Recently I logged into my email to find 5 emails that looked just like this:
There was one email for each of my five checking accounts at BBVA Compass. My first reaction was fear and dread. What was going on? I hadn't made any changes to my account. Who did? No one else has access to my account and my logins are all tightly locked down with 2FA. I instantly logged into my main account without issue and saw this:
I'd been hacked. Robbed blind, somehow. I had four accounts under this login and one account under another login for a different business I own and all were at $0. A check had been written and cashed in the exact amount that was left in each account, but when I clicked on the check to see the image, nothing would load.
Who could have done this and gotten through all of my security measures? Who let them do this? I instantly hopped on the phone to the BBVA Compass Fraud Department and waited 33 minutes for assistance. Once I finally got someone on the phone (that I could barely understand) I explained what had happened. Surely someone stole my identity somehow and posed as myself to gain access. But how did they cash my checks? I don't even use checks! My mind was racing with possibilities. Finally, the person on the phone calmly told me, "I see here that we decided to close your accounts, and unfortunately I cannot provide a reason. Please go to a local branch, tell them what happened and have them give you the money back."
I was beyond pissed. I asked, "WHAT IS THE REASON FOR DOING THIS?!" And of course, she said again, "Unfortunately I am not able to disclose the reason." I hung up the phone and started to think. I remembered that a month ago I got a call from BBVA Compass’ corporate office, asking me about recent Bitcoin purchases I had made on GDAX/Coinbase. They asked if it was me making these purchases and the purpose for them. I said of course it was me, or I'd have filed a fraud report, and the purpose was to simply buy Bitcoin. Keep in mind, I had been buying crypto for almost 2 years with these accounts. She asked why I was buying Bitcoin and I told her that I didn't need to tell her why I was buying Bitcoin. I sarcastically asked if it was against the law to buy Bitcoin. "Well...no." Is it against BBVA Compass policy? "Well, no." Then what's the problem? "Ok, just wanting to check in with our valued customers and make sure everything is okay." She hung up and that was that. Obviously, I was suspicious at her intentions.
4 weeks after that call my accounts were drained and closed, without notice, and was told I would not be able to bank there anymore.
I have been banking with BBVA Compass for 8 years. I opened my first business checking account with them while in college, and ultimately ran millions of dollars of corporate transactions through those 5 accounts, without any overdrafts or fraud reports. I even had a mortgage with them for a time. I was friends with a few of their local employees, who were normally very helpful. This was my bank.
I started doing some research of similar reports happening, and what I found shocked me. I found that BBVA Compass was actually very "crypto friendly." In fact, The same company they punished me for buying Bitcoin from, Coinbase, they actually own a part of!
What an awesome, forward-thinking, crypto-friendly bank! Or not.
Banks like BBVA Compass know the threat that blockchain technology is to their entire business model. They're terrified of it. So what do they do? They proudly publish PR pieces that flaunt how innovative and blockchain-friendly they are! Yet they privately instruct employees to flag, drain and blacklist loyal customers for being blockchain-friendly as well. Then they make them fight tooth and nail to get their money back. They speak out of both sides of their mouth. They want to protect themselves from their inevitability of becoming irrelevant, so they invest in blockchain technology while preventing their customers from doing the same. They know that my Bitcoin likely won't go to buying drugs or evading taxes, but they also don't want me to profit off of it, or help contribute to their ultimate demise. My profit is their inevitable irrelevance.
I know that banks can refuse any customers they please. I also know that any money I have in a bank truly isn't mine. My purpose of this article is to bring to light what's quietly happening at banks around the world, and to instill confidence that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is the future. Banks know what it means for them and their antiquated ways of doing business. They want a piece of the action while denying you a piece as well.
Another purpose of this article is to tell you to stay away from BBVA Compass. You don't want them anywhere near your money. They're a centralized wolf in decentralized clothing, and they have no regard for you as a customer, especially if you're committing the heinous crime of buying crypto from a company they're invested in.
It took me 4 weeks to get my money back, by the way. Only after a handful of calls, emails, and branch visits did it happen. For the time being, it's almost impossible to stay away from banks entirely. But do yourself a favor and stay away from this one. Please let me know in the comments if you have had good experiences with a bank that is actually crypto friendly, if there is such a thing. Follow me on Twitter for more updates!
I'm afraid I don't have a positive experience to share. That's a terrible thing that happened to you though. In Jan. 2018 My Brother, Mike and I started our blockchain business and registered our business entity as an LLC. In the state of Nevada. One of the first Crypto Friendly states. That's why we have Pioneers that call Lad Vegas home. Such as Michael Turpin, Jim Blasko, Kingsley Edwards, Morgan Rockwell, to name a few. We then did the Next step one would do when starting a business. Open a business account at a bank. Just part of the process. So wet proceed first to Wells Fargo. They are "crypto friendly innovators". Far from it. We have all our documents, EIN, business license, everything. Five minutes after explaining what kind of business we are starting, they start playing musical managers on us. Where each of the three managers on duty woukd take turns stalling for time and asking questions while pretending to fill out our application while the others were handing a phone of to one another and Just listening. I don't know who they were speaking to but each time one of them came back they were madder and madder. They eventually shuffled us out the front door like we were criminals. Needless to say, we were very discouraged heading to the next bank. This was a credit union, surlely they would be better. Nope. Apparently, having a legal business built on blockchain technology(not even bitcoin related, by the way) is illegal. I feel your pain my man. There was an article published about our struggle but I'm kinda new here and don't know the ettiquette of posting links. There's our story.
That insane! Great story, thanks for sharing. But I'm sorry it happened.
In Hawaii, the banks aren't allowed to allow customers to conduct transactions in crypto unless the bank holds an equal amount of fiat to the crypto transaction - which is essentially impossible. I've been skirting around this legality with some interesting banking solutions but ultimately, I am waiting for something like this to happen. I keep a tiny balance as a result. On a related note - I recently went to pay off a Capital One credit card $5k balance and incorrectly entered my account number which led to a chargeback - loyal customer of more than a decade, never late payments, paid off my balance in full on a regular basis and made a mistake entering an account number - Capital One flagged my account, closed all five credit cards I had with them, and refused to reopen my accounts - even after I explained and showed how the mistake happened. There's no love from banks or credit cards towards customers - we are just a way for them to make money - which is why we need crypto solutions, not banking solutions. The problem is that we still need the fucking fiat - so we need a way to translate it from crypto - but that problem may not be around for very long.
Great post. This is scary and is EXACTLY why we need blockchain technology. Banks have the power to destroy us...and WE GAVE IT TO THEM WILLINGLY.
More than that, governments have power over the banks. So who really controls your life? Who "allows" you to use YOUR OWN MONEY? It's almost like waking up and realizing you're living in the matrix.
Is it any wonder why more and more people are flocking to Bitcoin and blockchain technology? We just want control of our lives back. No one should have the power to take your property whenever they feel like it. Thankfully, those times are soon going to be over.
Anyway...sorry for the rant. Thanks for posting. It was a true wakeup call.
it wasn't 'For your convenience' then was it?! it was for their own reasons, nothing to do with delighting you as a customer but causing you hardship and distress - disgusting behaviour.
That's absolutely what it was.
I'm sorry to hear man. This is outrageous. These banks are actually worse than criminals
Wow. The banks no their running on fumes. Thanks for sharing that story. I'd be willing to bet there's a lot more stories like that coming soon.
Wow that is a terrible thing to do to a customer Chris. They could've at least given you a phone call and told you that in person after 8 year banking with them. What a world we live in. You are absolutely right though Crypto is the future :) Cheers!
Brother, I feel your pain...excellent article by the way...I can say, THIS, it’s only a matter of time, until these insitutations disappear and we are in control of our own assets, until that day banks go away...try and keep less as possible going with any bank...from reading you actually do...thanks for the advice. Well noted. Good luck and keep going foward.
Hey @nobscrypto we upvoted this article to help raise awareness about unfriendly Banks. Perhaps you would be interested in joining our Discord Group to talk about the Cryptocurrency Markets etc.
http://discord.me/adsactly
Dope story
They can't stop the revolution though
Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through this.. and I'm thankful for the information as I am new to all of this..I hope a positive resolution evolves really soon because that is a scary ass situation to have to go through. I hope you will share if/ when you find something that works♡
Hey,
Excellent Post- I learnt a great deal about Steeming from you I one go!
I am brand spanking new to Steemit, and your feedback and support would mean the world to me.
I have a new, potentially controversial post out: Hypocrisy in the Cryptocurrency Universe and why the Financial Industry loves it
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@shenobie/hypocrisy-in-the-cryptocurrency-universe-and-why-the-financial-industry-is-loves-it
Your feedback would be awesome
@Shenobie
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