Consumer complaint received 2022-01-22
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: Betterment LLC (CA)

Introduction : I am confused at how my account was closed. I lost my wallet and called Betterment to have my debit card reissued and access to the old card denied. Somehow this call caused Betterment to unilaterally close my account with no excuse except to state We dont think our services are sufficient for your needs. Initially, after my first call, Betterment sent me an e-mail requesting documentation to prove my identity to get a new card issued. Approximately XXXX hours later, I received a second e-mail stating that my account was closed. Eventually, I learned that I would not be able to ever open another account with Betterment, meaning I was banned from doing business with the company in the future. Obviously, to go from such an ordinary request to a permanent ban, on its face, appears to be arbitrary and capricious, and I am worried something nefarious is going on behind the scenes that I am not privy to. Below is the full story. 

Background : I lost my wallet while outside the United States on XX/XX/XXXX. I had XXXX cards inside the wallet ( a combination of debit cards and credit cards ), so I went through the normal procedure of cancelling all the cards that were lost, to prevent illicit use of them. Each of these calls were normal, and most even had a streamlined process for this. Betterment was the third company I called out of XXXX, and little did I know this would be the most complicated and consequential. I eventually made XXXX calls to Betterment. 

Call # 1 : - XX/XX/XXXX Agent Name : XXXX I called Betterment with the intent to block access to my current debit card and have a new card issued to me. XXXX went through the process of verifying my identity. I could answer every identifying question, except for my " personal security questions. '' I usually write down random trash for these and did not remember what I had put. These are not required for online login, so there was no incentive to remember them. This seemed to be a cause of concern for XXXX because she put me on hold as she consulted with another colleague. After asking me some more questions, to verify my identity ( which I am confident I answered correctly ), she placed me on another long hold. She came back and stated I needed to submit documentation to reset my security questions. I was concerned at the time she did not understand the intent of my call ( cancel old card and re-issue new one ) so I explained once again the reason for my call and my concern that she was not understanding my request ( I did not mind sending additional documentation but wanted to make sure the old card could not be used by someone else ). She confirmed my old card was cancelled and in order to have a new card issued, I needed to submit the documentation. 

I planned to scan my documents later that day and respond to her e-mail. At present, with the ability to think about past interactions, I know I had called Betterment approximately a month before this call to remove a duplicative account and with help changing my e-mail. There was no problem with this prior call, and I have no recollection if I was even asked my " personal security questions. '' Even if I was asked for my personal security question, it obviously did not prevent me from moving further on this previous call. I understand that every institution has their own procedures and I saw that I had indeed received the e-mail with instructions for the documentation. Later in the afternoon, when I went to respond with my documents, I had a follow-up e-mail from XXXX stating that : " After reviewing your account, we have determined that our platform and services are not a good fit for your needs, and have terminated your customer agreement. '' I was confused as there seemed to be XXXX contradictory e-mails, and it also appeared that there was a major escalation from a basic request to what would eventually become a permanent ban. The e-mail interactions are attached as " Betterment Call # 1. '' Call # 2 : - XX/XX/XXXX Agent Name : XXXX After the conflicting e-mails, I called Betterment a second time to understand what was happening. Since both e-mails were so contradictory, it appeared that it couldve been a mistake. When I spoke with the agent, she asked security questions, and after answering them ( Obviously personal security questions were not an issue this time ), she stated that the team she needs to speak with was currently unavailable, and she would follow-up by e-mail. Later, her e-mail was brief, simply stating that the team wanted my mailing address, which did not address my initial question and had myself concerned, once again, if the Betterment customer service staff was understanding the reason for my call. The e-mail interactions are attached as " Betterment Call # 2. '' Call # 3 : XX/XX/XXXX Agent Name : Unknown/XXXX  I called Betterment a final time to understand what was going on. This time, the agent was able to speak to the correct department and informed me that my account was indeed closed. I asked if she could get me in touch with the team that makes these decisions, and she was able to have them follow-up with an e-mail. Overall, she was the most helpful and its a shame I did not catch her name. 
At this point, I had some back-and-forth messages with XXXX. She informed me the account was closed. The e-mail interactions are attached as " Betterment Call # 3. '' She took a very harsh and rude tone, as if my basic questions were beneath her time and it seemed difficult to get answers to simple basic questions ( Ex. Is the account simply closed, or am I banned? ). Almost as if I had done something so outrageous that its insulting for me to pretend that I am unaware of what I had done. ( How dare I leave my wallet on the bus ) I can understand why Betterment may want to be harsh with customers that are abusive in some way, but again, I originally called because I lost my card. Its not lost on me that maybe if I wasnt responsible and had not immediately called Betterment moments after losing my wallet, circumstances would have been different. Luckily, I acted fast enough so nobody had used it, but I cant help but feel punished for trying to do the right thing. 

Conclusion : At this point, my mind is racing with possible causes of why I was banned from continuing to do business with Betterment. Was it that I did not know my security questions? Did they not enjoy the cut of my jib? Was I not a profitable customer? Since the ban comes off as so arbitrary and capricious, I believe that either some error occurred, or that other nefarious causes occurred in the background that I am not privy to. Additionally, I was informed several times that Betterment had, in their words : determined that our platform and services are not a good fit for your needs. Its a bit insulting for the company to insinuate that I made the decision not to continue the banking relationship when Betterment unilaterally terminated the Agreement, and I was very happy with the services. I am not aware of any other institution that bans customers who lose their debit cards. I suppose I could understand if there was fraud or a significant amount of stolen funds, but again, I called early enough to prevent this.