Friday, September 24, 2010 - 7:46 AM

They Will Make You Lose Your Money

(1 stars)

Stay away of The Provident Bank. Incompetent, rude, unprofessional and ignorant people.

They will make you lose your money.

My cousin and I had separate checking accounts with this bank and I was managing / using both accounts since my cousin was in China and we maintain the same residence in NJ so I paid bills from my a his accounts.

The Provident froze our both accounts because they have incorrect information on my account and assumed that I was using my cousin’s account illegally without him knowing it which I was not. They canceled all our pending transactions including a money transfer to my father in Russia for his heart medications which endangered his life.

When I called them and talked to them in person first they told me to bring my ID (which I did 3 times) to confirm my identity. I also brought a copy of my cousin's passport. They took everything and did not release the accounts saying that till my cousin and I came to the local branch and brought our ID's the accounts would remain frozen.

They refused to call my cousin in China or accept his calls to discuss the situation and confirm his identity without any explanation.

In short it is a nightmare, we can’t use our accounts to buy food or pay our bills and mortgage, all our money is frozen.

The Bank Rep from Compliance Department (Mina) rudely told me “I don’t care if you have no money to buy food and pay bills and I don’t want any calls from your cousin or him calling me. You both need to come over your local branch and bring your ID’s”

I explained to her that I had been at the local branch 3 times already and they have a copy of my DL and my cousin was not coming back to the US till after the New Years but I brought a copy of his US passport and the Bank has it on file. She would just keep saying the same thing ““I don’t care if you have no money and I don’t want any calls from your cousin or him calling me. You both need to come over your local branch and bring your ID’s”.

I filed complaints with State and Federal Authorities but in the meanwhile we are hanging there without our honestly earned money because the Bank without any proof consider us frau

vmolchanov1 posts since
Sep 24, 2010
Rep Points: 9

1. Friday, September 24, 2010 - 9:06 AM

Some objective comments:

Managing two accounts, with one under your cousin's name, is tricky, to say the least. Adding risk, your cousin is in China, triggering the Patriot Act. Any bank, once detected such offenses (you legally should not have access to your cousin's account; not to mention to manage it), would take the same urgent measure immediately and would not release any fund until everything clears up. In fact, Any bank would smell something fishy in your case and would demand personal interview/identification. Provident's instruction (for you and your cousin to be physically there to clarify/explain) looks both clear and reasonable; from both the anti-fraud and Patriot Act viewpoints.

Comments from experience about the bank's service/attitude:

Yes, I definitely agree the nightmarish service described above sounds nothing but the "Great Provident Bank". They hire people with the worst personality and they refuse to please any customers. Threatening and intimidating are their corporate strategy toward customers. I learned my lesson well many years ago. I would not get near them with a $10,000 award (Hmmm, maybe at $100,000, I may force myself to approach with extreme caution):D

51hh623 posts since
Jan 16, 2010
Rep Points: 3,066

2. Friday, September 24, 2010 - 6:12 PM

Sounds like a meeting with the local bank branch might have been prudent before the trip was made. I bet if you contacted the local office of your federal representative they would be a big help. I have found them to be most helpful many times.

rosie43122 posts since
Jan 16, 2010
Rep Points: 383

3. Friday, September 24, 2010 - 6:23 PM

Provident is acting properly to freeze your cousin's account when finding someone else (you) transacting on it. If they believe you might be doing something illegal, that gives them cause to also freeze your account, especially if they fear you might have put money illegally taken from your cousin into your account. You should have set your cousin's account up with a Power of Attorney on it so you could legally act on it! A POA would give you full authority to do anything on his account as if you were him.

You can set up the power of attorney still. But it will require that your cousin's signature be notarized, and Provident will say it must be done on their form (although legally, you can use your own form, but that will caue delays).

Clearly a Chinese notary will not do. But I suspect your cousin can get his signature US legally notarized -- presuming he is a citizen -- by going to the American consulate and having it notarized there.

Provident might balk, but a legal document, and on their form, would have to be honored.

Provident should have told you this. But my experience is that banks don't understand powers of attorney. I normally have to explain to them, but they still don't seem to understand. They, they did not even think of telling yo about it, because the people you speak with probably don't know about it. But their legal departments do.

me1004235 posts since
Jan 16, 2010
Rep Points: 1,430