I-Team's Call For Action helps college student recover life savings from online banking app
BOSTON - Tearany Robinson was out shopping when she got a disturbing notification on her cellphone that her life savings was gone. "It was honestly the worst feeling ever," she said. "I felt as if someone robbed me."
The message was from the online banking app Chime telling Tearany it closed her account and that she was not eligible for a refund. "I'm standing in the cold outside the store and I'm asking them why did you close my account? And they're saying, we can actually close your account at any time. This was $9200 of my savings that I've been saving since last year," she said.
A student at Drexel University, Tearany used the account to deposit financial aid payments and the little money she earned for taking care of an elderly relative. Because Chime is only an online company, Tearany struggled to get the answers she needed.
She tried calling Chime and sent emails but got the same response. "We've identified activity on your account that does not comply with the terms of Chime's deposit account agreement."
Tearany said, "I told myself you can't be serious like I literally lost all of my money."
The I-Team found Tearany is not alone. Within the last three years the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 5,034 complaints about Chime's checking and savings accounts. Of those complaints, 954 involved the closing of accounts and 360 had stories similar to Tearany's.
"We call them a non-bank banking app," said Carla Sanchez-Adamz with the Consumer Law Center. "They're not a bank."
Apps like Chime are an alternative to traditional banks. The company says it has more than 700,000 five star reviews and that some of the account benefits include paychecks up to two days early, no overdraft fees, and no monthly fees.
"There is just a lot of uncertainty and a lot of unknowns for consumers who bank, with these non-banks," Sanchez-Adams said. "Chime doesn't have any branches, there are no in-person places that you can talk to somebody so you have to be on the phone for a long time or chatbot and you may not get the best answers to your questions."
Frustrated that she couldn't get her money, Tearany reached out to the I-Team. "Two hours after you reached out to them, I received an email from a leader of Chime. She told me that she was going to expedite my close check for my account," Tearany said.
Chime told the I-Team in a statement, "We take matters like this very seriously and our team has worked quickly to thoroughly review the matter. We've issued a check to the member and have been in touch with her directly."
Tearany can buy Christmas presents and go back to studying at school and not worry about her life savings. "I was so grateful for your help; you have no idea. From the bottom of my heart thank you, because that truly made a big difference for me."
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises doing your research before setting up an account with a non-bank. While Chime says it is FDIC insured, many are not, making it much more difficult to get your money back if your account is closed or the company goes out of business.
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