Consumer complaint received 2024-02-09
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Trouble accessing funds in your mobile or digital wallet — 
Company: Block, Inc. (TN)

This is a follow-up complaint for the same company, Block, INC. doing business under the name Square. 

The original CFPB complaint # XXXX, which was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX and closed on XX/XX/XXXX, to the satisfaction of myself and of Block, INC. Block, INC, dba Square. 

Block INC. has again put an account under account review and refused to release funds, even after a thorough account review was conducted in XXXX of XXXX, as I was found to be able, in the words of Square which can be found in the uploaded document response within, " continue processing payments with Square. " on XX/XX/XXXX, a customer, in fact the same customer as the last complaint, made a payment via a Square invoice of {$2200.00}. That transaction did not reflect on the balance of the account, which shows a {$0.00} available balance. After calling Square on XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that once again Block, INC. DBA Square has once again put an account under review. I was informed during that call that an email had been sent from the account review department. As of XX/XX/XXXX, as of XXXX, no such email has been received, and other than a verbal confirmation by Square Support, I have received no notice of an account review but am unable to receive funds. There is no immediate recourse as I am not even showing via email or via the Square Dashboard that there is an account review underway.

A transcript of the original complaint is copied below. Block, INC. claims they are not a banking institution and instead identifies as a Finance Technology company. They are, however, conducting business as a banking institution and should be regulated as such. 


**********. **********. ********** On XX/XX/XXXX, I opened an account with XXXX, a provider of credit card payment options that are supposed to be tailored to small business. Their claim is to " empower business all over the world ''. That turned out, for me, to be anything but the truth. I went through the account setup and application process on that date, XX/XX/XXXX, and received my account credentials the same day. Operating as a XXXX XXXX, I initially begin populating my account with invoices and payment options for my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I used Square Invoicing, an addon feature that comes with its own additional monthly cost, to invoice customers for services and products relating to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, like XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I took my first payment via Square using their mobile app, this in the amount of {$200.00} for a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( like an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). The payment process went through and the funds, minus the 2.9 % + {$0.00} transaction fee we're delivered to by acctached XXXX XXXX XXXX  account the next day. During that time I continued to build out " estimates '' for customers using the same Square Invoice service, as part of my Square account. On XX/XX/XXXX an unrelated customer made a payment, also for canvas repair, this time to a full enclosure for their boat. A deposit was made by this customer in the amount of {$680.00}, and I received the funds to my linked bank account, minus the 2.9 % + {$0.00} transaction fee. During this time, another customer accepted an estimate through the Square system, this being a full total enclosure for their boat. This project would be a mixture of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and for the purpose of enclosing this customers boat and shield them from the cold and the elements. This customer stays on their boat on nights and weekends and wanted this for that purpose. Once again, we require a 50 % deposit to purchase materials and procure any additional materials, with the remainder being due upon completion of the project. A project like this would typically take XXXX weeks to complete. On XX/XX/XXXX, my customer made the payment via the square invoice in the amount of {$4400.00}, half of the quoted and agreed price. Acceptance from the customer of the quote and payment was all made on the Square platform. Just two minutes after the invoice was paid and we received notification, we received an email from Square. This email has been screenshot and uploaded for reference. ( XXXX ) A copy of the emails text is below. FROM SQUARE : Hi ( REDACTED ), Were looking out for you. A recent review found unusual activity on your Square account, and we need to make sure its really you. To help keep you safe, we paused the ability to transfer funds until we can confirm your identity. Theres no interruption to accepting payments during this time. Complete an easy identity self-verification step to get back to businessitll only take about 5 minutes. Only it didn't take five minutes, I submitted a picture via the app of the front and back of my drivers license, along with a " selfie '' to verify " it's really me ''. After submitting this information, I received another email from Square which has been uploaded as well, ( XXXX ) A copy of this emails text is below. FROM SQUARE : Were reviewing your information now Hi ( REDACTED ), Were taking a look at your identity information and will get back to you within 2 business days. Note : You can still accept payments while we finish up our review, but funds will be held in your Square account as transfers are currently unavailable for your safety. Keep an eye on your message inbox as we may have more questions. When we can successfully verify your information, your funds will be released and available for transfers. Thanks for your patience and we hope to get you back to business soon. Sincerely, Square Account Services Having provided what was requested and being who I said I was, I figured we were in the clear and this was part of Squares standard account verification. The following business day, late in the afternoon, I received another email from Square. This email has been uploaded for reference ( XXXX ), and a copy has been provided below. FROM SQUARE : Hello ( REDACTED ), We recently reviewed your account and found activity that our platform is unable to support. Because of this, we are sorry to inform you that your Square account is now deactivated. What does this mean? You still have access to view your Square Dashboard, but you will not be able to process new transactions using Square. Any funds currently in your account balance will be held for a period of 90 days, and are due to be released to you within two business days after XX/XX/XXXX. Please note that the release date and amount available for release are subject to change based on any additional activity, including chargebacks or bank returns that occur. If there are any chargebacks, they will be covered using the funds held in your Square account. If the held funds are not sufficient, your linked bank account may also be debited. If you have a payment that hasnt yet been deposited, please see our support article on issuing credit card refunds to your customer and accepting an alternative payment method. Customers who paid via bank transfer must initiate a return directly with their bank. Thank you for choosing Square. We understand that this decision may cause changes in how you run XXXX XXXX and did not make it lightly. For more information about our policies, please review the Square Payment Terms. We appreciate you considering Square for your processing needs. Sincerely, Square Account Services On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Squares customer service phone number only to hear a recorded message saying my account has been terminated and that I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone, and telling me to refer to the email I received ( XXXX ). Of course, this not being a sufficient response, I called using my companies phone line and was able to reach a representative of the company. I explained the situation to the account rep and requested her assistance in the matter, the account rep name being XXXX. XXXX expressed her sympathy and actually attempted to find a resolution, only to be stonewalled by the company. We discussed just refunding the customer their payment, which square states in their Terms of Service and in the email sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX ) could be done. Only myself nor XXXX, nor her supervisor, was able to refund the customer to their original form of payment, and a message displaying " server error, please try again later displayed in red letters. XXXX stated she hadn't seen this message before and was working to resolve it with her IT team and her supervisor. Unfortunately, she herself wasn't able to refund the customer or to release the funds to me, but she did state that she had opened a internal case with the account services team about releasing the funds to me. I asked her if she would be willing to put that in writing and she agreed, a copy of her email to me has also been uploaded as well. ( XXXX ) A text copy of that email is copied below for reference. FROM SQUARE : Hi ( REDACTED ), Thank you so much for your patience. I have gone ahead and escalated your case XXXX to our Account Services Team to see if we could get your funds released sooner than 90 days. If you have any questions please feel free to respond to this email directly or give us a call at XXXX and reference your case number. Thanks, XXXX Square Customer Success ref :! XXXX.! XXXX : ref Hi ( REDACTED ), Thank you for your patience. I'm so sorry Square could not run this refund for {$4400.00} after countless efforts of trying. I have gone ahead and escalated your case XXXX to our Account Services Team to see if we could get your funds released sooner than 90 days so you can refund your customer. If you have any questions please feel free to respond to this email directly or give us a call at XXXX and reference your case number. Thanks, XXXX Square Customer Success ref :! XXXX. ! XXXX : ref As of this complaint filing on XX/XX/XXXX, no response has been made by Square and I was advised to submit a complaint to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. I have went ahead and purchased the materials and tooling required for the job in which I was contracted to complete as of XX/XX/XXXX. As a United States american and XXXX XXXX XXXX, your word means everything I can not have a customer out there that will not receive the goods or service that they paid for due to corporate oversight or corporate greed, whichever being the case. I think it speaks volumes that a company that's entire mission is to " empower business all over the world '' would deem it necessary to terminate my account without statement of reason, to cut off phone call access, and to delay the transfer of funds 90 days, or longer, at their discretion. Due to the fact that a refund wasn't possible, as stated in the email ( XXXX ), and with which Square deemed was indeed possible via email ( XXXX ) and in their Terms of Service, I am hereby formally requesting the funds be released to me immediately **********. **********. ********** All cases being the same as the last complaint, # XXXX, I am hereby formally requesting that Square release funds immediately and cease such actions that hinder small businesses across the nation.