Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  According to 15 USC 168i(15) the credit bureaus have to modify or Delete fraud Accounts that are not reporting accurately. According to 15 USC 1681b(1) the credit bureaus dont have no written permission. According to 15 *** 1681 have the right to privacy According to 15 *** 168s- 2 A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate . (B) Reporting information after notice and confirmation of errors According to 15 *** 1681 I have the right to privacy According to 15 *** 1681s-2 A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. (B) Reporting Information after notice and confirmation of errors A person shall not furnish information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency (i) The person has been notified by the consumer, at the address specified by the person for such Notices, that specifies information inaccurate, and (ii) the information is, in, fact, inaccurate. Section FCRA 611(a)(6)(B)(iii) and (7) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681i, and send the required notifications to all furnishers of this information. Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 Section 623(a)(8)(D) Section 603(p), must notify consumers in writing if they may furnish or have furnished negative information to a CRA. Section 623(a)(7). According to 15 U.S.C 1681s-2(a)(1)(A) and (B)to report inaccurate informationPlease DELETE this information from my credit report, pursuant to section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681i, and send the required notifications to all furnishers of this information.PATELCO CREDIT UNION Amount: $14494 Date:11/21/2024 Acct#******************************** Amount: $20394 Date:12/3/2024 Acct#*********

  

  Business response

  01/27/2025

  January 27, 2025
  
  Dear Ms. ****************** are writing to you in response to the complaint that you filed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) on January 17, 2025. Your complaint alleges that Patelco Credit Union is reporting inaccurate information to the credit bureaus. However, your complaint does not specify the information that is being disputed under the account(s), explain the basis for the dispute,or include any supporting documentation to substantiate the basis of the dispute.  Therefore, you failed to meet the dispute submission requirements under the **** Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Patelco Credit Union is unable to investigate your dispute.  

  To enable Patelco Credit Union to investigate, please send a written notice to us at ******************************, which includes the necessary information and supporting documentation described above. 

  Sincerely,

  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  01/06/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  hope this message finds you well. I am writing to request your assistance regarding a troubling situation I encountered with Patelco Credit Union related to a fraudulent incident that occurred in ******* 2021, I was scammed by an individual who contacted me via text, claiming they could help me make money through Bitcoin. Trusting their claims, I inadvertently shared my personal information, which led to unauthorized withdrawals from my bank account. As a result, I lost money that was already in my account, in addition to the unauthorized transactions. I acted quickly to mitigate the damage by attempting to close my account and reporting the fraud.Despite my efforts to report the fraud, Patelco Credit Union has wrongfully blamed me for the losses, asserting that I owe over $6,000. They have misrepresented statements from the police, claiming that the sergeant indicated I was responsible for the fraudulent activities. I have documentation showing that the sergeant denied making such a statement , along with other relevant ***************** August 2024, I received a notice regarding a data breach involving Patelco Credit Union due to a ransomware attack. This incident raises serious concerns about the security of my personal information and suggests that the bank may have been compromised, which could have contributed to the fraudulent activities I experienced. This context further underscores my position as a victim and the bank's responsibility to protect customer information.Additionally, I have learned that there are currently two class action lawsuits open against Patelco Credit Union. These lawsuits highlight broader concerns regarding the bank's practices and customer treatment, which may further illustrate a pattern of misconduct that affects numerous customers, including myself.This situation has caused me severe distress, significantly impacting my mental health. I am trying to finish my education to secure a stable job and support my family.

  

  Business response

  01/16/2025

  January 16, 2025

  Dear Ms. *************** received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on January 7, 2025, regarding your claim that you were a victim of a Bitcoin scam and your corresponding requests to cancel the debt owed toward the negative balance remaining on your account.  You also requested that we remove negative marks on your credit report.

  In the Affidavit of Forgery you completed on November 9, 2021, you explained that your friend referred you to a third-party who was offering ****************** services. Once connected, you provided this third-party with your personal identification information and online banking credentials. This allowed the third-party to access your accounts and complete various transactions between November 2, 2021, and November 8, 2021, including 6 mobile deposits and 575 Cash App transactions. You also advised that you followed the third-party's instructions and performed 2 in-branch cash withdrawals on November 3, 2021, and November 5,2021.  This voluntary compromise of your credentials enabled the third party to access your account and funds years before Patelcos 2024 security incident.

  Due to your authorization of the transactions, you are responsible for the negative Checking account balance of -$6,114.92.  Please be advised that all memberships and accounts are governed by Patelcos Member Handbook.  Per the section titled Meeting your Obligations on pages 9-10, you agreed that you would not allow your accounts to fall below a zero balance, and you remain obligated to restore overdrafts.

  With respect to reporting, Patelco has not reported to any of the credit bureaus. However, this account was reported to ChexSystems in February 2022. No changes to that reporting will be made, as the negative record accurately reflects the status of the account.

  Sincerely,
  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

  Customer response

  01/20/2025

   
  Complaint: 22776735
  
  I am rejecting this response because: My account was not below 0. I went through fraud and the bank is blaming me for it. I am the one that told the bank I am going through fraud. That is when they started investigating and calculated and came up with that number. Not to mention they lied about what the sergeant from the hayward police station said. I am sure there are policies in place for breach of contract. There is a lawsuit against Patelco right now as well. I am requesting help. I don't have a job and I am still in school.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  

  Business response

  01/27/2025

  January 27, 2025
  
  Dear **************************** 22, 2025, we received your rebuttal to our response sent to the Better Business Bureau on January 16, 2025, regarding the partial denial of a fraud dispute and your obligation to restore the negative balance currently owed on your Checking account.  Since you have not provided any new information, the outcome of Patelcos investigation and your responsibility for the negative Checking account balance remains unchanged.

  Sincerely,

  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In late October my Credit Card was skimmed by a fraudulent criminal. I contacted my bank and they returned the money to me. I found the security of the bank to be seriously lacking and I closed my account after 30 years with this Bank. This bank has been having all sorts of security issues within the last 6 months and is unsafe. Now a month later I receive a letter telling me I am liable for the money stolen from my account in the amount of $63.50.

  

  Business response

  12/18/2024

  Dear Mr. ************************** received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on November 12, 2024, regarding a transaction that you allege to be unauthorized. After a thorough review of the denied card claim, we have confirmed that the denial was warranted based on the results of our investigation. 
  
  On November 9, 2024, you filed a card claim through our ********************* for a transaction listed as PAI ***, for $63.50 on November 7, 2024. You were informed by email the same day that your claim was received, and you were issued provisional credit for $63.50 while the investigation was under review. On November 12, 2024, you were informed by email that the investigation was concluded, and it was determined the services rendered by the merchant listed in the dispute were completed with the physical card present where the CHIP and PIN were authenticated at that merchants CHIP compliant terminal with no errors. In this same email communication, you were informed the provisional credit previously applied to your Checking account would be reversed on November 20, 2024. 
  
  We also received your request to reopen the claim on November 13, 2024, along with images of consumer complaints regarding PAI *** and articles regarding skimming as supporting documentation. This documentation was insufficient to prove that you did not participate in or authorize the transaction. Patelcos decision remained unchanged, and you were informed by email of the denial of your card claim on November 14, 2024
  
  On December 6, 2024, you spoke to an Account Solutions agent regarding the negative balance in your recently closed Checking account for $63.50 that was still owed. This was a result of the provisional credit reversal that you were informed would be completed. You disagreed with the claim decision and this action, so the agent submitted a service request that was escalated to our Fraud Prevention team. A Fraud Prevention Specialist followed up by phone later this day to review the details of the denied claim. At the end of this call, you requested a manager to follow up with you. On December 9, 2029, a Fraud Prevention Supervisor spoke to you in great detail regarding the claim findings, including the card claim process and skimming. She informed you that the investigation was based on the data we received from Mastercard. 
  
  Due to the results of our investigation mentioned above, Patelco determined that fraud had not occurred, and the claim was denied accordingly. We understand how frustrating this experience may have been, especially as a long-time member. A business decision was made to credit your Checking account on December 12, 2024, for $63.50, due to the amount and your longevity of your membership. On December 13, 2024, you were contacted to inform you of this credit that was applied to your Checking account, which no longer has a negative balance.
  
  Thank you for your patience and the opportunity to review this matter further. 
  
  Sincerely,

  ******* *********
  Senior Member Experience Specialist 
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 22652198
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Patelco bank should be better informed about skimming and shimming where a card and its pin can be stolen. Not only that but multiple agents at the bank were uninformed about these fraud practices. Shimming can duplicate even chip numbers. There was insufficient investigation into my claim and there was no ATM present at the location of the supposed withdrawal. This is a known scam tactic and this ATM is listed with the *** as adding in the fraud. 
  
  I also provided adequate information as to the fact that I was at work and could not have performed an ATM withdrawal at that time. 
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

  

  Business response

  12/24/2024

  December 24, 2024
  
  Dear Mr. ******************* December 19, 2024, we received your rebuttal from the Better Business Bureau to our response sent on December 18, 2024, regarding the investigation into your card claim and shimming a card.

  As fraud continues to evolve, we can confirm that Patelco stays apprised of current fraud schemes and processes, including skimming and shimming. Like skimming, shimming allows a bad actor to steal some information from the card, however, it does not give a bad actor the ability to counterfeit an exact replica of an EMV CHIP card. EMV CHIPs use dynamic data authentication (DDA), which generates unique transaction codes for each purchase, making counterfeiting extremely difficult.  Academic and industry research into the security of *** CHIPs confirms that the encryption,cryptographic protocols, and tamper-resistant hardware are designed to prevent cloning and skimming.

  ****************************** (***),is a company that provides *** portfolio management tools and services to Independent Sales Organizations (***), retailers, financial institutions, and independent operators; one of the services they provide to third parties includes *** equipment.During our investigation, we researched the address that accompanied the transaction, which showed a CVS Store at this location. This is the reason the Fraud Prevention Team Lead inquired if you recalled completing an *** withdrawal at a CVS Store. Patelco does not have control over what address a merchant uses at their terminal, nor can we determine if the location on the description is the physical location of the *** that was in use, as this is data inputted by the merchant. Our records indicate that when the *** ISO" transaction was processed, a code was generated reflecting the CHIP on your card was used successfully.  If the card and CHIP were counterfeited, this would result in a different code being received. 

  Per our previous response, we understand that you provided documentation, but unfortunately, it was insufficient to support the claim.  Therefore, the claim was denied.However, a business decision was made based on your long-standing membership to provide you with credit.  This was credited to your account on December 12, 2024. Additionally, our Fraud Prevention Manager attempted to speak to you by phone on December 23, 2024, to further discuss your concerns and the investigation details. Should you wish to speak to her, please contact her directly using the phone number provided in her voicemail.

  Sincerely,

  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On November 9, 2024. I was a victim of phone fraud, an incoming call from Patelco's telephone number registered so I thought it was a legitimate Patelco's representative. I was believed they were from Patelco. I told Patelco the truth that I provided the caller with my debit card number. The total charges on my debit card was $550.00. When I reported it to Patelco it was already Tuesday because of Veterans holiday. Patelco initially reversed the charges, then later changed it because they found there was no fraud committed. I was at fault for trusting the caller and not realized it was a scammer.

  Customer response

  12/02/2024

  I would like to cancel my claim.  Patelco credit union has settled the charges in my favor due to fraudulent activities

   

  Thank you. 

• Initial Complaint

  11/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am submitting a complaint regarding Patelco Credit Unions failure to address an unauthorized hard inquiry on my credit report and their lack of responsiveness to my repeated attempts at resolution.On October 25, 2024, I contacted Patelco via email, requesting clarification regarding an unfamiliar credit inquiry on my report. Despite not applying for any products or services from them, an inquiry appeared under their name. I asked for information to understand and resolve this matter quickly.After receiving no response, I followed up on October 31, 2024, reiterating my concern and providing my contact details for clarity. To date, I have not received any acknowledgment or assistance from Patelco Credit Unions customer service team, despite multiple attempts.Desired Resolution:I would like Patelco Credit Union to:1.Provide a detailed explanation of the inquiry on my credit report.2.Assist in removing or correcting the inquiry if it was made in error.3.Improve their customer service responsiveness, particularly in handling urgent inquiries related to credit and identity security.I appreciate BBBs assistance in helping resolve this matter as soon as possible.

  

  Business response

  11/21/2024

  November 21, 2024

  Dear Ms. ******************************* received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on November 12, 2024, regarding an unauthorized inquiry from Patelco Credit Union on your credit report. 
  
  Our records indicate that our **************************** emailed you on November 12, 2024, to inform you that your request had been forwarded to our Fraud Experience team for further investigation. On November 20, 2024, a Fraud Experience Specialist attempted to contact you to discuss the next steps.  A voicemail message was left, and she sent a follow-up email later this day. They indicated that to proceed with the investigation into the credit inquiry, we require you to complete a Patelco Identity Theft Dispute Form. They have provided you with their direct phone number for you to call so they can assist you with completing this form via DocuSign. Please note that the investigation can take up to 30 days to complete after we receive the necessary dispute documentation from you.
  
  If you would like to proceed with the investigation, please follow up directly with our Fraud Experience team at ******************************.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to review this matter.
  
   Sincerely,
  ******* *********
  Senior Member Experience Specialist 
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently incurred 3 NSF fees in 24 hours due to a family emergency which occurred while I was out of the country. I asked Patelco to reverse the fees but they refused to do so in full. 3 NSF fees in a day is predatory banking and unacceptable. I have multiple accounts with this institution and am a long time customer.

  

  Business response

  10/29/2024

  October 29, 2024

  Dear *** ****, 

  We received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on October 21, 2024, regarding non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees that were posted to your account.  Upon receipt, we conducted a review, and the results are as follows:
  Between October 10, 2024, and October 11, 2024, four transactions were authorized on your account: a $98.84 ACH debit for ******, a $22.25 debit card transaction for AGI*Renters/Condo Ins, $10 debit card transaction for Amazon Tips, and a $46.67 ACH debit for **************. Due to insufficient funds at the time, Patelco paid for each of these transactions on your behalf.  As a result, two $28 NSF fees were assessed on October 10, 2024, and another on October 11, 2024.

  On October 15, 2024, you sent a secured message via Patelco Online requesting the reversal of all three NSF fees. Our records indicate that you have requested fee reversals in the past and have been informed that Patelco limits the reversals per calendar year, unless the fees were concluded to be a Patelco error or a result of fraud. The team member who received this secured message credited you with the maximum allowable amount of two NSF fees,totaling $56, on October 17, 2024.  She responded to your message explaining these limits imposed.  On October 19, 2024, your request was escalated to a leader after you expressed dissatisfaction that all fees were unable to be credited back to your account. As a one-time exception, an additional NSF fee reversal for $28 was completed this day.

  The review of your account revealed additional opportunities to help you avoid future NSF fees. We encourage our members to add multiple overdraft protection sources to their Checking accounts for added security. You have the ability to set up additional shares within your membership as overdraft protection through your online banking under Accounts then Overdraft Protection.  We also offer an Instant Backup line of credit, which is an additional overdraft protection resource to use as back up should funds not be available as a source in your share accounts. To apply, you can do so online or directly through our ********************** Virtual Branch, or by visiting your local branch.

  Additionally, if you have not yet set up account alerts, we highly recommend doing so. This feature provides timely updates, allowing you to set up both balance and transaction alerts sent via email or text message. Balance alerts notify you if your balance falls below the threshold you choose while transaction alerts notify you of items that have been processed on your ********** learn more, please visit the Alerts page under Tools & Settings once logged into either the website, **************************** or the mobile app. 

  We hope this provides more insight into the reasons for the assessed fees and confirms all fees have been reversed. Thank you for your valued membership since 2017. 

  Sincerely,
  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made a deposit into my Patelco Credit Union account and half of my funds were being withheld. Following the deposit I received an email from Patelco stating the following:We want to provide you with an update regarding the $***** deposit that you made on 10/07/2024. Unfortunately, we need to delay the availability of $***** because your account has had six or more negative daily balances in the past six months.The full amount of your deposit will be available on the sixth (6th) business day following your deposit date (unless the deposit does not clear).I went back to review my statements over the last six months and NOTHING reflected what they stated except 1 negative transaction from a withdraw that took place during their security breach. When I called to find out more information they couldnt give me a reason why this happened and released to hold on my funds. If Im going to make other deposits in the future I needed to know why this happened to I asked and no one could tell and I kept being bounced around to multiple departments and still no one had an answer for me. Representatives kept asking me to clarify information that they should be telling me. Ultimately my concern is how can I be sure that this doesnt happen with future deposits. Sounds like I need to close my account overall and take my business elsewhere. Which is what I should have done after they allowed everyones accounts/information to be compromised.

  

  Business response

  10/18/2024

  October 18, 2024

  Dear Ms. *************** received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on October 8, 2024, regarding an email you had received from Patelco informing you of an extended hold and requesting more information on the reason it was sent. A review was conducted, and the explanation is below.

  On July 3, 2024, you visited the Fairfield Branch and completed a $200 cash withdrawal from your Checking account ending in suffix 10. At the time, Patelcos systems were unavailable due to a security incident that required us to proactively shut down some of our day-to-day banking systems to contain and remediate the issue. As a result, we completed the withdrawal and provided you with an offline receipt. On July *******, the offline transaction was posted, which caused your Checking account to become negative by $152.61. An ACH debit of $25.05 for Planet Fitness was debited on July 17, 2024, increasing the negative balance to $177.66.

  Patelco sent three email communications between July 23, 2024,to August 12, 2024, advising you that the account was negative and requesting you to address this. Our records also confirm each of these communications was opened.  The first email, sent on July 23, 2024, requested that you review your transactions and cure any negative balances by July 29, 2024, if all transactions were correct. Since the account remained negative by this date, a second email was sent on August 6, 2024,advising you that your membership was restricted, including restrictions on accessing funds from your accounts. A final email was sent to you on August *******, requesting immediate action.  The account was made current on August 17, 2024, once you performed a transfer from your savings account ending in suffix 01 to your Checking account; however, the restriction remains due to the Checking account remaining negative after July 29, 2024.

  Please note that the extended holds are solely placed on check deposits.  All electronic deposits,such as peer-to-peer transfers and direct deposits, as well as cash deposits,will have same-day availability.  Should you need sooner availability on check deposits, we recommend making the deposit at a local branch or contacting our ********************* for us to review and potentially provide more accessibility.

  Thank you for allowing us to review this matter.  We hope that this provides better clarity.

  
  Sincerely,
  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer response

  10/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 22396632
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The only reason that happened was because Patelcos incompetence allowed a security breach to happen leaving your customers to suffer the consequences. When I spoke with your **** once you managed to get control of your system I was informed I would not be penalized for this. So now that Im starting to see that your company refuses to take accountability for their mistake I will be looking at taking my business elsewhere and I can assure you that I will share my experience with others who consider starting a membership with Patelco. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  

  Business response

  10/28/2024

  October 28, 2024

  Dear Ms. *************** received your rebuttal from the Better Business Bureau to our response sent on October 18, 2024, regarding the extended check holds on your account. Please see below for additional details.

  On July 13, 2024, Patelco emailed our members to inform them that banking services, including online banking and mobile app access, would be restored on July 15, 2024, after experiencing the security incident. This would allow all members to review their account balances and transaction history.Once systems were restored, all offline transactions were posted on or around July 15, 2024. Unfortunately, since your existing overdraft setup did not have funds available, this resulted in a negative balance. As mentioned in our previous response, Patelco sent three emails to you advising you of the negative balance in your Checking account and requested for you to add funds by July 29, 2024.

  As noted in our Member Handbook, members agree that they will not allow their accounts to fall below a zero balance. While we recognize that members did not have visibility into their account balance throughout the initial course of our response to the incident, members are still obligated to restore overdrawn accounts upon our written demand if there is not a prearranged and available source of overdraft protection under an Overdraft Protection Plan. For more information on this, please visit our website **************************** and look at pages 9 to 10 of our Handbook.

  We also would like to clarify that during your call with our **************************** on July 29, 2024, you were informed by the representative that the negative balance would need to be cleared by October ******, to avoid charge-off and ChexSystems reporting.  Since the account remained negative after July 29, 2024, and was negative for more than six days within six months, a restriction was placed on the account that cannot be removed.  As part of this restriction, systematic extended holds are placed on check deposits. However, this restriction is automatically lifted should the account remain positive for six months after it was placed on the account.

  We also encourage our members to add multiple overdraft protection sources to their Checking accounts for added security.   You can set up additional shares within your membership as overdraft protection through your online banking under Accountsthen Overdraft Protection.  As mentioned previously, we may have the ability to remove check holds for you.  Should you need sooner availability, please contact our ********************** visit our Virtual Branch located at ************************************************************************* visit your local branch. 

  We apologize for any confusion this situation may have caused. We understand that navigating these issues can be challenging,and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this matter. Your financial well-being is important to us, and we are here to support you.
  
  Sincerely,
  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been thinking with Patelco for 10 years or so within the last year there has been many issues with this particular credit union. The issue that I'm having now is that Patelco is continuing to allow transactions through my account when there is no money available which is then causing me to be charged $28 per transaction. Within the last year Patelco has charged me $1456.00 In overdraft fees. I have contacted Patelco on many different occasions about these fees all they tell me is that in order to stop all transactions from going through I have to pay an additional $15 per transaction to get it to stop going through. I am a single mom on very **********$1456 is just ridiculous amount for fees. I even turned my debit card off, so nothing goes through on there and as of today they allowed three transactions to go through and my debit card is off how is that even possible. Not only do we have this issue but now I found out that my Social Security number was found on the dark web as of August 25th, 2024. As I'm sure you know Patelco was in a very serious breach of their security, and we were all informed that our information could have been compromised. I don't even know what to do now. How is Patelco going to fix the fact that my social security number and my email and I don't even know what else has been leaked on the dark web. I was informed about this from my *********** accounts because thankfully I have my credit watch through them. As of now I am going to try and close my Patelco account I have had enough of them within the last year my count also had got funds took out of it from credit card fraud and it took them two weeks to give back my money and they had allowed$500 worth of transactions to go through on my account. I am just so upset with this credit union I don't think they'll give my money back but people need to be informed of how they do business.

  

  Business response

  10/11/2024

  October 11, 2024 

  Dear Ms. Vargas, 

  We received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on October 7, 2024, regarding authorized transactions that are processed on your account when there are insufficient funds, resulting in nonsufficient fund fees.  

  Our records indicate that when you established your membership at Patelco Credit Union on September 1, 2016, you opted into a service that we provided at the time called “Debit Card Paid NSF coverage” and signed a written agreement. This service pays for signature-based debit card purchases that overdraw your checking account. Each time we pay a debit card transaction, and you do not have sufficient funds to cover that transaction, a $28 nonsufficient fund fee is only charged if a transaction takes your account negative by $25 or more. Additionally, our records show that this was explained to you through secured messaging on February 23, 2024, and most recently on October 4, 2024.  We inquired if you would like to opt out of this service, but did not receive a response.  If you would like us to do so, please respond to the most recent message, and we will remove the service from your account.   

  Please be aware that by opting out of Paid Debit Card NSF, Patelco may still pay your overdrafts for other types of transactions, including checks and electronic transfers (ACH debits). A review of your account determined the majority of transactions that caused the overdraft and fees were a result of debit card purchases and ACH debits. As mentioned above, ACH debits can still be processed causing overdrafts and fees. As such, it was recommended during a call you had with our Member Contact Center (MCC) on September 26, 2024, to cancel all automatic ACH payments, and manually make the payments when funds are available.  

  Please note that our members’ financial health and well-being are a top priority. As also discussed with MCC on a few occasions, Patelco offers an Instant Back Up line of credit, which is used as an overdraft protection source, and provides peace of mind by avoiding nonsufficient funds fees. If interested, please contact MCC or visit your local branch to apply. We also recommend setting up both account and card alerts, as well as card controls through the website (www.patelco.org) or through your mobile app. Alerts allow better awareness of your balances and transactions that have been processed.  These are located under Tools & Settings > Alerts. Card controls allow better control over what transactions cannot be processed based on location, transaction limits, transaction types and merchant types. To set up both card alerts and controls, please visit Card Services > Card Management.  

  Additionally, we have a multitude of other financial well-being resources located under our “Member Relief and Support Center” (https://www.patelco.org/financial-wellness/member-relief). One of these valuable resources is SpringFour that can help with everyday expenses like food, utilities, housing, and healthcare. Our partner SpringFour can connect you with local, trusted nonprofit and government resources that may help you save money and reach your financial goals. Patelco also offers free consultations with one of our in-house Certified Financial Specialists, which can help with goal planning, savings strategies, budgeting, financial hardships and more.  They create step-by-step plans for our members that have shown to be successful. To schedule an appointment, please visit https://www.patelco.org/financial-wellness/personalized-advice.  

  Ms. Vargas, thank you for the opportunity to review this matter and provide an explanation of why your accounts continue to become overdrawn with fees assessed. We hope you will take full advantage of the resources provided in this letter.  

  Sincerely,   

  Lauren Goucher 
  Senior Member Experience Specialist 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My debit card/ bank account had been hacked and fraud activity occurred I reported everything to Patelco the banking company and my claim has been denied several times. I didnt have anything to do with fraudulent transactions on the account. I need help please on what to do next.

  

  Business response

  09/17/2024

  September 17, 2024
  
  Dear Ms.*****,

  We received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau on September 8, 2024,regarding denied card claims.  We reviewed these claims and have confirmed the denial based on the results of our investigations.

  Our records indicate that on July 8, 2024, a fraud alert was triggered due to two transactions that were authorized on your debit card ending in 5269: an Apple Cash transaction for $2000 and a Cash App transaction for $1000. The card was blocked, and our third-party vendor sent this alert to you via text message,email, and a phone call using the contact information on your account. We received a reply to the email alert stating that one or more transactions were not recognized.  However, shortly after, our records show that during a recorded call with our third-party vendor these two transactions were validated as authorized by you once you had been verified by providing the Case ID and last 4 digits of your card. Also, the voices on both calls matched.

  On July *******, and on July 15, 2024, you submitted two card claims via Patelco Onlinewhich primarily included multiple Apple Cash transactions and Cash App transactions completed between July 11, 2024, to July 15, 2024. In these claims,you stated that your card was in your possession during the time the transaction occurred. On August 13, 2024, our Fraud Prevention Team Lead confirmed this detail with you by phone, along with the fact that your phone was also in your possession during this time.

  Our investigation revealed that your debit card was manually added to your Cash App on July ******.  To manually enter the card into Cash App, the user is required to provide the full card number, expiration date, and *** number. The *** number can only be obtained from the back of the physical card or through Patelcos Digital Card Display. The Digital Card Display requires one-time passcode (OTP) verification using either the phone number or email address that Patelco has on file. Additionally, our investigation uncovered that your debit card was added to ***** Pay using the Account on File for Apple Pay to process transactions.  This indicates that your card information was already saved to your device for future purchases with online merchants.  Since initially being added on July ******, multiple Apple Cash and Cash App transactions were processed on your account. For transactions to process successfully as they had on Apple Pay and Cash App, the same OTP verification process is required each time.

  We reviewed your online banking records and confirmed that there were no unauthorized logins or changes to your contact information in connection with any of these transactions. Neither the adding of your card to Apple Cash and Cash App, nor completion of the transactions, could have taken place without completion of the above-described verification process. Therefore, Patelco determined that fraud had not occurred, and the claim was denied accordingly.

  Patelcos decision remains final, and we encourage you to continue working with ***** and Cash App directly for resolution.

  Sincerely,

  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer response

  09/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 22257549
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 
  Im so confused how Patelco claims and fraud department dont see fraud. Ive started over and over again I didnt do or authorize any of this on my account. Im not sure how the investigation concluded its no pattern of wrongdoing of over ****** dollars in a 3 day period is very unusual and suspicious that pattern shows it was meant to drain the account. Im asking this claim to be investigated again who ***** Cash/ Cash App did all these transactions belong too. This is fraud and not my fault.
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  

  Business response

  10/01/2024

  October 1, 2024

  Dear Ms. *************** received your rebuttal from the Better Business Bureau to our response sent on September 17, 2024, regarding your denied card claims.  Please see below for additional details.

  As stated in our previous response, our records indicate your Patelco debit card was added manually to both Apple Pay and Cash app. The sole method to do so on both platforms is for the user to provide the full card number, expiration date, and CVV code located on the back of the card.  In order to retrieve this information, the user must either have the physical card present or obtain these details from Patelcos digital card display, which was down at the time due to the system outage. Once the card information is submitted, the user is required to validate the new card and any transactions by receiving a one-time passcode (OTP) either through the email address or phone number listed on the users profile at their financial institution, and not the apps profile. This authenticates the user and the request. In your claim and when asked by our Fraud Prevention Team Lead, you confirmed the physical card was always in your possession, and no one else had access to it. You also stated your phone was not compromised and in your possession during this time as well.

  Additionally, during your call with our Fraud Prevention Team Lead, you claimed to not have been the individual who validated the transactions during a call with our third-party vendor on July 8, 2024, after a fraud alert was triggered and your card was restricted.  Our investigation into your complaint determined that you responded to the fraud alert via email selecting the option that states one or more transactions were not recognized. You also confirmed you had done this in your call with our Fraud Prevention Team Lead. By selecting this option, a call was then prompted by our third-party vendor to your cellphone number on file. Once verified, the agent then inquired if the transactions were valid, which you confirmed as authorized. The fraud alert was cleared, and your card was unrestricted as a result.

  Our review has determined that all authentication and validation was conducted using the contact information found on your Patelco account profile. It was also concluded that the registration process and transactions sent could not have been completed without authorization from you via OTP confirmation. There is no indication that your card information was compromised for Apple Pay or Cash app, as both the card and your phone were in your possession during the card registration process and when these transactions occurred.  Therefore, the claims will remain denied, and we continue to encourage you to refer to ***** and Cash App directly for potential recovery.

  Sincerely,
  ****** *******
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 29th Patelco was hacked by a ransomeware group. In response, Patelco shut down their banking app and any online ability for customers to check on the status of our account or see our balances. We tried to go in person to get information regarding the status of our account to no avail. We were told that the agents also werent able to see into our accounts. We received mail from Patelco stating that no charges would be able to go through our Patelco account so we had all of our paychecks routed to an outside bank and we paid our bills from there. As it turns out, many of the charges that we were told wouldnt be able to go through, did in fact go through which sent our account into the negative. For a period of 2-3 weeks this continued until our entire months bills had come out of the Patelco account. Eventually, ******************** was able to get their systems online and we were finally able to see which bills had actually gone through or not. Patelco notified us that we would need to bring our account current by September 30th in order to avoid an account closure. We planned accordingly and scheduled our bills/expenses to enable us to bring the account current by then. Out of nowhere a couple days ago, Patelco notified us that we would actually need to have the account current almost an entire month earlier on September 6th. We called and tried to get a solution and asked for them to let us keep the original date of Sept 30th as we had already budgeted according to that date. The account solutions manager yelled at us and stated that its not Patelcos fault that our account went into the negative. The only solution they offered was to take a loan with them and pay interest in order to bring our account current. So essentially we would have to pay them interest for their mistake. This seems totally unethical; Patelco ultimately laid the responsibility of the security breach into their members.

  

  Business response

  09/09/2024

  September 9, 2024
  
  Dear Mr. *****
  
  On September 3, 2024, we received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau you submitted on August 30, 2024, regarding the negative balance in your Checking account.

  Our records reflect that you resolved the negative balance on September 5, 2024. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

  If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please contact us.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *********
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

  Customer response

  09/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 22221907
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The business did not take any action to resolve the matter before I filed the complaint. It was left up to myself and other customers to quickly pull together funds or be forced into a loan through the bank or face a derogatory remark on our credit. 
  

  Patelco exposed the data of thousands of customers as a result of their lapse in security then locked customers out of our accounts for a period of two weeks. During this time they told us we would not be able to charge anything to the account and all charges would be denied; That was false. Almost all charges during that time cleared and resulted in Patelco customers including myself being charged twice for thousands of dollars worth of bills (once from Patelco and once from our external account). This resulted in us virtually paying two months of bills at once. This would have been fine if it had not been for the mixed messaging from their representatives; At first they told us we would have until September 30th to bring the account current and then suddenly they changed the date to the 2nd of September, one week before the suspense. They stated that we would be reported to the credit agency and the account solutions manager told us its not Patelcos fault our account went in the negative. Then the same account manager went on vacation a few days before the suspense and we werent able to talk to anyone to resolve the matter. Ultimately, this wouldnt have happened if they had better security and didnt lock us out of our account for weeks while letting charges go through. We were forced to incur penalties and fees for withdrawing money early from our external banks savings account in order to bring the Patelco account current or face a bad credit and years of recovery to fix our credit. Patelcos customer service was unhelpful, unprofessional, and unproductive during this data breach.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  

  Business response

  09/19/2024

  September 19, 2024

  Dear Mr. *************** September 12, 2024, we received your rebuttal to our response sent on September 9, 2024, regarding the negative balance of your Checking account and the cybersecurity incident that Patelco experienced on June 29, 2024. Please see below for more clarification regarding this matter.

  The incident required us to proactively shut down some of our day-to-day banking systems to contain and remediate the issue. During the outage, Patelco regularly provided information to members regarding what services were accessible through our branches, the shared branch network, or ATMs via multiple communications sent nearly daily via email and a dedicated webpage (************************************************************************.
  Regarding members access to their funds, Patelcos communications advised members that debit, and credit card transactions were functioning in a limited capacity, and the communications included the daily dollar limits.Members were also advised that they could withdraw up to $500 in cash per day from a Patelco branch, by accessing Patelco ATMs (including over ****** shared branch ATMs all over the country), or by accessing an ATM at another credit union outside of the shared branch network. Additionally, members could access their funds by writing a check from their Patelco account to another financial institution where they had set up an account, or by initiating an ACH transfer at another financial institution to pull funds from a Patelco account.Neither the communications nor the webpage advised members that they would not be able to charge anything to the account and that all charges would be denied.

  As part of our communications,Patelco also notified members that we would waive or reimburse many Patelco fees and third-party fees. For Patelco fees, we were removing most fees for the months of July and August, such as account fees, overdraft fees, credit card fees, and late payment fees. Members were able to request reimbursement through September 1, 2024, if they incurred a fee for late payments on other bills (rent, utility, other loan payments) charged outside of Patelco between June 29, 2024, and July 15, 2024. If you have questions or need assistance related to fees caused by the security incident, please visit our webpage (*******************************************************************) to explore options.

  Please be advised that your membership and accounts are governed by Patelcos Member Handbook. Per the section titled Meeting Your Obligations on pages 9-10, you agreed that you would not allow your accounts to fall below a zero balance.While we recognize that you were unable to see your account balances during the outage, that inability was limited in duration, you could see your account balances prior to the incident and knew the amount and timing of your previous or upcoming deposits, and you remain obligated to restore overdrafts upon our written demand if you do not have a prearranged and available source of overdraft protection under an Overdraft Protection Plan. 
  
  On September ******, the primary account holder had contacted Patelco to arrange the final payment to clear the negative balance by September 6, 2024. During this call with an Account Solutions representative, she was informed that the deadline was updated and she had until September 30, 2024, to resolve the negative balance. After the phone call, the same representative emailed the primary account holder using the email address on file confirming this deadline. However, our records indicate the negative balance was resolved via a Zelle transfer sent by the primary account holder on September 5, 2024.
  
  We understand your frustration and appreciate your patience while we worked to resolve the matter.  
  
  Sincerely,
  ******* *********
  Senior Member Experience Specialist

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩