Consumer complaint received 2024-03-23 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: ARVEST BANK GROUP, INC.
State: AR

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I opened a checking and savings account online with Arvest Bank. Additionally, I scheduled an ACH transfer from my non-Arvest account to my newly opened Arvest accounts utilizing Arvests website so I could begin using them and gain access to online banking services. Further, my non-Arvest account was linked to my Arvest accounts via a 3rd party, XXXX. Hence, Arvest Bank could see that the funds were there as well as where those particular funds originated from. 
Now, being that the Arvest accounts were opened on a Friday and that Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, was XXXX XXXX, I moved these funds at the other financial institution to my savings, which operates more like a Rainy Day Fund or Goal Account as it does not have a separate account number that goes along with it. I was under the impression that the funds would/could be pulled from the Rainy Day Fund as the amount of the ACH transfer was the same dollar amount, I transferred days prior. I transferred these funds to prevent anything from being auto-drafted since they were scheduled to be transferred to Arvest. I never had intentions of not moving the funds back to the spending account by early Tuesday morning, as I am familiar with how most banks process ACH transfers due to being employed with five different banks over eight years following my high school graduation as well as working for two years in the online banking department of the first bank I worked for. However, I dont remember if it was that I didnt wake up in time or if it slipped my mind to transfer the funds back to my spending account on Tuesday morning, but the money was returned due to insufficient funds being in the spending account at the time of the transfer. Later, that Tuesday, I signed into my online banking with Arvest Bank, with the hopes that the funds hadnt been requested yet only to realize that the funds in my Arvest account had been returned. I immediately signed into the other banks app and scheduled a second transfer, as I knew that they would get it sent out quicker than Arvest, for triple the amount of the first deposit to cover the return of funds as well as the fees, if any, that incurred due to the first set of funds being returned. 
Subsequently, I received an e-mail from Arvest congratulating me on opening the two accounts as well as letting me know when I could expect to receive my login information for online banking. In addition, once I received the info from Arvest, I logged on to reset the temporary password as instructed but never used any of the funds in either one of the accounts as I was waiting for my debit card to arrive in the mail. I was further able to schedule an additional transfer from my non-Arvest spending account to deposit additional monies into my accounts with Arvest Bank. 
Then, on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to log in to my online banking using the Arvest XXXX mobile app, only to receive a message that my account had been locked and to contact customer service for further information, so I did. During my phone call to the banks branch in XXXX, AR, I was instructed by the girl I spoke with to call back the next day since the funds hadnt been posted to the account yet before they would be able to close out the two accounts. I asked if that could be done over the phone to which the girl responded with yes. Thus, the following day, Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called the number provided to me on the Arvest XXXX mobile app to let them know the details of the error message I received from my failed attempt to sign into online banking. The girl I spoke with was nice in the beginning, but then toward the end of the conversation turned extremely rude and offered no assistance. She kept telling me I had to go into a branch with my ID to fully close out the accounts, although the letter I received in the mail stated that the accounts were scheduled to auto-close, it would take 30 days, and that I would receive all remaining funds in the accounts via official checks in the mail at the address listed at the top of the letter, which was my po box . 
I tried explaining to the customer service representative that I dont have a vehicle, all my family lives out of town, the closest branch is over an hour away from my house, and I can not afford an XXXX or gas for someone elses vehicle since the bank has what is left of my XXXX tax refund frozen until the account auto-closes on XX/XX/XXXX. In addition, I was informed that I would receive one of the official checks via XXXX and the other via regular mail due to the dollar amounts of the checks but if for some reason I did not receive them, then I will be made to wait an additional 90 days to have the checks re-issued, which Im sorry but is unacceptable as I have bills to pay and young children at home. The letter also said that effective immediately ( XX/XX/XXXX ) the overdraft protection feature, the mobile deposit feature, online banking features, and/or ATM debit card features were removed from my accounts. So, Arvest Bank accepts the transfer of funds on XX/XX/XXXX, or XX/XX/XXXX, then proceeds to send me a letter in the mail to my po box , dated XX/XX/XXXX, telling me that a decision has been made to close out both of my accounts and that my money will be mailed to me in 30 days as well as to let me know that all access I held to the accounts was removed. 
Therefore, after receiving the letter in the mail from the bank, I opened a second account with them using a different e-mail address in hopes that it would remain open so I could transfer my money back to the bank it had been sent from, but Arvest decided to place the new account under the same online banking information which left me no way to sign in due to Arvest Bank suspending all of my access. Moreover, I never received any further e-mails from Arvest Bank providing me with new online banking information. Therefore, on Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, I went to Arvests website and requested I be contacted by phone the following day, Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, by someone regarding personal account assistance. The e-mail address and phone number I used to submit the request are the same ones I used to set up the accounts on XX/XX/XXXX. After submitting the request, I received the confirmation e-mail confirming the next days appointment to the e-mail address provided, which is also the same one I used when I set the accounts up online. Finally, around XXXX XXXX, on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received the phone call I had set up the prior evening from the customer service representative listed on the confirmation e-mail ( I did not choose anyone specific, just someone who could assist me in getting the accounts closed out and the checks put in the mail as I had done explained to the customer service representative as well as other various employees of Arvest Bank that I have bills to pay along with XXXX middle school-aged children ). The customer service representative I first spoke with informed me that to get what was being requested taken care of, she would have to fully verify my identity and went on to say that she would be able to do this by sending me a secure link to the phone number on file but quickly redacted that statement and said she wouldnt be able to verify me that way but never explained why. She then proceeds to ask if I can verify the e-mail address on file, so I give her the one I used when I opened the accounts as these accounts are the ones I am attempting to close out early since they are the ones with my money in them. She then went on to inform me that the e-mail address I gave her was wrong, so I further explained how I opened three different accounts over the past few days under three different e-mail addresses ( of course, all three e-mail addresses are listed under my name ) and what my hopes were when I decided to open the additional accounts. I further explained to her how my cell phone would be turned off before the checks would arrive if I am made to wait until XX/XX/XXXX, as well as my electricity in my home due to an extension already being applied to the account from the previous month. XXXX has already sent me a shutoff notice informing me that my electricity will be disconnected on XX/XX/XXXX, if the bill isnt paid by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. In turn, this will cause {$500.00} worth of groceries, purchased using my XXXX card, on XX/XX/XXXX, to ruin, and the XXXX office is not going to replace the funds just because Arvest Bank employees cant all get on the same page with what the banks policy is regarding what steps they should take to fully verify a customer over the phone. In addition, the customer service representative only allowed me to give her two of the three e-mail addresses I used when setting up the accounts online ( all except the first two, were created on different days but no more than one week apart ) before telling me that because I am not able to answer correctly, she wont be able to get me fully verified and that my only option to close out the accounts is to physically walk into a branch and show ID, but I had already explained to her why that wasnt possible at the time. Also, there is no way for me to know which e-mail address the bank decided to use after suspending my online banking access. I just know that the e-mails I received from Arvest Bank about the first two accounts, including but not limited to all password reset requests, were and still are sent to the e-mail address that I provided to the customer service representative, yet she tells me its wrong. 
Yet, I never received any additional e-mail from Arvest Bank, aside from the one on the first two accounts I opened online, providing me with a new login for accessing my online banking. What I did receive, however, was a letter from them stating that the accounts opened after the first two had been placed under the same online banking ; thus, if that was true then the e-mail address I initially used, should have remained on the account instead of the bank deleting the first one and replacing it with each new one. 
Also, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received another letter from Arvest concerning the second account I opened online, informing me that their records show that my address was recently changed, but I dont understand how I could change the address on any of my accounts seeing as the bank suspended my online banking access, as well as all other access to my accounts due to the returned ACH transfer, which, I covered the next day before Arvest Bank suspending my access to online banking services.

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