Consumer complaint received 2024-02-27
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Trouble accessing funds in your mobile or digital wallet — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (TX)

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I initiated a standard transfer of funds from my Venmo account to my bank account in the amount of {$360.00}. The transfer was successful with an est. completion date of XX/XX/XXXX. Immediately after receiving the email stating the transfer was successful, I got a second email from Venmo ( also at XXXX ) stating my account had been suspended. The email states : " Hi XXXX, XXXX noticed some unusual activity linked to your Venmo account which may be in violation of our user agreement. To help us protect your account, your account has been suspended until we hear back from you. You may have also received a separate email providing more information about the suspension of your account. To resolve this issue, please submit a picture of your photo identification via our Document Upload Form, linked below. For your privacy and security, please do not reply back to this email with your documents. 

What is a valid photo identification? 

Acceptable forms of ID include a drivers license, state ID card, US passport, US Visa, or green card. The name on your photo ID should match the name registered to your Venmo account. Expired documents are not accepted. 
How do I upload the documentation? 

You can find our Document Upload Form here : https : //help.venmo.com/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX 
Unfortunately, until your information is reviewed you wont be able to send or receive money and may not be able to withdraw money from your Venmo account. 

Once youve provided your information, well review and respond about the status of your account, usually within 7 business days. '' I proceeded to take photos of my driver 's license and upload them to the requested link. At XXXX I got this response : " Hello, We want to let you know that we received your email, but because our offices are currently closed, it may be a little bit before we're able to get back to you. You can expect a reply during our business hours, which are MonFri, XXXX XXXX. to XXXX Central time. 

For your reference, your case ID is : # XXXX We appreciate your patience, and promise we'll be in touch soon! '' So I waited until Monday XX/XX/XXXX and then followed up with a chat agent to see why my account was suspended and if my {$360.00} transfer would go through. Here is the chat : " XXXX XXXX : Thank you for waiting, XXXX! Based on checking, your account was properly escalated to our specialized team and we already got your documents and please be advised that this process will probably take within 10-15 business days. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Do you know if the standard transfers I insisted before my account was frozen will still go through? My rent is due on the XXXX ( in XXXX days ) and I can not wait 10-15 days for the $ to clear ( XXXX XXXX  ) XXXX XXXXXXXX : *initiated ( XXXX XXXX ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Your transfer is also under review since your account is currently frozen. If the system will allow this transaction the transfer will successfully routed to your preferred bank. 
( XXXX XXXX ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Just to be sure that our chat doesn't disconnect. Are you still with me, XXXX? 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Ok. I will check back tomorrow ( the date it says it should clear ). If it does not I will have to report this to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
( XXXX XXXX ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : I totally understand how this is concerning you and we absolutely respect your decision. '' Please note the agent said it would take 10-15 business days when the first email I got about the account being suspended said it would take XXXX days. 

Today XX/XX/XXXX the money transfer did not complete ( despite the Venmo app still showing it will clear today ). So I called and spoke to an agent. He told me the transfer is frozen & there is nothing the customer service reps can do because only " Account specialists '' handle frozen accounts. I asked him to put me through to an account specialist then. He said account specialists only work via email and can't take calls. He said he would " escalate '' my case and that someone would get back to me in 10-15 business days ( again, their email said XXXX days ). I reiterated to him that the agent I spoke to via chat yesterday already said my case was escalated, and that I can not wait 10-15 business days for my funds to be released when my rent is due in XXXX days. He magically switched gears and said that now someone will contact me in 24-48 hrs as opposed to 10-15 days ( why couldn't they do that before?! ) and that they should be able to get my funds released in 1-3 days, though it will still take 10-15 days for my account to be unfrozen. 

I am now waiting to see if someone does in fact contact me in 24-48 hours and if my {$360.00} gets released in time for me to pay my rent on the XXXX. I will call them again tomorrow if I have not been contacted. At no point in any of this has anyone been able to tell me why initiating a simple transfer of my own money from my Venmo account into my bank account made my account get suspended. It's almost like they want customers to keep their money trapped in the app and punish us for removing funds.