Hi, I have a question about what a bank account verification is and what its used for. Three years ago I started cleaning up my credit by paying off delinquent student loans, old credit card debt. etc. I got a credit rebuilding card from Credit One bank. It current has a small balance, like a few hundred dollars or so. Now my credit is over 780. Which is good, I'd like it to stay that way. Anyway, my husband and I merged our checking accounts into a joint account so all our pay is direct deposited there. When I went to pay my Credit One bill - I absent mindedly did so with my old account information. They sent me a letter saying I still owed them and if I send a bad check again they can cancel my account. Fine, I sent them a new check with the new joint account number. They cashed it. Next month I got a bill. I sent them another check from the new account number, they cashed it. Fine. Now I try to sign into my account on line and it says its suspended. I call customer service - they tell me its suspended because of the returned payment with the old account info from February. They said to re-instate my account they need a letter of verification of the account from the bank to be mailed to them. I had never heard of that so I googled and all I could find were samples and information on requesting them for an application to sponsor someone for a foreign visa. But I'm wondering why they need when they already cashed two checks with my name on them and credited this to my account. And why it took them 2 months to suspend the account for this reason. Has anyone every heard of this? Is this standard operating procedure? What's on an account verification letter and could it be used for nefarious purposes? Anyway, I've worked hard to clean up my credit and don't want to close the account and take a hit to my FICO score if I can help it. But if this screams "red flag" to you...please let me know! Thanks, Nancy
I don't have personal experience with this, but it sounds to me like they just need something from your bank (on their letterhead) that states some basic information like your name, when you opened your account, and what your average balance is. It shouldn't include any information that could be used against you. It's stupid that they're requiring this after they've already cashed two of your checks, but banks do crazy things these days. Unfortunately, you can't expect their protocols to always be rational.
Hi I received a bank verification letter from Credit One Bank, I went to my bank and showed the bank the letter, they never heard or seen anything like this before. Well, the Costumer Service Dept. made a letter with their letter-head and gave my a copy for my files, I sent the letter certified mail, and Credit One Bank closed my account... About 5 months later, I received a new Credit Card same account... mike
