Consumer complaint received 2021-05-26
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

Below is an overview of the ordeal I have been put through caused by what I believe to be a discriminatory banking system in our country. 

I am a small business owner, owning multiple restaurants and have 100s of employees throughout my various business entities. I also own a real estate investment company. I have multiple personal and business bank accounts and currently bank with XXXX XXXX personal ), XXXX ( business XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX bank ( business ) and Chase ( both personal and business ). I have a crystal clean background, am a law-abiding citizen and pay my taxes in full and on time, and have great credit ( XXXX XXXX XXXXOn XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter ( dated XX/XX/XXXX, and attached hereto ) in the mail from Chase which states : " Important Information : We have decided to close your accounts. After a recent review of your accounts, we have decided to end our relationship with you. '' I have banked with Chase for my personal and business banking for years, and have not done anything to warrant this closure. Nor did I do anything recently to trigger a review of my accounts, such as opening a new account or credit line. Chase did not reach out with any communications prior to this letter about suspicious activity or any alerts or action requests for me. The account that was referenced on the letter was a personal joint bank account that I share with my wife, but was addressed to me. 

After receiving the XX/XX/XXXX Chase letter, I called the general Chase customer service number to verify the authenticity of the letter, and they confirmed it was legitimate and told me that my accounts would be closed and they could not provide me the reason. I called this number and was on the line for hours waiting and talked to multiple specialists-none who would/could divulge any information as to why Chase was unilaterally cancelling my account. One of the persons I spoke with stated that I should go to a Chase bank and ask the branch manager for more information. On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, I did this and went to my local Chase branch I spoke with the branch manager there. She informed me that she did not know the reason for the closure and that there was no way for her to get information on it or for me to find out more or to dispute the closure. She said the only other person for me to call was the number listed on the letter and see if they can give me any more information. She also informed me that whenever customers of Chase receive letters like this ( she said it happens rarely ), that those persons can never bank with Chase again and are banned for life. She suggested I open a new bank account ASAP because after XX/XX/XXXX Chase will just shut down my account and mail me a check with the balance unless I close/transfer it before that hard date. 


After returning from the branch, at about XXXX I called the number listed on the letter and asked again for more information. Again, I was told that the decision had been made and there was no reason given and that I could not dispute it. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied with XXXX Bank, a well-regarded online bank, to create a new personal joint account with my wife. On XX/XX/XXXX, I heard back from XXXX Bank on my application, which they denied ( see attached ). I was surprised that their email response did not prompt me for further information to validate my information, it simply said thank you for applying. I was of course very frustrated after receiving this email. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, my wife and I visited the location XXXX branch located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX and met with a banker there. I have had a personal banking account with XXXX since XXXX XXXX my first job after college was at XXXX XXXX. We got through the application to open a joint account and at the end, He said he was sorry but that he could not proceed with processing my application because my name came up on a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX list ( see attached pics I took of his screen he showed me ). He told me everything was ok with my wife but my name came up on this list and he could not open an account with my name on it. I told him that was nonsensical because I already had an account and have been a XXXX customer for 17 years but he said he could not help me or proceed. After researching online, I saw that the XXXX list is reserved for criminals and XXXX who are flagged by the govt. Again, you can imagine how frustrated and embarrassing an ordeal like this could be. 

On the evening on Friday XX/XX/XXXX, I then called my friend and business banker at XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank, Senior Vice President, and asked him for his advice on my situation. He first asked me to run a credit check on myself and look for any suspicious activity-which I did and found none. He then saw the photo I took of the bankers screen at XXXX and saw that my name came up on their XXXX database. He said he would talk to the head of his Bank Security Act Department on Monday and get back to me. On Monday XX/XX/XXXX, he emailed me ( see attached ) to inform me that she thinks my name is being confused by these banks software with a man on the list who was born in XXXX in XXXX. She said when she ran my name in her security database, this mans name came up as a strong match. I was shocked and appalled that the software the banks use to identify persons on the XXXX list matched my name with this mans name, which isnt close to my name. That would be like the software matching a person named XXXX XXXX with a XXXX XXXX. Furthermore, my banker told me that he doesnt know how to get my name from being associated with this mans name because if I reach out to the XXXX department they will tell me that I am an not on the XXXX XXXXist. The problem lies with these banks software that is XXXX and lazily matches my name with this persons name. Also, these big banks dont care to further investigate when their software matches a person to the XXXX list and just simply cancel their accounts and ban them for life, or stop them from opening new accounts. 

I am extremely upset and frustrated at this whole ordeal and am unsure what to do next to help me in this situation. I am unclear on what other of my existing bank accounts ( both personal and business ) will be closed or how this mix-up will affect my ability to bank in the future-it is all very unsettling. 


I want to get clarity on why I am being unfairly targeted and punished by our banking system because I have a name that is loosely associated with a person on the XXXX  list. I also want to make sure these issues dont continue for myself or for other people with names that may be confused by a XXXX software system and people with names that may be confused by a XXXX and outdated software system.