Consumer complaint received 2024-11-08 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem accessing account
Company: FULTON FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
Complaint is about Fulton Bank aka Fulton Financial Corporation ( XXXX ) On XX/XX/XXXX, the FDIC seized XXXX based XXXX XXXX  that held our personal and corporate funds in a number of checking, savings and Certificate of Deposit accounts. 

In XXXX we began to receive numerous paperwork explaining and supporting the transition of XXXX XXXX  to Fulton Bank. 

Although clumsily executed ( debit cards were received with no means to discern which account they were connected with ) we managed to sort out the mess with help from our local branch bank employees. 

Unlike the handling of our personal accounts we received no debit cards or checks for our corporate accounts to replace those voided by the transfer of our accounts to the new bank ( Fulton ) with its different routing number.. 

The routing number for XXXX Bank accounts could no longer be used. Thus, automatic withdrawals and payments to a number of institutions could no longer be processed by them. That required us to create a log of all those affected by the routing number change and notify each of them of the new routing number. 

The real death knell came when we were locked out of online access to all our accounts. This occurred at or around Friday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX. It is now XX/XX/XXXX and we are still locked out of online banking.

Bill payments and billing statements handled by XXXXXXXX XXXX online bill pay feature could no longer, and can not presently, be tracked to see if payments had been made or new bills received. 

We notified our brokerage firm of the routing number change but it could not be verified by them without online access by us to our checking accounts. This happened because we could not inform them of the date and amount of small deposits they made to our checking accounts since we had no online access to them. 

As a result of the above money could no longer be transferred to or from our brokerage accounts due to the change of the routing number. This resulted in losses to us due to being unable to purchase certain equities and index funds before their price sharply increased just after XX/XX/XXXX. 

To make matters worse Fulton Bank customer support was either not available or unresponsive from XXXX XXXX until now XXXX XXXX. 

Calls to their support line XXXX ( XXXX ) were not answered even after waits of XXXX minutes and more, and even with many attempts at different times on different days.

Computer driven responses to the phone calls assured us we would be contacted if we could not wait on hold for 40 minutes to an hour. We received this assurance with many of our calls but we were never contacted by customer support. 

In frustration we reached out to our local branch ( XXXXXXXX XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX. The staff wanted to help but could not. They were obviously overwhelmed due to many customers calling about problems with the transfer to the new bank ( Fulton ). I asked the lady trying to help me if she had other calls such as mine she replied " Yes. We've had many. '' She also told me they had a representative of Fulton there. 

Working with the local employee we tried many ways to gain access to our online banking. Nothing worked.

One problem is the website demands login verification via a text message sent to a mobile phone. We do not use mobile phones for our corporate functions, we use a land line which does not accept text messages. We tried various workarounds but non were successful. 

I asked why we were not informed in advance that Fulton Bank required us to purchase a mobile phone and pay the usage fees associated with it in order to gain access to online banking, a supposedly free service offered by the bank to its customers. No explanation was forthcoming. 

I asked the branch employee to give me her mobile phone number should I want to use it to contact her. She said they do not have that facility. 

I then asked why Fulton Bank requires its customers to maintain a mobile phone and account with the associated expenses when it does not require the same of itself. She could not answer that question. 

I was told the problem with online access could be solved if I came to the branch. It is unclear to me why a visit to the banch would solve the problem that could not be solved with my phone calls. 

I was also told I could get an app from Fulton Bank that I could use for online access. An app for what? A mobile phone. But I do not use a mobile phone for banking purposes, I use a desktop computer, for which there is no app and no online access.

Day 7 of the ordeal. We are still locked out of our accounts via online banking with no clear path to regain the online access we had used successfully since first opening our accounts at XXXX XXXX. 

How many hours of stress and strain have we spent trying to solve this problem? A reasonable estimate is 10-12 hours wasted and we are no better off than when the ordeal began.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation