Consumer complaint received 2024-04-17
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card — Delay in processing application
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (DC)

Applied for a Capital One Savor credit card on XX/XX/XXXX after being pre-approved using their portal. Application ID : XXXX. I understood that this didn't mean I would be automatically guaranteed a card, but I already have a XXXX, checking account, and a Quicksilver card in good standing opened XXXX years ago with Capital One so odds seemed good. 

I unfroze my credit, filled out my application, and saw the credit pull go through ( and subsequent hit to my credit score ), but soon received an email from Capital One that my account had been flagged to " verify my information '' by providing a copy of a Government-issued photo ID and my Social Security card . 

I attempted to do so using the online portal link they emailed me and signing in to upload document ( s ). The sign in required the last XXXX digits of my SSN, DOB, and zip. However, using the same exact info as my application resulted in an error. I tried again and it returned the message " You've reached the maximum number of incorrect sign-in attempts. Please look for your letter in the mail for information about your application. '' I called Capital One and they informed me the only way to send them these documents at this point was by mail or fax, despite the error being on their end with the website. Over the course of the subsequent month I twice mailed multiple copies of my IDs ( drivers license front/back AND passport for good measure, along with my ssn card ) as well as faxing the required documents directly through a Capital One branch as advised by the customer service representative XXXX 

I received confirmation that Capital One received these documents on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Each time however it was required that I proactively call Capital One to check the status of my application and whether the documents had been accepted. 

The first set of documents, I was told, were unacceptable, according to the third party company Capital One uses to review documents because the document copies were in color. I was never told the copies could not be true to color. So I sent another set copies in -- this time in black and white. When I called to follow up about these I was told they were " too small '' despite being sent in at XXXX size, they were scanned into the system on the Capital One end in a resolution that could not be read. Finally, I attempted to fax in the documents, going into a Capital One branch as advised by the customer service representative, handing my documents to agent, who faxed the number provided by Capital One directly. These too were rejected by Capital One who said the fax was " too shaded '' and that I needed to have also worked with a " fax technician '' to assure this would send properly. 

At this point the XX/XX/XXXX deadline to submit documents had passed and I had no additional opportunities to provide information. My application was therefore rejected. 

I contend that Capital One made the application process needlessly onerous and ultimately rejected this application solely due to negligence on their end, despite my going above and beyond to try to get required documents to them virtually, by mail ( twice ), going into a branch location in person, and faxing these documents. And also providing more documents than necessary ( drivers license and passport ). This resulted in an unnecessary hit to the good standing of my credit score. 

Any number of improvements to this additional verification process could have alleviated these issues : earlier notification by Capital One to the customer of issues with their uploaded or mailed documents ( vs requiring the customer to call each day to ask whether documents had been accepted ). 
addressing the application portal sign in attempts error so that documents could be uploaded virtually and offering an alternate secure virtual upload option once it became clear that their online portal was having an issue allowing in-person ID verification with CapitalOne bank staff or verification that faxes sent from CapitalOne branches had been sent legibly auditing their third-party verification organization for generating upload/resolution errors when scanning in mailed document copies ( whether in color or b & w )