Consumer complaint received 2024-06-21
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: DISCOVER BANK (OH)

I accepted a credit card offer from Discover in early XXXX and was approved for a $ XXXX limit. Before my card even arrived, I got calls and emails from the fraud dept. saying to contact them. It looked like a scam since I didn't even get the card yet. They sent the wrong card design, and when I went to activate my new card, Discover refused, stating I had to submit my passport or driver 's license to them first. I said absolutely not, and they said they will close my account then. At no time did they disclose this " requirement '' before or during the acceptance/approval process. They do not require this from the majority of their customers, and they refused to tell me why they were trying to do it to me. No other credit card has asked me for this, and nobody I spoke to about this had ever heard of such a request either. I explained that they already have my SS #, birthday, and address. If I give them everything I have, I have nothing to fight the hackers the next time Discover has a data breech and hands them a picture to go along with all other forms of identification and DL #. There were many red flags since the automated system repeatedly hung up on me when I tried to get someone on the phone. Then I reached XXXX from the fraud department twice in one day, which is unheard of in a large company with employees in multiple states. XXXX was rude and even claimed asking for a DL or Passport is the same as a bank asking to see a debit card. I said, " No XXXX, it's not because Discover didn't issue my Driver 's License and a bank issues the debit card they request to see. '' Eventually he admitted I can get a notarized letter to verify my identity so I don't have to submit that information, but that was a lie because the letter requests my license number. In order to obtain a notary 's signature, it is required that you show them your driver 's license. Therefore, obtaining their signature IS verifying your identity. If identity verification is truly what Discover wanted, they would accept that. But they refuse. Also, they can not verify what they do not already have. They never requested my DL # during my approval process, so providing it to them now does not verify their records. However, I actually went to XXXX banks and got XXXX notarized letters that stated I showed them my DL, SS card, Birth Certificate, and my Discover Card ( that they refuse to activate ), and Discover said that is not good enough. I even offered to travel to the nearest office to show my IDs to their employee, but they said they don't have XXXX. ( I was offering to go out of state ). I offered many solutions to further verify myself, but they refused to utilize any ethical business practices, problem-solving skills, or respect to resolve this issue that they created. I told them repeatedly I don't feel comfortable giving them my license # for their files, and asked what else can I do. They kept saying, " This is our policy. We'll close your account if you don't give it to us. '' They are like kidnappers holding my card for ransom. They hardcore marketed me for 2 years. I chose them over other companies and timed it to do a 0 % balance transfer. They already did a hard pull on my credit. My credit report shows I have $ XXXX more available credit, but Discover refuses to give me access to it. If I apply for another company now ( one that doesn't abuse customers ), it will be another hard pull close together, and the company may reject me because it looks like I have $ XXXX available that I don't really have. If Discover closes my account, that will also damage my credit and reputation. They have refused to do anything to mitigate or ameliorate the damages they have inflicted on me. I asked to speak to the head of the fraud department and they told me they don't give that information out. I asked for a contact name and an email to speak to someone with power and integrity to fix this, and they refused to provide that. XXXX, a supervisor, said I can write a letter to a XXXX XXXX and address it to " Care Of Complaint Department. '' They kept saying there is nothing I can do except submit information they never disclosed they could request. They are punishing me for not supplying them with information they were not transparent about. That is not even in compliance with Transparency laws. It's also unethical and disreputable. Nobody should ever be maltreated, disrespected, lied to, or deceived by any company the ways Discover has done so to me. This has been extremely shocking, offensive, stressful, and damaging ( credit wise ) dealing with their incompetence and shady practices. My banker thought this was fraud, especially since the letter Discover provided didn't even have their logo on it. She called Discover to see if this is really how they treat their customers. Even XXXX from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned me this sounded like fraud and this is how scammers treat victims because of the time pressure and threats Discover threw at me. I am not the only one who sees the wrong in Discover 's inexcusable abuse.