Unemployed Say US Bank is Wrongfully Freezing Their Benefit Accounts
Nate Trammell of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania lost his job in manufacturing when the pandemic hit in March 2020, and has relied on unemployment benefits while waiting to be recalled back to work. On September 16, the prepaid debit card he received unemployment benefits through, US Bank’s reliacard, was frozen and he’s struggled over the past several weeks to try to resolve the issue and be able to access his funds.
“I've attempted to gain access to my account several times to no avail. I've spoken to several US Bank customer service agents who had me verify my identity and gave different statements to why my account is locked deemed inactive,” said Trammell, a father of two who has struggled to pay bills and afford basic necessities such as food since his account was frozen.
Several states throughout the US pay out unemployment benefits through US Bank’s prepaid debit card service, reliacard, in lieu of issuing paper checks. Unemployment benefit recipients around the US have complained of their accounts being frozen without notice, and difficulty in resolving the issue as they have suddenly been stripped of access to their unemployment pay during the pandemic for indefinite periods of time.
In US Bank’s most recent quarterly report, they attributed growth of the bank’s income to ‘state unemployment distributions on prepaid debit cards.’
On September 23, the Oregon Employment Department issued a statement on social media that the agency was receiving a influx of complaints about US Bank reliacard accounts being frozen, and provided direction that agency had no ability to resolve these issues, and directed users to contact US Bank and ask to speak to a supervisor if directed to contact the Oregon Employment Department.
Julianne VanDenburg of Portland, Oregon had to wait several weeks for US Bank to resolve her frozen account this past summer because the bank erroneously read a letter in her address as a number, triggering a fraud alert to her account. She filed for unemployment after receiving mandatory furlough days for her job in healthcare where she continues working full-time.
“They froze the card with no warning and we spent close to a month submitting and re-submitting ID verification documents to them. Each time you call it’s hours to wait on hold and then the person that answers the phone is able to offer you no information,” said VanDenburg.
Michael Felden, who worked in the restaurant industry outside Cleveland, Ohio before the pandemic hit, has not had access to his US Bank reliacard account since September 17.
“This is my money and all I have,” said Felden, who has repeatedly tried to resolve the issue through US Bank’s customer service for weeks, despite faxing requested paperwork several times. “They have cost me over $300 in late fees and my credit score I’ve been working on for the past three years is going to drop because I can’t even pay my monthly payment . Same goes for my car payment and rent. I also had to go to an urgent care to obtain my daily required prescriptions because I couldn’t afford to buy from the pharmacy.”
Kristin Moreland, a furloughed server outside of Cleveland, Ohio discovered her account was frozen when her card declined at a grocery store at the end of August 2020.
“I have three small children, I was in line with a cart full of formula, food and diapers only to be declined. I had no money to care for my children,” said Moreland.
While trying to resolve her frozen account, Moreland had a pipe burst in her home and had to live without running water for a couple weeks because she had no money to get a hotel room. Ultimately, she was able to change her benefits to direct deposit into a different bank account.
“That was all the money I had to my name and I suffered greatly without it,” added Moreland.
Michelle Harris of Huber Heights, Ohio has tried to remedy her frozen account with US Bank for over six weeks, and hasn’t gotten anywhere with repeated calls to customer service. She lost her job in the travel industry due to the pandemic.
“I haven’t been able to pay rent and currently have a pending eviction,” Harris said. She’s also facing a utility shut-off and hasn’t been able to afford her asthma medication. “I have two children I’m responsible for and as of now won’t be able to feed them.I was told once I asked the bank about this that I’m not the only one. I told them that’s insensitive and not helpful. I’m at a loss.”
Jessica Ralston, a laid off server in Austinburg, Ohio also had her account frozen for two months, while pregnant and caring for two children.
“I'm blessed because I live with my father in law so I was able to give him money once everything became unlocked, but what do when they have a deadline for bills and have to buy food for their families?,” Ralston said.
Jessica Lajoie of Caribou, Maine lost her job in customer service when the pandemic hit and experienced several issues with her US Bank reliacard account.
“As unemployed people, we are already going through enough,” said Lajoie, who had her account frozen twice before she switched to direct deposit into a personal bank account. “As a single mother, I’m living week to week and making only half of what I normally make, and I don’t have a local US Bank, so I was charged $3 everytime I used an ATM.”
US Bank did not provide numbers of how many complaints they’ve received in regards to frozen prepaid reliacard accounts from unemployment beneficiaries.
“We work with a number of states to facilitate their unemployment benefit payments. There has been an unprecedented increase in unemployment claims since the beginning of the pandemic, and we have issued state-funded unemployment cards at a record pace,” said a US Bank spokesperson. “We are also working closely with the states to address risks from potential fraud. To protect legitimate unemployment beneficiaries, we have added new capabilities to enable faster resolution for customers, including a new mobile option.”
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