PSA: My bank's fraud alert system locked me out right before a big payment

I was trying to pay my contractor $2,500 through my bank's app last Tuesday morning. The payment got flagged, and the app just froze up completely. I called support and they said the system saw the amount and new payee as 'high risk' and needed a manual review, which took 48 hours. Has anyone else had a payment held up like this right when you needed it to go through?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_flores2mo ago

Ugh, their "help" is sometimes the worst kind of help.

willowroberts2mo ago

Call them and ask for the fraud department directly next time. They can usually push it through faster than regular customer service. I always give them a heads up now before any large or first time payment.

jamiesingh16d ago

Yeah, "give them a heads up" is the real pro tip right there. Called my bank last month before a $2k down payment on a used car, and they just flagged it as pre-approved on their end. Took maybe 5 minutes vs the hour I spent last year stuck on hold after a legit payment got frozen. I also started saving the fraud dept's direct number in my contacts now, skips the whole automated menu nightmare.