Consumer complaint received 2024-12-04 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
In the last 30 days or so, I have had and issue with Chime pushing through transactions on my LOCKED XXXX  Debit card connected to my checking account. These instances have cost me time, inconvenience and money to resolve. 

As a security measure, I keep my credit cards and my debit cards locked unless I am actively paying for goods or services. I intentionally do not use the routing number and account number for security/ACH reasons. I am assured that no transactions will process through my checking account via debit card number when it is locked. It appears that this is not the case with Chime. It is either a security breach or an internal problem within their processing system. 

On Tuesday XX/XX/year> I ordered and paid for a couple of trips with XXXX in XXXX XXXX, NV. The first transaction was a ride booked at XXXX XXXX  PST in the amount of {$10.00}. I was able to pay for my ride AFTER unlocking my debit card ending in XXXX. When XXXX debited my card for that amount, I locked my card. Imagine my surprise to see another charge for this same trip @ XXXX XXXX! It debited my checking account although my locked card should have prevented it from processing. It was forced through! 

Again, on Tuesday XX/XX/year> @ XXXX XXXX  PST I ordered an XXXX in XXXX XXXX, NV and paid {$9.00} using my Chime Visa debit card ending in XXXX. I unlocked my card to pay and immediately after that amount was deducted from my checking account, I locked my card. However, on Wednesday XX/XX/year> @ XXXX XXXX  XXXX, my checking account was debited in the amount of {$9.00}! Again, my card was and still is locked. 

These are unauthorized and duplicated transactions. Interestingly as I am typing out this complaint, I received a notification on my phone letting me know that my payment to XXXX XXXX could not process because ... wait for it ... MY CARD IS LOCKED! 

So, here begs the question : How did Chime push through and process duplicate transactions for XXXX? 

The charges that I reference above are duplicates that should have never processed. They could have tried, but the actual money should not have been taken from my account for all the reasons I have stated above. 

When I reached out to XXXX they immediately released any pending holds to rectify the issue. However, I am fairly certain that the problem is not on their end of the transactions. 

When I reached out to Chime ( and yes I actually spoke with a live rep and not just a bot ). They were not forthcoming or very helpful. They said that I have to wait for the authorization hold to automatically drop off, which takes about 7 days. I do not believe that even if I wait it will drop off. Why? I believe that this is a glitch, phantom authorization so it will never go away by itself. 

When this happened before it was a debit card payment that was processed as ACH even though I never authorized it to pay that way ; only using my debit card with CVV and experation date. That payment also pushed through a locked card. What these instances have in common is one thing : CHIME I need to order a rideshare now to run errands, but I can not because I do not have enough money in my checking account to cover the cost. But, according to CHIME, I need to wait 7 days before they will even begin a disput : e process! 

I am of this mind : If they are doing this to me and my account, how many more people are having the same or worse experience? 

Is this a Chime security breach issue? Have my/our accounts been compromised? Why are they not able to adequately address the underlying cause of this issue? Why is it so difficult to get a timely resolution?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation