounts, actions, and events involved with this matter. Thank you for your understanding and prompt attention to resolving this matter fairly and reasonably.