Consumer complaint received 2025-08-28 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: ROBINHOOD MARKETS INC.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Not too long ago I was off the waitlist of Robinhoods XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. I applied and got approved. One of the requirements for maintaining the account is to have their gold membership which was paid/charged automatically in the credit card. I do day and swing trading to supplement my income. I primarily use XXXX XXXX for trading but because of the membership and the competitive margin APR, I was considering to switch until the situation of the following below happened! 

Facts : I deposited {$5000.00} using my debit card, which was the maximum limit for a debit card deposit. However, I needed more funds, so I linked my bank account and initiated a deposit via ACH. Robinhood offers an instant deposit feature for ACH deposits, allowing me to trade while the funds are still being processed. I was able to use this before since I have been a customer in their platform for a long time. Unfortunately, the deposit this time wasnt instant on my end, so contacted their support inquiring why. I asked them if theres anything they can do to restore that but i was informed i have to make a standard deposit and wait for that to clear. However, I dont have time to wait and halt my trades because they chose to do this. So I canceled it and decided not to proceed with it at the moment. 

I attempted to withdraw the funds that was deposited via debit card, but I was prompted to verify my identity. After verifying my identity, I received an error message stating that the funds could only be returned to the original source of funding. If I had withdrawn the funds using their instant debit card deposit, I would have had to pay a fee of almost {$100.00}. 

After making the withdrawal attempt to my bank account, I received a notification that my account was restricted and that I needed to submit documents. I submitted the required bank statement, but now Robinhood is closing my account without clear instruction to retrieve my funds. And I dont think that what they deemed suspicious warrants account closure. 

If this is fraud and risk related, theres no changes on my email and phone and I also went through their automated ID verification multiple times. I also sure the bank statement they asked. 

As for regulatory compliance, as a standard compliance practice, when a rule is triggered but the activity is accompanied by customer engagement, the next step is to seek clarification. This typically involves direct contact with the customer to gather more information, such as employment details and source of funds, the intent behind the transactions, or the nature of their activity, to build a comprehensive understanding before making a final decision. 

In this case, Robinhoods internal data would have shown my support interactions explaining my intent, both before and after the restriction. Despite providing this context and all requested documents, my account was closed without any such outreach. This represents a poor execution of their risk and compliance enforcement. A conclusion was reached solely based on the transaction pattern without leveraging the available information that directly explained it. And the violations they were fined of by SEC and FINRA would support the narrative of poor execution. ( I will be filing a separate complaint with FINRA and SEC ) While I appreciate the importance of robust XXXX and fraud risk protocols, the failure to conduct basic due diligence with the customer, especially XXXX who is actively communicating and cooperating, creates a frustrating experience and undermines trust. This approach often leads to unnecessary customer escalations and complaints to financial regulators. 

In contrast, I have not encountered this issue with XXXX XXXX, as my transactions are significantly larger in volume. 

Upon researching this matter, I discovered that several other users have experienced similar problems. 

Since I was able to provide the documents they requested, I believe it is unjust for Robinhood to close my account due to suspicious activity. Regarding their terms, I have not violated any regulations, as I only deposited money and subsequently decided that it was not suitable for me at the time and attempted to withdraw my funds. 

The debit card used and the linked bank account are in the same account. They can identify this by examining the BIN of the card used.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation