Update 11/22/20: Just a small update on this: Apparently, even ACH transfers long after the account is open trigger lockups with Chase on a regular basis – it’s not limited to the initial account funding. I just experienced this personally, and I see other readers in the comments reporting the same. In short, you probably don’t want to bank with Chase for your main hub bank account.
Original Post 1/18/19:
There are many recent reports of people who opened a new Chase checking or savings account and had their account locked up when attempting to fund it via ACH from an external bank.
Usually the fix is to have a 3-way call with Chase and the external bank and clear up your Chase account. Yet other times they require you to come in with 2 forms of ID or worse. Here are some of the reports of people who’ve bumped into this issue: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
From the comments of this post, it appears the issue affects:
- even transactions as little as $1,500 (and possibly less)
- both personal and business accounts
- even Chase accounts which are many years old (not specific to new Chase accounts). It has been suggested, though, that the first 30 days is more of an issue.
- whether you fund the Chase account with ACH-pull from an external bank or if you do an ACH-push from an external bank into your Chase account. Initially we wrote only to avoid ACH-pull from Chase’s end, but readers note that even pushing funders from an external bank to a Chase account might trigger the security alert.
It’s a big mistake in the system on Chase’s part because it’s normal for new accounts to transfer in large sums of money and it gives a bad taste to new customers.
A few recommended options:
- I’d recommend transferring large sums to fund your Chase account by depositing a check in-branch or via the mobile app.
- Alternatively, you can try doing smaller transactions which is obviously a pain.
- Zelle/Quickpay might be another option.
- While there have been reports of lock-up for ACH-pushes from another account, most reports are of ACH-pulls from Chase’s end, so it might be safer to try the external push method from the two options.
- A reader suggests that You Invest accounts might not have the same sensitivity as checking and savings accounts. (In the case of You Invest, it may not be possible/easy to deposit a check, so you may have to either ACH-pull or ACH-push. ACH-push is probably a bit safer.)
A lot of us open Chase checking and savings account for the bonuses they offer, especially the current $600 offer and Sapphire Banking offer which many of us are doing. During account opening, you can fund the initial $25-$50 deposit with a debit card, and small amounts should be okay via ACH, regardless. It’s just when your doing the full account funding to trigger the bonus (usually it requires $15,000 or $25,000) that you trip into their security system.
Here are a few current Chase deposit bonuses:
- Chase $600 Checking + Savings Bonus
- Chase Sapphire Banking 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards New/Upgrade Account Offer – Publicly Available
- Chase You Invest $200 Bonus with $25,000 Investment Account
- Chase Business $200 Savings Bonus – Deposit & Maintain $15,000 For 90 Days [In-Branch]
- [Targeted] Chase Private Clients: $750 for Opening Chase Business Checking Account
Chris, I recently pushed money via free wire from Chase to a newly-opened account elsewhere to get it immediately funded. No problem at all.
Any data points for pushing from Chase to fund another account?
I’m thinking it may be pulling from Chase that’s the issue. I’ve had issues with previous accounts when I tried to pull. Pushing in from another bank caused no issues. I even did the entire $15k in one go from Lending Club.
That’s exactly right. I told
HC almost the same thing here: #2070099 .
BTW, I also did a $15K+ push from LCB to Chase when I did the Savings bonus last year. 😀
😀
Oh my god. I just find this post. Is there a way to fund my chase saving account from citi in seven days for sub if I can’t use ACH? I do not order checks from citi while zelle only works for checking account. Can I do the transfer in citi branch?
Why can’t you use ACH? Your best bet might be a wire transfer.
Chase just doesnt want any liability thats why they do all these rejections. I guess their risk calculations are different when dealing with kid diddlers
P2 did four pushes of $3750 from a local credit union to new Chase savings account over the course of a week. No issues.
Successful push to BOA Checking recently. I was preparing to be blindfolded and taken to a Chase blacksite for interrogation, but they were fine with it this time.
I recently opened a chase checking account (before I read this post) and I did so because I thought it made a great hub bank. After looking at the most common banking bonuses it looked like Chase was accepted by most as a direct deposit. I opened the account 12/30 and since then I have pushed 2.5K to BoA, 1K to Capital One, and 4K to USB without any issues. I usually don’t push more than 1K at a time anyways. I mean this is a new account and if anything you would think it would flag it, but no. But I will keep this in mind when I start churning for my husband.
I just encountered this, on a Chase account that I’ve had literally for decades. I initiated a transfer from my Chase checking account to a checking account I hold at another institution, and five minutes later I get a call from Chase to tell me that they’ve rejected the transfer, because they can’t verify that the other account is mine.
“But I went through the verification process with the trial deposits, and the account is verified!” No, they tell me, that doesn’t verify that the account is mine.
I found myself a little flustered at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. “How can I fix this?” There’s probably no way to fix it, they tell me. You should find a different way to accomplish your transfer, maybe you can use the other bank to pull the money from your account at Chase.
That’s when it hit me: Chase is rejecting transfers initiated on THEIR side, and forcing people to initiate those transfers from the other banks, because doing so takes away Chase’s liability for any fraud. So essentially the ability to transfer money using the Chase website or app is a fraud itself: they’re unlikely to actually let you do it. They want to create the illusion that they are providing that feature, but in reality, you need to do it from the other institution, because that lets them push liability onto other banks. It’s sleazy.
All this just reinforces the decision to close the Chase account, which is why I was starting to transfer money out of it…
Is this still an issue?
Yes. Unfortunately, when initiating an ACH transfer with Chase, there is still continual fear of delay and possible lockdown by the fraud department, no matter how long you have had an account.