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Key Bank USA Checking Accounts Consumer Reviews - Page 2

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Overdraft Ripoff Scheme and Threats Made in Person on on Phone
By -

$34.00, that is what this is all about. Prior to the bank closing on Saturday a deposit was made. Some bills were paid on Monday, but the check was applied after the bills despite an overdraft account. I checked Monday, everything looked fine. I checked Tuesday an overdraft fee-- when according to my statement and online register BOTH I never went negative. I call the 800 number and they said "go talk to the branch manager". I did. He was very mean and acted like a cartoon villain as he explained they can put deposits and debits in any order they want.

I asked about another bill that was due to come out on Monday but hadn't, and he said he hoped they would put it in on Monday, so he could charge another overdraft fee retroactively, and as many other fees as he could find for my account. Then he realized my account opened in 1983 was with a branch five miles away. I had to contact that bank. I did by phone and was told she was out of the office for the day, and that they would monitor my account for anything odd. The original manager called me at work, reissued his threat, and claimed to have spoken to the other manager.

I called his bluff and he admitted he had not spoken to her. I told him not to call again, or I would consider it harassment. This morning the assistant called and said that they could not reverse the fee according to their rules. I have not been able to speak to the manager who was more than happy to speak to us when my daughter and partner opened accounts with her.

In NYS they say on the banking complaint website that most National banks apply deposits first, but they don't have to. Since 1983 I have only been charged two overdraft fees, one was reversed. I am very upset that the bank manager did not speak to me personally. Conclusion: KeyBank is not as nice to work with as they used to be.

Resolution Update 11/10/2010:

Apology and refund were given.

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Key Bank Dirty Thieves
By -

TUMWATER,, WASHINGTON -- KeyBank made a mistake by not adding my new address to my account when I switched from a campground address to a PO Box address after I became a resident of WA. I called KeyBank to tell them my new address. They wouldn't accept a phone call to do a change of address. So I used my manual wheelchair in the snow in January 2009 to personally go into the bank and change my address, even took the slip from the Post Office to give them proof of new address. Never got another statement from them from Jan 09 to Aug 09.

During that time I had deposited money into that account to pay my phone bills with through auto debit. Got a call that I had never changed my address and my statements were being returned to KB and they were charging me $10 for every month a statement was returned. Here is the name for this service - Statement Information Safekeeping FEE. Charge for this service $10.00 each time you don't receive you statement. Guess what? You never know about this fee because you never get a statement telling you this is going on because they didn't actually change your address in their system.

Here's the kicker. I went in to cancel my account after I found out they had the only ATM that charged $3.00 to use their ATM with another bank's card. Also that they charge $32 and up for insufficient funds. I had a soft heart and let the guy talk me into keeping my account. He said it would be good to keep it for an emergency or if I needed to change banks. I kept the account and changed my address that same day. Damn stupid mistake on my part. So not only did they keep charging me $10 for the Safekeeping fee, they caused me to go insuf on my phone debit.

I was keeping record of the phone bills and the amount of money I put in the KB so I wouldn't go over. I thought they were sending out statements bi-annually, the reason I wasn't getting a statement. I fought with them on the phone and finally got them to remove the $32 overdraft charge and the month of July $10 safekeeping fee.

THEIR EXCUSE FOR NOT GIVING ME THE OTHER MONTH'S SAFEKEEPING FEES IS THAT THEY CAN'T GO BACK FARTHER THAN ONE MONTH. EACH MONTH THE STATEMENTS DROP OFF THEIR SYSTEM SO YOU CAN'T BE REFUNDED. I SAID "YOU CAN SEE THEM SO YOU CAN REFUND THEM", THEY SAID NO, EVEN IF THEY CAN SEE THEM, THEY WILL NOT CREDIT THEM BACK BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF THE SYSTEM.

RUN INTO THEIR BANK AND TAKE $10 FROM THEM AND SEE IF THEY WON'T CALL THE COPS AND THROW YOU IN JAIL. THEY CAN LEGALLY STEAL FROM YOU, AND YOU CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT. STAY AWAY FROM KEYBANK.

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Deposit Hold
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NAPPANEE, INDIANA -- On Dec 24th KeyBank charged me $450.00 dollars in overdraft fees because they held a $500.00 Christmas Gift Check from my Grandmother that I deposited on Saturday Dec 20th. I then went on the stores and bought my Christmas gifts for my three children. Upon complaint they returned $225.00 but told me there were 4 more items that would be assessed for another $150.00, bring the total that they took from me to $375.00.

16 items @ 37.50 each $600.00
Refunded 6 @ 37.50 each $225.00
TOTAL STOLEN FROM ME $375.00
THEY HELD MY MONEY AND THEN CHARGED ME FOR IT.

My story is not unlike many others. I'm a full-time working mother supporting three children; my husband is unable to work due to a serious illness for which medical bills mount daily. I am a former Monaco employee but I was lucky enough to find another job very quickly. We live pay check to pay check and do our best.

I had waited for the check from my grandmother to purchase gifts because there were no other funds available to do so. Because of the actions of the bank, my family has and will suffer as this completely wiped out all that we had, leaving no money for the remaining gifts I would have liked to give. Not to mention no grocery and gas money until the next payday.

I am tired of their system beating me down and I will find my voice and speak up against such injustices. These practices have got to come to an end, holding money or posting debits before posting deposits and then charging NSF fees is just stealing from those of us just trying to earn a living.

I'm only one person but “A PERSON IS A PERSON NO MATTER HOW SMALL” (from Horton Hears a Who). I want KeyBank to listen to the small person and do what is right, and treat people with respect and be considerate and understanding. I really don't think it's a lot to ask, do you? In addition they cleared the items from largest to smallest, maximizing their profit. 16 items instead of any other smaller amount.

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Key Bank Lies, Steals, Holds Cash Deposits - I'm Taking It Upstairs
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WATERFORD, MICHIGAN -- I guess Key thinks they can get away with murder if it's a holiday weekend, like this past weekend. I made a cash deposit of 280.00 on Saturday. The teller even put my new balance on the slip, 955.01. But because of previous debits, I knew my balance was really around 3.00 before the deposit, and 283.00 after I made the CASH deposit. I leave the bank after making my CASH deposit and buy a few things at Target and the drug store.

Then I came home and scheduled four bills to be paid on Monday from Key's online banking system. Fine. I thought it was weird that a check I wrote for cash at approx. 3pm Thursday afternoon wasn't showing up on my online account, but I didn't worry. Even before I made the deposit on Saturday, I knew I still had around 3.00 in my account.

Surprise!! Key deceived me into thinking my Saturday CASH deposit was posted (by writing my balance on my deposit slip, hello!). It showed as "pending" all weekend, then was removed on Monday (!!), and then reapplied AFTER Key charged me for SEVERAL overdrafts, even for the bills that were scheduled AFTER my CASH deposit. Naturally, I'm a little bit POed. Key had the nerve to call me today and ask "when can you take care of this?" (the 150.00 they put me in the hole by not posting my CASH deposit, holding it while pushing through my bill payments and a few debit purchases). I couldn't believe it!

I missed two hours of work so I could leave early and try to get them to admit to their mistake. Nope! All they would do is offer to remove two of the overdraft charges. I am beside myself with shock and anger over this over the top abusive tactic. I really am. The bank manager was very sweet (I think they take a class on "kill the customer with kindness, while screwing them in the rear"). But refused to examine my timeline. She even had the nerve to claim that the CASH deposit couldn't be posted until this past Monday (so ** WHY show it PENDING all damn weekend??????? Then hold the thing until AFTER you send out my bills???).

I'm complaining to the OCC in charge of National Banks about this practice. It's utterly deceptive and wrong. If you're not open to post the deposits (even though the branch office was open, and I handed the CASH to a teller), then how can they be open to handle ATM transactions?? Totally dishonest and immoral. I'm beyond pissed.

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Shorted My Balance by $1000 and Tell Me I Have to Wait 10 Days for Them to Correct Their Mistake!
By -

I have been a faithful and satisfied checking account customer of KeyBank for years. I now keep less of a balance in my account than I used to. I wonder if this is the reason I am now getting poor service from them. Here is what happened. I receive a check from an annuity investment to cover my expenses each month. It is the only credit put into that account; the bank deposits it to my account in the same amount each month. It usually arrives by or a little before the first of month.

This month only a credit of under $20 was shown in the account. I spoke a number of times to the bank, and finally, after multiple calls someone found that the bank had put the decimal point in the wrong place. They had the check in the proper amount, just put the wrong amount on the telephone teller. I live out of state but kept the account, so I cannot just go in and get the check. They told me it could take 10 days for me to have the money available. I told them I need it to pay rent and utilities and food.

They say there is nothing they can do though they have the check and it was their mistake. I am a senior on fixed income, and the landlord has high strict late fees. It is now the 5th and I am still without my money. My rent was due on the first. If anyone knows of a solution so I can get MY money, please contact me. I should add that I am not in control of this annuity, and am not able to go to the annuity company and get more money. This is not my investment, I just get some money from it but it is not controlled by me. Thus I could end up on the street if the bank doesn't make my money available to me!

Resolution Update 06/05/2008:

Please read the last comment under the review. It is from me, Keyclient, and explains this. I could not find another way to make a comment, and did not know that this window pops up when you click on 'mark complaint--". You might want to explain and change alittle how the site works. It was hard to find my review on the site, and other things.
Thanks for the site.
Keyclient

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A 10 Year Customer lost...
By -

EASTLAKE -- I have had Keybank for over 10 years now and until the past few months, have always been very pleased. Never had any issues, no surprise fees. However, in the past few months things have drastically changed, and as a result, I closed both my checking and savings account with them this morning.

In the fall, I purchased several items from an online merchant. That merchant put an pending authorization through for the full amount, and then 2 days later put through two separate authorizations because the items were going to ship separately. Because this caused the amount to show up twice in my account, my account overdrafted. When I called Key, I was told that only one of the overdraft fees would be removed because it "was not a bank error", even though it was not my error either!

Then, with no warning or notification, Key changed their policy on deposits. From when I first opened my account, a large portion of any ATM deposits would be available right away. This is one of the reasons that I loved banking through Key and had recommended them to several friends. For example, if I deposited $1000 on a Friday, at least $400-500 of it would be available right away. Now, only the first $100 is available right away. When I called and asked them why, I was told it was just a change in their policy. No explanation of why there wasn't any notification sent to their customers.

Today was the last straw. I sell things on eBay part time. On Monday, I deposited around $1000 of both personal and eBay checks into the ATM. This morning, when I logged into my account, the deposit was reversed and I was charged a fee for the reversal. When I called them, I was told, because one of the checks was made out to my eBay user ID rather my name, they considered it a business check and rejected my deposit. I explained that this has never been an issue before and was told that it was just never caught before and that if I wanted to make deposits for eBay, I had to open a business checking account.

I sell 2-3 items at most per year, so I have no desire to open an account just for that! The worst part is, they have the mail the checks that I tried to deposit back to me. This could take 4-10 business days. So not only did they not accept my deposit, I also have to now wait 4-10 business days to get my $1000 back? Another long term customer lost...

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My Overdraft Story
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EUGENE, OREGON -- First let me say, like others who have posted here, that I am extremely responsible in managing my finances and various accounts. I keep my checkbook continually balanced to the penny and check my account online nearly every day to track what has cleared and to confirm my balance. I had not bounced a check in over 20 years since I was a college kid.

This all began when I set up the capability to transfer funds from another account online. I tried it out for the first time last week and it worked... I thought. I viewed my account and it instantly showed my "available balance" to be increased by the $100 I transferred. Guess again. I was later told by KeyBank personnel that you really cannot trust what is shown as your "available balance". Another person at KeyBank told me that I would need to call the bank to be 100% sure that deposits were available, even when they showed "available" online.

OK, on with my story. The day after I thought I transferred the money, three debit purchases were posted and, a day later, three overdraft charges of $35 each (ouch). I went to the bank as soon as I saw this and, with a wallet full of cash, asked them to please help me straighten this out and tell me how much money they needed to get my account right again.

I forked over a bunch of cash and they assured me that it would go into my account immediately and take care of everything. Wrong again! The following morning showed more debits being posted before crediting this cash deposit from my branch. And yes, the following day four more $35 overdraft charges (ouch, ouch, ouch, OUCH!).

I have not written a check or made a debit purchase since things went wrong last week. My paycheck was deposited and, thank God, I have no debits still pending. I think this nightmare is over, but I am planning to close this account within the week. To Keybank's credit, they refunded a total of three of the overdraft charges, but made it clear that this was way beyond their usual practice.

I am not cynical, but I honestly believe that Keybank's procedures, while likely not illegal, are unethical, designed to mislead and earn them profits. I switched my banking to KeyBank when they had their promotion to get a free iPod when you opened an account. I wondered how they could afford to give away iPods, but now I think I know.

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Checking Account Overdraft Policies
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BUFFALO, NEW YORK -- I have been with KeyBank for approximately 20 years. I am the person that puts everything into my checking ledger, balances my book, transfer funds when necessary, make sure everything balances and also check my account almost daily online. You could almost say I was compulsive about my money. Well I am, it's easier to spend than receive. And after bouncing a few checks and paying the fees, an intelligent person learns not to do it again.

Recently I have been burned by KeyBank and their fee assessment. And actually it has happened another time, but I thought I had it together. Apparently I don't. When you review your bank accounts online there is a pending amount and then cleared activity. On 11/20/06 my "pending account" showed purchases that had not been "cleared". So in order to prevent any fees I immediately transferred funds. Today I checked my account and was hit with three overdraft items fees for $32.00 each and three excessive overdraft fees of $4.50 each.

Here's the kicker: even though there was enough money in my checking account to cover my "pending" transactions for the day, I transferred the money into my checking account after the "pending" activities where shown for that day. Remember it was the same day and they had not been cleared. This is the explanation I received from a KeyBank representative, "KeyBank does not debit or credit your account by the end of the business day. KeyBank enters your transaction into cleared according to when the transactions come in". Now a customer is subject to debits/credits by the hour and not the day. Simply ridiculous.

So even though the money was there in the early afternoon, it didn't matter because the debits were entered into "pending' prior to the deposit. I asked a bank representative to define "pending" for me. He couldn't make a sensible argument. Simply stated in Webster's..."while awaiting". To me pending means it's waiting, it has not been cleared, therefore it's in the works..

So I asked the question "is it up to the consumer to balance their check book by the minute" and she rudely replied "Yes". It is now up to us as consumers with KeyBank to balance our check books by the minute!!! Why is it that most lending and/or banking institutions will allow you to pay your mortgage or credit cards up to the end of the business day (usually 5pm) on the day it is due, but KeyBank takes your transactions by the minute? Needless to say I will be researching other banks and the Federal Reserve Banking website to find out if this business act warrants some type of investigation.

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KeyBank: $91 Fee for $13 Overdraft! Beware!
By -

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- Key Bank charges $27 for each returned item. This fee is a little high, but most people are aware of it before opening an account. What you may be unaware of is what happened to me recently. On January 18, 2005, 14 items were posted to my account. The amounts of these items were: $20.01, $13.53, $13.46, $12.67, $11.12, $10.76, $10.08, $9.97, $7.33, $6.94, $6.52, $6.45, $5.55, $2.34. The total amount that my account was overdrawn after these amounts were added up came to $13.71. Notice on the list that there is a $20 item--a total of $6.30 over the amount my account was short.

A reasonable individual working for the bank would add the $27 overdraft fee to the overdrawn $20.01 item. Yes, I would have paid $47 for a $20 gas fill-up, but that's what happens. I have to accept that and try to not let it happen again. But that's NOT what KeyBank did. Instead, they added up all charges excluding the $6.45, $5.55, and $2.34 charges, because these totaled $14.34--over the $13.71 that my account was short. To each of the three charges, a $27 overdraft fee was added, as well as a total of $10.75 in additional excessive overdraft processing fees. The penalty for being $13.71 overdrawn: $91.75!!!

When speaking with customer service representatives, I was told that this could not be reversed because "internal procedures" prohibit doing so and that their decision was final. I was also told that I would have to outside of KeyBank if I wanted to get the matter resolved to my satisfaction. In my opinion, a service fee on overdrafts is reasonable. However, $91.75 is excessive for the small amount that my account was overdrawn--particularly when in the three years I have banked with KeyBank, I have overdrawn only once before. I have a long and reputable history of maintaining a good account with this bank.

When looking at the math, one can clearly see that KeyBank employees who process the posting of charges to an account will add up the numbers in a way that penalizes the consumer the most. This, in my assumption, is the "internal procedure" that the customer service representative was unable to disclose to me. I will be closing my account with KeyBank and I would never recommend that anyone use this bank.

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Deposits Wait, Instand Check Clearing
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PORT CLINTON, OHIO -- Do not use KeyBank for your checking account if you keep a very close balance. If you always keep at least one paycheck cushion, Key should be fine. KeyBank waits 24 hours minimum to post funds to your account (even your paycheck). It will let you use these funds, but you will be charged a fee for using your own money too soon! KeyBank will charge overdrafts for all checks that bounce because of this 24 hour wait period now too. So, if you get paid on Friday, and you set up to pay bills on Friday, these checks will bounce. Key has strategically thought out how to get the most in fees and charges from its customers. Be very careful when you deal with this bank.

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Key Bank USA Checking Accounts Rating:
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2.0 out of 5, based on 4 ratings and
35 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Key Bank USA
Corporate Office - Cleveland District
127 Public Square, 7th Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114
1-800-539-2968 (ph)
www.key.com
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