| 5 star: | (5) | |
| 4 star: | (3) | |
| 3 star: | (5) | |
| 2 star: | (4) | |
| 1 star: | (32) |
They take all of your info and then say they can't open an account because of communication error. This feels like a scam. Don't trust them with your money. its too precious !
They will hold your money hostage for as long as they possibly can. The customer "service" is horrible and they are a bunch of liars. My money is my money, not theirs. Stay away from this horrible, pathetic excuse for a bank.
I can only say wha this commenter said ---------Like others with 800+ credit scores my application was denied. Like others I received the same non answers from the customer rep drones. Their script does not allow giving any information that is helpful.
They now have my info
I tried to fill up application to open online bank account with VIO Bank wasting my time.. At the end, my application denied say time out and call customer service.
Customer Service unable to give reason why my application was denied. I am afraid, my personal information is there.
This bank advertised higher interest rate but do not want to open account. I have excellent credit history
Submitted a joint application and we were denied. With a 810 credit score I'm surprised to be denied. Supervisor was denied, Rachel the rep, upon every question we asked about the reasons for denial she read up the transcript, after Rachel reading up the transcript the third time we gave up. Was pointless, it was as talking to a robot.
We called Midfirst talked to their customer support which seemed reputable but we can't understand why they are they affiliated with this third rate VIO bank. Not sure what the scam is except to harvest information.
Like others with 800+ credit scores my application was denied. Like others I received the same non answers from the customer rep drones. Their script does not allow giving any information that is helpful. By reading the comments from several of those deemed worthy an account, I'd say I dodged a bullet.
Like some other folks experienced, I applied and provided all my information. After clicking submit, they denied my application. I called the customer service, the lady was rude and was unable to provide me any information.
Please do not apply. They will collect your private information and then deny your application.
I applied for a joint online savings account and it was fast and easy. We were approved quickly and I was able to transfer funds to open the account. The interest rate is one of the best out there so I really like that and hope they remain competitive with other banks. Although I'm a new customer without a lot of experience with this bank, we're very pleased at this point.
I opened a savings account May, 2019. Yes there was some difficulty getting started part of which is on me as I am new to online banking. Some of these minor troubles is because the bank does not keep your phone number for example but this is to protect the customer. Bottom line I have been earning 2.52% interest which is waaaay better than my regular bank. Not sure why there is a lot of negative reviews. They have good customer service and BTW you can send a check(or bank wire) for an external account for whatever amount.
I was admittedly accepted for the account first try, but though I have a 832 credit record, it sounds like others complaining also had great scores so I don't know that this is the reason.
I have spoken to them enough to recognize phone staff by voice, and is a PIB but it seems some are very knowledgeable while others are complete novices. Then too, some are REALLY condescending.
I think I've finally gotten the hang of the push versus pull transfer deal, and since I want to keep my funds put for a while (unless their current 2.52% rate drops drastically) it's OK. I have $100K in Redneck bank, 2.4 % (yes, I know! but it's not a joke) where I can link a checking account for withdrawals so unless I need to take a lot of my VIO balance out to invest it's tolerable.
But BEWARE THIS about wiring out! (And I haven't heard this from any other respondants).
1) Not only do you need to send them a form authorizing a wire withdrawal (good for any bank), it needs to be:
- hard to believe it - NOTARIZED!
2) Also, 72 hours must elapse after they get the form for it to work. (Best to have the notarized form there well in advance of possible need)
3) To put through a subsequent request, you need to send them another form for that specific wire .
I have never heard of having so many hoops to jump through to access your funds, and the worst is they DO NOT TELL YOU THIS IN ADVANCE (I only found out by asking question after question) .
Although this bank's safety rating is mostly excellent (so it seems per my checking methods, anyhow), it almost makes me think they want to make it impossible to withdraw your funds in an emergency - yours or the bank's.
That IS scary!
I can understand the policy making withdrawals hard (they want to keep your $ - d'uh!), but why they make it ghastly to open an account is beyond me. With the near certainty of rates reductions, even to the possibility of NEGATIVE RATES, I'm rethinking my presently maximum FDIC deposit to this bank. (Why they operate the high yield accounts under a different bank name I don't know, but they're not the only one). To start, I'm planning to send them the notarized wire authorization ASAP for protection of my funds.
The more I think about it, the more troubled I am about their policies. That is less the requirement for the notarized form, the delay to make it workable and then needing the second form when you're actually asking for money, but their complete lack of information about these rules! I'd never have learned of them if I hadn't gotten kind of paranoid from working with other online banks which have their own problems with incompetent CS people and restrictive rules re withdrawals. None as weird as VIO though. (BTW I've noticed their phone staff are inconsistent about how they pronounce the name of their own bank - "Vee-yo" or VYE-oh"?)
That said, I also don't know why they are a renamed "daughter bank" of Midstate, but again, they are far from the only hi-yield savings bank to have done this.
Hope they aren't skirting the rules on how this subsidiary is rated for soundness!
The only explanation I can find for their ridiculous conduct and regs is that they are VERY incompetent. As a bank they must want to get consumers' deposits and the way it's set up, they make it almost impossible. OTOH it's hard to think bankers could be this sloppy and off-putting.
My rating below is entirely because of their yield, otherwise (like other online accounts) it would be one star because of the nuisance factor, hoping that's all it is. Wondering if I was accepted immediately not because of my credit, but because my name figures on some unknown stupid consumer rating list!
As others have said and experienced it is not worth parking your money here as they do want your money. I applied and my application was declined (!!) while they could not provide any answers to justify their decision. Customer service is rude and keeping saying the same thing all the time as an answering machine. If a bank does not want my $100k, oh, well I can find better places.
Yes, I was also denied an account from this bank for no real reason and no explaination... But I believe there process of explaination is more than meets the eye... It's time to do some searching into the parent bank and who runs it
Like many others, I was denied an account, and for "security reasons" was not told why. I have never heard of anything so ridiculous. I can't imagine anything that would cause me to be flagged. It is almost like their approval system is completely random. I will definitely NOT be recommending them to anyone. They need to get their act together.
On August 20, I TRIED to open a SAVINGS ACCOUNT with this bank based on the interest rate offered ALONE. The fact that it is not local, does not offer ATM access and would have been solely online, made me nervous. But, I went ahead with the application and was going to RISK IT! ONLY to be DENIED!! A SAVINGS ACCOUNT! Not asking for CREDIT, NOT ASKING TO BORROW MONEY, ASKING TO GIVE THEM MONEY TO HOLD AND DRAW INTEREST FROM. I call their customer service and was told that I was denied based on a "ChexSystems" rating. I am told that I can request a copy and I do. When I get the copy 8/30/19, I see NOTHING DEROGATORY! So, I call ChexSystems customer service and she informs me that they are not responsible for what banks do with the reports and can't tell me what in my report would be reason to be denied. So, I call VIO bank and speak with Rachel, and ask why I was denied. She proceeds to READ me a statement to inform me that I am denied and that due to security reasons she cannot disclose the reason why. When I ask to speak to the president of the bank, she READS the statement to me again. I insist on speaking to the President and she puts me on hold, only to come back and READ the statement to me again! It was like dealing with a recording that doesn't understand what you are saying. If they can deny you at least they could tell you what was the reason.
It looks like MidFirst Bank (Vio's parent) bit off more than they could chew when founding an online bank with competitive rates.
Like many others here, I had my application declined due to a fraud alert/credit freeze and followed their manual override procedure by sending them probably too much sensitive info over an e-mail. Then I waited. For over a month.
I called a couple of times and was told by a somewhat overwhelmed CS representative that my application was definitely being processed but that it'd take a while since they were doing it by hand.
Then I waited some more.
Today I called, and they said that they no longer are doing manual overrides and that my info was purged from their system. They didn't ever notify me of this.
My partner, on the other hand, hand no fraud alerts on her account and successfully applied for a Vio account, and now has a great interest rate that hasn't fallen (yet). The only downside is that her funds were unavailable for almost three whole weeks. But they were indeed released and all looks good for her as of now.
So, if you're looking for good interest rates at the expense of decent customer service, then Vio may be an okay choice. But they seem a little too unprepared for me to personally trust them with my money. MidFirst should have been a little more prepared for the influx of new accounts when they founded Vio.
I was in process of opening a new account, but checked mint.com to insure i could connect and see this account along with my others. Unfortunately, Mint doesn't connect to this bank. Thats pretty odd, most banks do, and it's deal killer for me.
Although it is not stated anywhere, after collecting ALL of my personal information including SSN and DOB, they refused to open account as they claim not to do business in my state (Hawaii).
Wow,great rate, but....
They limit the inter-bank transfers to $5,000
They charge $18 for outgoing wire transfers.
So if you have a sizeable amount to park for a short time, these fees may outweigh the interest rate.
Should have left my funds in the other online bank...
I tried twice to open an account and it shows "unable to process your application". Call customer service, after they ask for your social security and others, their response is that I could try again to see if the answers are made correctly. Never I had a problem applying for bank account, I do care to have my credit and financial affairs correctly. The experience has been bad, not because the obvious outcome of the application, rather, by Viobank relying on a verification system (LexisNexis) which they use to "verify" the customer information and refer me to them.In order to check...? So far the information should be checked by primary sources of credit like Transunion, Equifax or Experian and no "third parties" or half way sources.
They put a hold on every deposit you make for 5 days ... really other banks don't hold it for that long.
A $5000 daily limit on transfers from your account and a maximum of 5 a month. So if you transfer put a large amount in the bank you have to do it at $25K per month with a 5 day hold on each deposit. Then to get it out you have to do the same increments.
It is not worth the .2 percent interest rate difference from banks online that understand their customers.
Closed my accounts at MidFirst the mothership because they didn't understand the customer!
STAY AWAY FROM THESE CLOWNS!
I was going to make a large deposit into this bank but got the message to call their customer service , waited another 10 mins then got the old retry it again , so I did and the same message. Don't waste your time , go to the nest one on the list . $250,000 loss to this bank or what ever they claim to be.
When applying, please be cautious not to make a mistake. Apparaly if you make an error and don't respond within 2 weeks, you are put on the Hot list!! To sum it up, I asked the CS representative Vio bank does not want my bussiness and she answered "NO".
I tried to open up a savings account and received the same "Thank you for your interest in opening a new account.Unfortunately, we are unable to process your application at this time." message that everyone else is getting. No elaboration. I sent them an email asking for assistance and two days later they responded asking me for a copy of my DL and ALL the financial information for the bank account I want to link. Because, yeah, supplying ALL the information needed to steal my identity over unsecured email is obviously a super smart thing to do. Shame on them for these awful business practices, I do not trust them with my information or my money.
Went to set up an account, you have to apply twice to get an online access which you should just be able to set up all in one go.
I wait a week for test transfers to complete application, then use them to complete application, and once it was done I COULD NOT LOG IN. No access. Considering I gave them a bunch of private information this should all be a lot faster and their system should function.
I quickly transferred funds in my other account so they can't pull out the savings amount I indicated. I want nothing to do with them anymore and I'll probably have to call and go through a lengthly process to delete my account.
Not worth it!!
Just be advised that this bank limits ACH transfers (in or out) to a maximum of $5,000.00 per transfer. And with a maximum of 6 transactions per month, it can take a long while to transfer any substantial amount in or out. Guess they're only looking for small savers. I'll be closing my account after I wait the 3 weeks (really!) hold time on my initial opening transfer.
I attempted to open an account online for myself and a joint owner. I was impressed with the interest rate and wanted to take advantage of that. I finished the application and was given the 'unable to process your application' message as others have noted. I called the 800 # and was on hold for 20 minutes before giving up. Reading other reviews, I am assuming that I failed to answer the personal security questions quickly enough. My joint owner was at work and we exchanged the info via email, so it took a bit. If that's all it takes to reject an application, I'm moving on.
Fail.
I opened my savings account on 7/5/2019 without any hiccups. The trial deposits appeared in my funding account on 7/8/2019 and I was able to confirm and the account was opened. My initial deposit posted on 7/9/2019. I received an email on 7/9/2019 confirming my account opening with instructions on how to setup online banking which I successfully did. So far so good.
I will update my post when I attempt other transactions.
I don't have money to invest, I'm just working on building my savings. BofA has been plodding my account along with One Penny per month for a long time. I took a chance on Vio, and I was amazed when I got almost $2.00 in interest in two months. Yeah, I'm not getting rich anytime soon, but compared to BofA that is astronomical. My biggest complaint is that it takes 3 weeks for deposits to be accessible. That is a long time for my money to be in limbo in case of an emergency! I did a test withdrawal to see how long that would take, and it showed up in my other account the very next day. All in all, I would say the limbo time is worth the high interest rate.
Tried twice today to open HYS account online. The first application attempt failed because it timed out while I was reading the disclosure documents I had to accept. The second attempt "could not be processed." When I called VIO, the CSR explained that I took too long to answer the personal identification questions for myself and my joint account owner. He explained these questions had to be answered quickly to prevent someone from researching info online. Now I should wait at least 24 hours to try again. I also learned that I will need to unfreeze all of my credit reports before trying again or this too will cause my application to be rejected. Advertised rate is great, but having second thoughts now. Unfortunately, all my personal info entered into the application form (twice) is still floating out there somewhere in VIO space. Boo!
Tried to setup an account to take advantage of the 2.52% APY rate for high yield savings account. However, the online automated system could not completely verify me and I was instructed to call Vio customer service. The CSR said I needed to email them a copy of my driver license, which I did immediately. After 3 days pass I call to followup on status. The CSR looked up my request on a "spreadsheet" and told me it takes 2 weeks to get through the so called "overrides". I cancelled the request and will find a real bank that has "real" information systems and proper staffing to handle business. If they cannot on-board new customers, what will service be like after they have my money? !!!
After jumping through the application process firey hoops, my application for a sizable savings acct was denied. The CSR said that I had failed to adequately answer questions drawn from "publicly available records". I was told that I could not reapply for 24 hours because there was now a hold on my account. The good news is that gave me time to read all the negative reviews, and look for another bank.
I hesitate to open this account because of "
$5 Per month after 12 months of inactivity"
https://www.viobank.com/Documents/Vio/Vio_OnlineSavings_FeeSchedule.pdf
Vio refused my application without notifying me in any way. Verification page simply didn't work. The person on the phone gave some BS excuse. I expect they aren't making any money off their HYS accounts and would prefer you not open one.
Waste of time.
I was dismayed to find out could only transfer 5000 a day or 20,000 a month. There is also small limit to how much an external bank can pull out. But you can have VIO wire the money which they did. Took a day extra but was able to get my funds out more quickly
Opened account 2/5/19, Vio sent 2 deposits to myfunding bank account, for verification. Using those amounts I completed the process at Vio on 2/6/19 and they stated they will pull the funding amount from my funding bank.
Later on 2/6/19 I received an email from Vio stating "On 02/06/2019, we were unable to process your request to transfer ..... The account you are transferring to cannot currently be used for transfers".
Called CS asking what happened, why my new Vio account could "not be used for transfers". The CS person was totally unhelpful and said he has to check with a back-office group that went home 2 hours ago. So the CS person turns into a "note taker"... He said he would call me TOMORROW when he gets in at NOON. After pushing this guy for a supervisor or someone else to talk to I am placed on an extended hold. Hung up and called back and got the same guy (guess only 1 person on duty) who said he spoke to someone that comes in early or something like that and I "should" hear from that person... I look at this episode as a sign that it may be in my best interest to NOT go thru with the funding! Also had a chance to read all the comments and it seems I am not the only one with CS problems. CAUTION!!!!
My experience with Vio started out fine, account approved and funded with 2k for the past few months and earning interest.
This week I initiated a transfer from my Capital One 360 account for 7k. It was shown as pending in Vio and cleared Capital One. Two days later it's nowhere to be seen in Vio.
I give them a call and am told our account has been frozen with no explanation (customer service could see nothing about the freeze nor the 7k deposit)?!?! The department that handles frozen accounts isn't open on weekends, so now I have to wait two days to find out why they froze a savings account and where my money is. My only thought is that the deposit was flagged as suspicious activity (silly me, I thought that's what savings accounts were for—deposits).
I'm writing this review before I even talk to the department that froze my account because I'm so turned off by this experience. My online account shows nothing about being frozen (but it gives me an error when I try to initiate transfers in or out). Also, no emails or phone calls about the freeze. Terrible and stressful experience.
So in summary, Vio is holding my 2k balance hostage and my 7k is missing until further notice (hopefully on its way back to Capital One in 5 days). The best part is that the customer service gal told me to have a nice day after I expressed my anger about them freezing my account with no explanation and having no idea where my 7k transfer was.
Stay away from Vio, the poor customer service and sick feeling over missing savings are not worth the extra bit of interest. I think we'll be opening a Capital One Money Market.
Stay away from this bank - you can only withdraw $5k/day from a Savings account to your own bank accounts. Savings accounts should be liquid and readily accessible. Limits like this on a savings account give me no confidence about the financial stability of a bank (especially an online bank).
I was rejected, too. My credit score is almost perfect. The decision was instantaneous, so it was triggered by some computer parameter. When I called, I was only told that it was related to my "banking history". I have a hunch it's because I had an account with another on-line bank, but pulled it out after ten months because their interest rate wasn't competitive. I think Vio wants to make sure the money is with them a long time. The CSR was cordial, but was obviously bound by the bank policies.
WORST online bank account I have ever had. I have had the account for a month and set up the external account transfer capability and said is "active" - will allow me to deposit funds in account but not remove from account. I am in the process of getting all money out of account and closing the account as my account and am told that if close account mid month then don't receive interest for that month....
As of today Vio is holding $40,000 of my money hostage and I have to pay $30 to w/d it.
I was able to put $60,000 into the account and thought I'd make more $. Then I realized that I could only link ONE checking account. I used TD. TD has a policy of only using an ACH transfer up to $10,000/month. So I called VIO and they confirmed my only choice (they will not send you a check) is to WIRE IT to TD. That will cost $15. at TD (in) and $18.00 at Vio OUT).
As someone pointed out, My Savings Direct has a higher rate and no restrictions on SIZE of Deposits OR withdrawals. Just the 6 ACHs a month W/d which is fed rules.
$2,000 daily transfer out from vio bank, but no limit initiated from external bank
after 12 month of no activity there's $5 monthly fee (great shame!)
calling CS was cool, no issue with wait times
holding period, first time 7 business days, then 5 business days, you earn interest during holding period
after I verified the test deposits (make sure you write down full account number or you have to call CS like I did), I registered for the login account, put in your vio bank account #, your balance is 0 as you initial has not been transferred yet, and it said it will take 1-3 days to get approved (WTF), but since I had to call for my account #, CS approved my login access instantly after they asked me a bunch of questions
does not work well with lastpass but I'll live
Home page with banking advertisement looks good, but after you login it looks dated and there are quite a few links that don't work that are for a checking account, they are owed by a brick and mortar bank.
Only last 4 of account number on website and there's no routing number on the website and have to call in to ask for it even though I sent secure message for it, they responded by saying I need to call in,
The android app will ONLY make transferts to other vio/midfirst bank accounts, not too sure about this bank, but hey it has a great interest rate.
Opened account online. I knew the answers to my credit check quiz so no problems there.
You have to separately enroll in Mobile Banking, after which I called, got through instantly to a CSR, who finished the enrollment and I had online access that day. Was able to make test deposits from my other online bank account the next day.
I pushed $1500 to the newly opened Vio account. There appears to be no hold when you PUSH money to the account.
So far, very smooth expeirence. The one contact with the CSR was fast, courteous, and she was empowered to help me.
I started an account considering high advertized interest rate for deposit account. However, it was a hassle to get through teh application and initial deposit. Today I learned that the initial money I deposited is held for 9 business days and won't be available for transactions. They have not mentioned anything about restriction on fund availability during the application process or fund transfer process. I checked online info available on the deposit account fund availability rules for FDIC insured accounts, it appears what they are doing may be not be correct. While it is banks description to hold some money up to 9 business days, they should have released at least partial deposit with in 1 day after the transfer. So when you open the new account beware that the initial deposit money is gone for 9 business days until you have access to it.
There is nothing internet about this account. I have had to call 3 separate times and suffered through extensive holds each time.
ACH test deposit charged against my account on 8-21, funds are still being held on 8-28. No Funds Availibility Notice (Reg. CC violation assuming account is MMDA), no reason to hold a settled NACHA transfer. Best to give up 5bp and deposit with an experienced internet bank. Off to Capital One.
Just tried to apply for Vio Bank Online Savings Account. Was denied due to "incorrect" answers to security questions. This is the first time in my life (40 years of financials) that I was not approved for a bank account. The interesting part is that half of those security questions had absolutely nothing to do with me or my life history. They pull "public records" and if those records are wrong, you are @#$! out of luck. Called them up - the answer was - sorry, we can't do anything for you. Meanwhile, they now have my SS number and all the various personal information. So, yeah - not good...