If you were one of those kids who panicked when mom left you at the checkout of a shop with a cart full of food at the supermarket, you surely grew up with the inherent panic of swiping your card through the dataphone and seeing the “denied” message appear over and over again. Well, let’s make this insecurity worse: imagine that not only is your card blocked, but your account has been blocked without warning. Horror! This is what many Wells Fargo customers have experienced, a real nightmare
What is Wells Fargo?
One of the largest, most reliable and oldest banks in the United States. When it was created in 1852, its objective was to offer service in the Wild West, but it soon became one of the most basic pillars for Americans.
And what happened?
This bank has been in the spotlight after a citizen of Cuban descent saw his account frozen with all his savings inside. The reason? Compliance with federal regulations requiring verification of the immigration status of account holders, so no, it has not happened with all Well Frango clients, but only with those whose immigration status was not entirely clear, although many affected people claim that their documents were in order and that there was no notification before this blockage occurred.
But why are bank accounts being closed?
The bank has explained that the blockages are entirely related to OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control Regulations), which require more verifications and especially for those clients who may have ties to countries sanctioned by the United States.
So, this means that people who were born in countries that have restrictions by the USA may be in this situation, even if they are naturalized US citizens.
What have customers done?
They have obviously reported that they have been involved in a process that is not transparent for them and that is, some users have spent more than two weeks without access to their money! Without being able to pay bills, mortgages or other obligations they had.
What cases have been reported so far?
There have been several cases that have been reported, the two most well-known have been of two Cuban citizens, one of whom discovered that his card was blocked when he went to pay in an establishment on January 29 and could not pay.
The other is the most famous so far, in this case, José Antonio Orta, spent 17 days without being able to access his money and without having been previously notified! Imagine believing that like every month, all your direct debits are paid and that these payments are not made because your accounts are blocked.
The bank claims that it did send a notification to these users prior to the blockages because they are “committed to offering transparency to their clients” but the reality is that none of the reported cases had any idea that their accounts were going to be frozen.
They also assure that as soon as all the required information is collected, they will solve the problem and everything will be as if nothing had happened.
How can I avoid having my account frozen?
Whether you are a Wells Fargo customer or a customer of another entity that has similar policies, you can take 4 actions to prevent this from happening to you!
- Check all your bank notifications and do not ignore any
- Update all the information requested by the bank to avoid unexpected blocks
- If you have any questions, contact customer service so they can resolve all your problems and avoid problems.
- Do not depend on just one bank account because, if a problem occurs, you could find yourself without money, so we recommend that you open a bank account at another bank or online bank so that you have a “network” with money in case you have problems.