Consumer complaint received 2025-06-19 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Problem adding money — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Lets start first how it started to happen, I made a Venmo account to use their services to send my family members money for their medication a very important topic and a necessity. So I tried to add funds to my Venmo balance/debit card to send money to my family for their medication but it said There's an issue with the card you tried to add. 
Please try a different card or bank account. so I contacted support ( first time contacting them and I did it through the chat ) and the person told me that I needed to verify that was owner of that debit card/bank account and he told me I needed to submit a bank statement photocopy and a picture of my ID through the chat of Venmo so XXXX did exactly that and he told me hed escalate the issue to a account XXXX and that theyd send me a email back in XXXX days so I waited and 5 days past and no email back, so I contacted Venmos chat support again and they told me a different story, ( I even told them I submitted my bank statements and photo ID and they completely ignored what I said ) and then they said that their system flagged me adding my debit card or something like that and that their isnt anything I could do. Then I tried adding my bank account manually with my account number and routing number to see if I could do that but it said another error we couldnt add your bank account so I contacted support again through the chat again and they told me that the system is flagging me and not allowing me to add funds to my account for some reason without any explanation. So then I went to to contact them thru XXXX support email ( XXXX ) and they started said XXXX XXXX, Thank you for contacting us. 

After review, it looks like your attempt to add this bank account is being declined by our system. This generally happens because a security flag has been raised. 

In order to look into this issue further, we'll need to verify some additional information. To help us with this verification, please use our Document Upload Form, linked below, to send in the following : A digital copy or photo of a statement from the bank account you attempted to add on XX/XX/year>. 

Please make sure to include your full name associated with that account, the name of the bank, the last XXXX digits of the account number, and a date ( including a transaction ) within the last 90 days. 

A picture ( not a photocopy ) of your unexpired XXXX government-issued photo ID. Please do not omit or cover any information on your ID. 


Something that the first person I contacted said and I sent those documents but oh well I think they forgot about them, so I resubmitted my documents and the support team member replied back saying Hello XXXX, Thank you for providing the requested information. 

After review, we were able to make temporary adjustments in our system so that you can add your bank account. Please attempt to link your bank account ending in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  account by navigating to " Settings '' and then " Payment Methods ''. 

Once you add your bank account, we strongly recommend that you verify it before initiating a bank transfer. Venmo is not responsible for lost bank transfers as a result of incorrect bank credentials. For information on how to verify your account, please visit our help article : https : XXXX. 

Please note that your account has been frozen while we complete this process ; when you've completed the above process, reply directly to this email and I will be happy to unfreeze your account. 

Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. 


So then it would let me link my bank account and then the team member replied with XXXX XXXX, Your account has been unfrozen. You may need to log out and back in to see this change reflected on your end.

Please note that when you send us identifying documents, we only use them for verification purposes and they are not retained in our system following review.

We apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have created. Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions. 


and now I could use my account again but then when I try to add funds it doesnt let me so? What else do I do it just says We couldnt add your money, our support team is ready to help So I contacted the support team member again and he said XXXX XXXX, I can see that XXXX attempted a payment, but our system will not be able to process it. 

Although I dont have a specific reason for why declines like this happen, its typically for the safety of our customers. 

Its worth noting that only this specific transaction is being declined, so you may not encounter this problem with future transactions.

Attempting a payment multiple times in quick succession may trigger a temporary block and result in additional declines. With this in mind, please wait a short time before trying again. 

Even while you experience this decline, please keep in mind you can still receive payments and transfer any funds in your Venmo account to an eligible bank or card if needed. 

Best Regards, XXXX XXXX. | Account XXXX | Venmo And then I replied asking him Oh alright so I just wont be able to add funds to my balance ever? I tried linking my other XXXX bank account and it says error and then I tried linking my Chase debit card and it says couldnt add card XXXX honestly getting pretty frustrated I want to send money to my family member for my their medication but it just isnt letting me link anything to my account to send money. Do you have any supervisor or someone else that could help me with this specific issue? Id really appreciate it thank you XXXX and XXXX gotten a replied back since. I feel very discriminated and a lack of empathy from the support team, I really needed to send money to my aunt for her medication that she really needs but venmo is really lacking compassion completely. And claiming they cant do anything because its a system flag but they can clearly override it. I have submitted a few screenshots files below but if you guys need more evidence Id gladly send them just let me know.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief