Consumer complaint received 2024-08-19 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AR

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a complaint against Regions Bank due to a late payment they have reported. 

This late payment, which has significantly impacted my credit score, was a result of a systemic error in Regions Bank 's autopay feature and inadequate alert system. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call informing me that my credit card payment was XXXX  days past due. Upon investigation, it was determined that I had mistakenly selected " savings account '' instead of " checking account '' while setting up autopay, even though I provided the correct account and routing numbers for my checking account. Their website is difficult to navigate, making setting up automatic payments difficult. I had to phone Regions for help setting up this feature. They walked me through the process and when I mentioned that I couldn't remember if the account and routing I was adding were for my checking or savings account, I was told that the most important thing was to be certain I was entering the correct numbers for the account and routing, making me believe it didn't matter if I checked the XXXX XXXX marked " checking account '' or " savings account ''. 

Regions Bank 's system did not detect this error, leading to a failed payment attempt. 
Despite having ample funds in my Regions checking account to cover the payment, I was not alerted to the issue until XXXX  days had passed. This delay in notification could have been prevented if Regions Bank had a proper alert system in place, similar to other credit card companies. The lack of such an alert system directly contributed to the late payment being reported to the credit bureaus. 

Over several phone calls with various Regions Bank departments, I encountered numerous challenges and received conflicting information. Here are the details of some of my interactions : XX/XX/XXXX : I received a call from a Regions agent informing me that my credit card payment was XXXX  days past due. I was directed to a different department to investigate the issue, as it was confirmed by the agent that I had properly linked an external account for auto-payments with the correct account and routing numbers. It was eventually determined that the error occurred due to a checkmark being placed next to savings account rather than checking account. This was immediately corrected by me and the balance was made current. 

XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX in Customer Service created a ticket ( XXXX XXXX ) to address my request to prevent the late payment from being reported to the credit bureaus, given that the error stemmed from Regions Bank 's inadequate system and poor instructions when activating auto-pay. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I called Regions again to discuss how to prevent such an error from occurring in the future and to inquire about alerts that other credit card companies offer, which were not available on my Regions online account. XXXX informed me that the solutions group needed to be contacted to set up notifications for late payments, and she then transferred me to that department. 

XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX informed me that Regions can not set up alerts for customers, she didn't know why late payment alerts weren't available to me on my online account, and advised me to contact the credit card department. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I spoke with XXXX in the XXXX XXXX department. She initially stated that alerts for late payments were available online, but after further research, informed me that a late or missed payment alert is only available to customers who are not using the autopay feature. This explains why the alert was unavailable to me on my online account. 

The conflicting information and lack of support from Regions Bank exacerbated the issue. Notably, when setting up autopay for a XXXX credit card and deliberately selecting " savings account '' instead of " checking account, '' the XXXX system immediately flagged the error and prompted me to correct it, preventing any potential payment issues. They also offer late/missed payment alerts for all credit card holders -- not just those who have opted out of auto-pay. This is the level of service I expected from Regions Bank, but did not receive. 

Furthermore, Regions Bank 's refusal to provide missed or late payment alerts to autopay users suggests they believe their autopay feature is infallible. My experience proves otherwise. It's unjust to deny autopay users this essential alert when payments fail, unlike non-autopay customers who can manage this alert as they choose. Not providing autopay users with this alert suggests unwarranted confidence in this feature and neglects the real-world possibility of errors. 

This situation was caused by a combination of Regions Bank 's system flaw, their inadequate instructions on setting up autopay, and the lack of appropriate and timely alerts -- not by any financial irresponsibility on my part. I have worked diligently to recover from the financial devastation that followed a XXXX diagnosis in 2015. Since then, I have maintained a perfect payment history, and this incident is not reflective of my typical financial behavior. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation