Consumer complaint received 2025-10-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, Discover assessed a {$30.00} returned payment fee despite my account being correctly enrolled in autopay and all subsequent transactions from the same linked bank account posting without issue. 

I believe this fee was incorrectly applied, as Discovers system appears to have malfunctioned during the initial autopay withdrawal. 
________________________________________ Timeline of Events XX/XX/XXXX : I enrolled in autopay using my checking account ending in XXXX ( XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ). 
XX/XX/XXXX : My first scheduled autopay occurred. Discover later indicated that the payment was returned by the bank. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXXXXXX XXXX ) : I received an email from Discover stating the payment was returned. 
XX/XX/XXXX : o I redeemed {$100.00} in rewards as a direct deposit to the same XXXX XXXX account ( ending in XXXX ). The deposit posted successfully. 
o I then submitted a manual payment from the same bank account, which also posted successfully. 
o I re-enrolled in autopay using the same account, and all future payments have processed correctly since. 
XXXX XXXX : All subsequent autopay payments from the same account have posted normally, showing no issue with authorization or funds. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I contacted Discover via chat to request removal of the {$30.00} fee. The representatives and supervisor were unable to explain how Discover could redeem rewards and process other payments from the same account but claim that the autopay withdrawal failed. Despite escalation, Discover refused to credit the fee. 
________________________________________ Reason for Complaint The {$30.00} returned payment fee was incorrectly assessed. 

If my linked XXXXXXXX XXXX  account successfully : accepted a deposit from Discover on XX/XX/XXXX, processed a manual payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and has continued to process all future autopay withdrawals since then, then it is not reasonable to assert that the bank account authorization was invalid or that the returned payment was due to my bank. 

This appears to be an internal Discover processing or timing issue. I did everything correctly autopay was active, my bank account was valid, and the funds were available. 
________________________________________ Desired Resolution I am requesting that Discover to refund the {$30.00} returned payment fee assessed on XX/XX/XXXX. 
________________________________________ Supporting Evidence I have attached the original autopay enrollment email, the rewards redemption email, the XX/XX/XXXX credit card statement, and the XX/XX/XXXX email regarding the returned payment. I have also attached screenshots of the Discover chat transcripts showing their refusal to credit the fee and their inability to explain the inconsistency as well as the Autopay enrollment prior to XX/XX/XXXX, Reward redemption on XX/XX/XXXX to the same account, Successful payments from the same account on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief