Today we’re concluding my story about Chase bank canceling a long-term checking account (plus a few others) that I had with them.
If you’re new to the site or have been away for a bit, I’ve already posted twice on this issue.
The first post in this series was Chase Closed My 25-Year Account and the second was Chased Around by Chase Bank. You will want to read those posts (if you missed them) before you read this one, or you’ll be lost.
When we left the last post, my wife and I had visited our local Chase branch and they had followed up by requesting some specific information. But that was a few days ago and we hadn’t received details (I asked some questions but they were slow to respond).
On Tuesday, July 8, Don (banker at my local branch) called me around 11 am and left a message (I was at the pool). He said he was out yesterday but had my message and understood from it that I was working with my CPA to get the required information.
I don’t know where he got that (maybe he had me confused with another client) but I called back after I got home and left a message for him. I reiterated that I needed the three things (list of items they needed info on, what constituted proof of what they wanted, and a secure way to transfer them.)
He called me back about 15 minutes later and said he had heard back from them and was working on an email to me with the list of accounts and what documentation they needed (which are the original agreements). I asked about the way to transfer them and he said he’d get that information while I was working on the documents.
I asked how long I had to get the documents together since last time they gave me one day notice and he said he didn’t see a deadline on their response.
A few minutes later, he sent me this:
Hi John,
Here is the list of vendors that Chase is looking for the original contracts/agreements for. I’m awaiting a response on how to get the docs over to them. I mentioned you’d like a secure email or portal to upload so I’m just waiting for a resolve.
[Here he listed one account I recognized as connected to the Millionaire Money Mentors (MMM) , six real estate syndication accounts, and one account I didn’t recognize.]
Let me know if there is anything else – I’ll reach out as soon as I hear from them. Thanks!
I immediately responded with this:
Just so you know…
CCCCC through HHHHH are syndication deals. I have original agreements for these.
I’m not sure about BBBBB. As I said when we met, that one looked different so I’m going to need to dig a bit deeper on that one just to see what it is. Sometimes the name of the entity is different than what comes through on the bank’s naming system. If someone could give me a transaction example from B, I could find it quickly as I keep all my information in Quicken. I’d need the date, amount, and any other information.
AAAAA is a payment system similar to PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, etc. except it’s for businesses. Surely people at Chase know this. The agreement I have with them is the standard agreement they have with everyone. There’s nothing written — just like I don’t have anything written if you needed be to show an agreement with PayPal. I wouldn’t even know where to begin on getting whatever documentation someone seems to think I should have.
By the way, I think AAAAA is a new one added since our meeting since I don’t recall it being on the list you showed me (but I could be wrong).
Anyway, as I explained, AAAAA collects the payments for my membership site, Millionaire Money Mentors. Each month, they send me funds based on new and renewed memberships. The amounts vary by month since I have sales (and thus more sign ups) at different times of the year.
Can you explain the AAAAA issue as well as get the transaction sample on BBBBB for me? I’d like to know that those are cleared/resolved before I start accumulating the others (which I know I have) because if AAAAA and BBBBB are going to be hang ups then there’s no use working on the other stuff.
Thanks again for your help! I appreciate it!
John
He sent me back an email with general answers that seemed do-able, so I started assembling the information.
I had it all ready the next day by 3 pm and sent Don a note asking how I can get it to them securely. He responded quickly and said he’d ask and send me details.
I also received my Fidelity checks that day as well as had our first automatic payment taken out of the account.
Putting Together the Answers
On Thursday, July 10, Len (Chase executive customer service representative) called me at 9:15 am and said the funds I’d tried to transfer had left Chase and were at Fidelity, though he didn’t have any tracking numbers to provide me (he’s working at getting those).
He also said that I could send them the documents I have through the messaging service on the Chase site.
So I wrote them an email (which ChatGPT helped me with) and sent the documents as follows:
Subject: Supporting Documentation for Case XXXXX-XXXX
Dear [Recipient Name or Team],
This message is in reference to case XXXXX-XXXX. I’ve attached the requested documentation along with the following explanations and context. Please ensure this is routed to the appropriate person for review.
Accounts You Requested Information On:
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- AAAAA
- BBBBB
- CCCCC
- DDDDD
- EEEEE
- FFFFF
- GGGGG
- HHHHH
Online Business Accounts: AAAAA and BBBBB
The first two accounts—AAAAA and BBBBB—are tied to my online businesses.
As I explained during my June 27 visit to my banker’s office, I run a personal finance website and blog at ESIMoney.com, which has been operating for many years. It receives a steady flow of traffic and monetizes through display ads, including many from Chase credit cards. These ads are served via BBBBB, which partners with Google. They pay me monthly based on ad performance.
My second site, MillionaireMoneyMentors.com, is a membership site where users pay for access to financial mentorship and private forums. Payments are processed by AAAAA, which deposits funds monthly from new and renewing members. Sales vary throughout the year, with promotional periods offering discounted memberships.
Both businesses are operated as sole proprietorships—they are not formal LLCs or corporations. As such, all agreements and financial activity are in my personal name.
Here are additional details on the two business-related accounts:
-
- AAAAA collects and transfers membership fees from Millionaire Money Mentors. The terms of my agreement with them are available here: Linked to the AAAAA Services Agreement
- BBBBB. I was unfamiliar with this label initially, but after reviewing example transactions, I confirmed they align with BBBBB payments. On my bank statements, these transactions are labeled “BBBBB.” I reached out to BBBBB, and they confirmed that their terms of service can be found here:
Linked to BBBBB Legal Agreement
Real Estate Syndication Investments
The remaining accounts are related to real estate syndications I’ve invested in as an accredited investor. These typically follow this structure:
-
- An LLC is formed by a general partner who raises funds from accredited investors.
- The funds are used to purchase assets (apartment complexes, medical offices, storage facilities, etc.).
- The property is managed and investors are paid dividends.
- At a future date, the asset is sold and final proceeds are distributed.
The deposits you see in my account represent those dividend payments.
I’ve included copies of the agreements for each of these investments in the attached folder.
Also worth noting: I believe the initial funds for these investments were wired directly from my Chase checking account, facilitated by Chase bankers, while I lived in Colorado. In other words, Chase has been involved with these investments from the outset.
Please let me know if any further clarification or documents are needed. I’m happy to provide additional details as necessary.
Best regards,
John Lastname
Phone Number
⸻
I had to send everything through the Chase secure email system on their website and I did that at 3 pm that same day. I had to send three emails as their system limited how big the files could be (of course it did.)
Once I did that, I called Len and told him I sent the information in three separate emails. He said he’d look over those right away and would get back to me.
On Tuesday, July 15 both Don and Len called me (separately) around 11 am and told me the executive group at Chase had received my information and they would call me when they had an answer. Neither one knew when that answer would be available.
I also got a letter in the mail that they were closing an old business checking account that I used for my rental properties. They should have closed it a long time ago as I haven’t used it in several years.
More Information Sent
On Wednesday, July 16 I received this email from Don at 9 am:
I received an email yesterday evening – they are asking for additional information. Here is a copy/paste of the email…
I looked through all the documents sent by the client. I do have some follow up questions/clarifications to go back to John with:
I understand the use of the AAAAA and BBBBB as the merchant processor for the websites, but the links provided are for the general public and not client specific. Please have the client provide the documents that show the registration or contract that shows he is signed up for it for himself. I would imagine as a sole prop, the website would not be listed in the contract, but does the client have a screenshot he can provide that shows the website is linked to the stripe/ mediavine accounts perhaps in his account profile? This would support that the funds are for him as well as the income is for those sites.
EEEEE docs are blank. They do not show an e-sign timestamp with his name or agreement on it as seen in the other docs. Please have the client provide the part of the document that reflects the signing of the agreement.
GGGGG docs are blank. They do not have any signatures or timestamps.
I replied and let them know I would forward the information to you. Let me know if you have any additional questions for them. In regards to the time frame – they couldn’t pinpoint a date – Len said he would reach out to speak to you about that. If he didn’t let me know and I’ll ask them to reach out again.
⸻
Since they were now clearer on what sort of “proof” was acceptable (I had asked in advance for this and got no response so I had to guess), I knew what to provide. I don’t know why they couldn’t suggest those things up front.
I took screenshots for AAAAA and BBBBB and found the signed EEEEE document. I couldn’t locate the GGGGG one so I emailed the company for it.
I also emailed Don to let him know where I was.
It took until Tuesday, July 22 until I finally got the documents on GGGGG.
I sent four of the five items to Chase via their email system (as instructed last time) but couldn’t send the fifth as it is over 10MB and their system limits attachments to 10MB.
Chase: Making the Simple Complicated
I emailed and called Don asking him what to do about the last document.
By Thursday, July 24 I hadn’t heard anything back from Chase so I called Don at 10:20 am and had to leave another message.
On Friday, July 25 there was still no word from Don so I called Len at 10 am and updated him. He said he’d get back to me.
At 4 pm, Don called back and apologized for not getting back to me because “it’s been a crazy few days.” He said he had emailed the back office to ask what options they had for sending large files securely and they asked him if he had any ideas. No, you can’t make this stuff up.
We chatted about it for a bit and he said he’d email them and ask if I could just provide portions of the document to them (which would make it smaller). We’ll see what they say.
I’ve signed investment documents electronically, do my taxes with my CPA electronically, and even purchased homes electronically. All of them had/have secure ways to send, share, and sign documents of all sizes. The fact that Chase doesn’t (at least in dealing with my issue) is mind blowing.
On Tuesday, July 29 Don called me at 3 pm and said I could print out pages with certain info on them and send those over. These are the words he then sent me in an email:
If you could send over the pages that show the purchase amount, the dates the contract was effective and the pages with the signatures that are timestamped we SHOULD be ok. Worst case scenario, they ask for the whole thing, but I think that should be sufficient. I am going to get started on sending this through for approval while we are waiting for those pages.
I printed out three pages of the document and took pictures of them.
The next morning (Wednesday, July 30) at 8:45 am, I sent the photos to them through the Chase email system. It took two emails as they were too large to send in one. Haha.
I did it through my phone as I tried to log on on my computer and it just kept swirling. I emailed Don, told him I sent the photos, and asked about the swirling (I was afraid I lost some access to the account).
At 9:40 am Len called me and told me what Don told me yesterday afternoon. Do these guys communicate with each other? I told Len that Don had contacted me with the same info and I had already sent the pictures in. He said he’d pull those and get back to me.
Debanking Hits the News
On the morning of Tuesday, August 5, President Trump was on CNBC and said he was debanked by Chase.
It wasn’t my case exactly but I did think the timing was interesting.
I called Don at 3:30 pm to ask if he’d heard anything. I had to leave a message. He called me back at 4:50 pm and said he hadn’t heard anything.
On Thursday, August 7 President Trump signed an executive order aimed at eliminating debunking and calling for more transparency when accounts are closed.
I wondered if it would impact my case.
On Friday, August 8 I called Len at 9:30 am. I told him I haven’t heard anything and it’s been over a week. I am wondering what is going on. I also pointed out that the account is set to close on Sunday.
He said he hasn’t heard anything and will get back to me when he does.
I said it feels like they are now ghosting me.
He apologized and said he’d get back to me when he had an update.
Don called me at 4:30 pm and said he hasn’t heard anything but has asked them again for an update since the account is scheduled to be closed this Sunday and he wanted to get back to me before the weekend. He said he’d call me on Monday with any updates.
On to a Chase Committee
On Monday, August 11, Don called me at 4 pm. He said he just got an email saying my submissions were to be presented to some committee on Monday (he’s not sure if that’s today or next Monday) and they would get back to me with an answer.
He said my account closing date has now been moved back to September 26.
He said he’ll follow up weekly and keep me apprised of any developments.
It was the last time I would talk with him.
On Wednesday, August 20, Len called at 1 pm and told me he had no new information and he’d get back to me when he had an update (and he had no estimate of when that would be).
On Thursday, August 28, Len called at 4:40 pm and told me he didn’t have an update and that he’d be out of the office on Friday and Monday (Labor Day).
On Tuesday, September 2, Len called at 11 am and said the decision was reversed and the account will remain open. He also apologized for the time and effort it took to resolve the matter.
If you recall, I first heard about this issue in an email on June 17. After 2.5 months, it was finally over.
What Now?
Several thoughts to wrap this up…
- Over the course of the 2.5 months this was going on, I moved everything to Fidelity, effectively rendering the Chase account useless. I had no choice as we were either close to the closing date they gave me or passed it (in one case).
- All transfers into and out of Fidelity are working plus I’m now making $130 or so in interest each month (way more than I made in 25 years at Chase). Chase had taken an account with free money (for them) and shot it in the head. My current balance with Chase is about $3,000.
The members in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums asked me why I kept going with this process. There were several reasons:
- Justice. I felt mistreated — in both the accusation as well as how Chase treated me. I wanted justice!
- To make it painful for Chase. If they were going to shut me down, I was going to make it as tough on them as possible.
- Telling the story would make a great blog post — one that was both interesting and that would help others in similar circumstances.
- I’m stubborn. Haha. You all probably know that by now.
- Prove those who said I was toast wrong. I like being the underdog and was told many times I had no chance. I wanted to see if I could succeed despite the odds.
- Just to experience the process and see what would happen. It was pretty eye-opening, wasn’t it?
While all this was going on, we had some fun in the forums chatting about what form a blog post about it would take. I had ChatGPT brainstorm some possible titles and here’s what it came up with…
——————
Snarky Titles Involving Millionaires and Chase:
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- “Too Many Millionaires for Chase?”
- “Chase Doesn’t Like Millionaires (Apparently)”
- “Helping People Become Millionaires… Gets You Banned by Chase”
- “Chase Closed My Account—Maybe I Wasn’t Poor Enough?”
- “Teaching Thousands How to Build Wealth? Chase Will Shut You Down!”
- “25 Years with Chase. 450 Millionaires Later. Account Closed.”
- “I Help People Become Millionaires. Chase Canceled Me Anyway.”
- “Millionaire Mentor… But Not Chase Material?”
- “Chase Me Out: When Helping Others Get Rich Gets You Shut Down”
- “Apparently, Loyalty and Wealth Education Don’t Matter to Chase”
- “I Built a Millionaire Community. Chase Built a Door and Kicked Me Through It.”
- “From Millionaire Maker to Account Risk: Thanks, Chase!”
- “Chase: The Bank That Punishes Financial Success?”
- “Chase Didn’t Like My Friends—All 450+ Millionaires of Them”
- “Pro-Tip: Don’t Teach People to Be Millionaires If You Bank with Chase”
Here are some snarky, Chase-specific title ideas that play on the name “Chase” while highlighting the absurdity of their actions:
Snarky Titles Playing on “Chase”:
-
- “Chased Out by Chase”
- “When Chase Decides to Chase You Away”
- “The Irony of Being Chased by Chase”
- “Chase Me? No Thanks—I’m Running the Other Way”
- “Chase: Great at Closing Accounts, Not So Great at Explaining Why”
- “Getting Ghosted by Chase After 25 Years”
- “25-Year Relationship with Chase… Dumped by Letter”
- “Chase Pulled a Chase: Closed My Account, No Reason Given”
- “Chase Customer Since the 90s. Closed Without a Call.”
- “Chase: Loyalty Means Nothing, Apparently”
- “Breaking Up with Chase: It’s Not Me, It’s… Actually, They Didn’t Say”
- “Chase Promotes Financial Health… Then Cancels Mine”
- “The Chase Is Over: Why I’m Done with Chase”
- “Chase: Making Banking Personal… Until They Cancel You by Mail”
- “How Chase Went from Trusted Partner to Silent Executioner”
Here are some serious, professional title options for your post about Chase closing your account. These maintain a respectful tone but still express the gravity of the situation and invite readers to engage:
Serious, Direct Titles:
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- “Why Chase Closed My Account After 25 Years—and Gave No Explanation”
- “What Happened When My Bank of 25 Years Shut Me Down Overnight”
- “Chase Closed My Account. Here’s What You Should Know.”
- “After 25 Years with Chase, They Canceled Me Without Warning”
- “When a Long-Term Relationship with Your Bank Ends Without Notice”
- “How I Lost My Chase Account—And What It Reveals About Modern Banking”
- “Chase Closed My Account Without a Call, an Email, or a Reason”
- “If Chase Can Do This to Me, They Can Do It to You”
- “My Experience with Chase Account Closure: A Cautionary Tale”
- “Bank Loyalty Means Nothing: A Story of My Account Closure at Chase”
Serious with Emotional/Educational Framing:
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- “The Silent Closure: What I Learned When Chase Shut Down My Account”
- “When a Bank Closes Your Account Without Warning: My Chase Experience”
- “What It’s Like to Be Dropped by Your Bank After 25 Years”
- “They Closed My Account. No Warning. No Explanation. Just Gone.”
- “Chase Terminated My Account. Here’s What I Wish I’d Done Sooner.”
——————
Hahaha! There are some good ones there!
Many in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums shared their Chase stories of woe as I was dealing with mine. Man, that company is a mess!
Finally, here are a couple MMM takes on why Chase finally gave in:
Perhaps someone at Chase finally performed a basic google search of your name and found your LinkedIn profile, your on-line interviews and other information, and that you have successful finance blogs which seem to involve millionaires.
I can hear the low level Chase representative saying, “Hey boss, I think we might have a problem here. You need to look at this before you shut down this guy’s account.”
And this one:
An hour ago at Chase:
Len’s boss: “Ah geez, this one again?!? He’s killin’ me here. You know what, I don’t care anymore. Let him keep the account. Let’s move on to those new TPS cover sheet designs.”
Len: “Yay! I’m sure he’ll be thrilled– and happy that we managed to pull off this awesome customer service for him.”
Boss: “Yeah, and send him the survey link asking him for a five-star review.”
Haha!
Where do I go from here? I’ll keep the Chase accounts for now, just to have a backup. That’s one thing this episode has taught me — to have multiple accounts in case one goes down unexpectedly. I had a lot invested in this Chase account. If they had closed it down immediately I would have been in trouble as I had no backup. Now I do…Chase is the backup.
As for Chase, they are in the same category that I have for Comcast (who I have thankfully gotten rid of here in North Carolina.)
——————
Epilogue
It would have been “nice” if the story had ended there, right?
After all, I wrote it all out, put it into my blogging software, set it to publish on the next available open date, and moved on with my life.
Foolish me, I thought the story was over. But there was (unfortunately) more to come.
Things worked perfectly well as they had before these issues developed until on the morning of Saturday, September 27, I tried to send my daughter a Zelle payment (twice) and it was rejected.
When I got back home from lap swimming, I sent Chase customer service an email asking what was going on.
I received this response:
Hello, John.
Thank you for contacting us.
John, we know this Zelle transaction is important to you. We’re here to provide you with the information you need.
Upon review, your account ending in XXXX is in “Restricted” status.
When the account is restricted, you aren’t able to use it online for payments and transfers.
We sent a letter for more information about your account.
If you need further assistance, please send us a secure message. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Chase.
What? I hadn’t received a letter. Was something else wrong?
So at 1:40 pm I sent this message to my local Chase banker…
Don,
I am at my breaking point with Chase.
After all we went through and the account was cleared, I tried to send my daughter a Zelle payment this morning (she’s a Chase customer as well) and the transaction got declined.
I sent Chase an email asking what was going on and I got this response…
[I put the message above here]
Can you tell me what is going on? I thought we were past all of this.
Thanks,
John
It was a weekend but I wanted to send it anyway. I assumed he’d have to check into it and would get back to me early the next week.
A Few Days Later
When I didn’t hear from him, I sent an email on Thursday, October 2 asking if there was an update. I got back a response that he was out of the office that day. Of course he was.
At almost 8 pm that night I got an auto email from Chase saying my account balance was below the threshold I had set for notices and now had a balance of $0. I logged onto my account and sure enough, it was at $0.
At 8:40 am on Friday, October 3 I called Len (my rep in the Chase Executive Office) and left him a message asking what was going on.
At 9 am (when the bank opened), I called Don. I had to track him down at another Chase location as he wasn’t at his usual one, but when I told him my account was closed he seemed shocked and said he’d “get this handled right away.” I didn’t hear back from him that day.
Monday, October 6
I called Don when the branch opened at 9 am. He said he heard back on Saturday that they had made an error in canceling my account but the person responsible did not have the authority to reinstate it. They would need to talk to their boss on Monday (today). He also said a rep from the Executive Office had been assigned to me (Len).
Don called and left me a message at 3 pm. He said he got an email that they are working on the issue and the account should be reinstated in a day or so. He said he’d get back to me tomorrow with an update.
At 4 pm, Len called and said the same thing.
Tuesday, October 7
Len called at 9:50 am and said the account had been reinstated. I checked on the Chase app and it was there. However, there were no funds in it since they sent me a check via UPS (which was supposed to be here by noon today) when the account was closed.
When I got back home from an errand, the check was waiting on my porch. I deposited it into the account and so far, things looked like they were back to normal (it allowed me to send a Zelle to my daughter).
We’ll see if it is all good or not, time will tell. I hope I don’t have to write an “Epilogue Part 2” post! Hahaha!
Monday, October 13
Got a call from Len in the Chase executive office at 5:50 pm.
I had asked if they were going to charge me a low balance fee as I had an account with $0 in it for a day or so when they closed it, cleaned it out, and then reinstated it. He had told me he didn’t know.
So he called back to say he had found a $35 wire charge from back some time ago and had credited me for that amount just in case I do get charged for low funds.
He also apologized several times for their mistake closing the account.
Anyway, not life changing but since I harp on the bad things they do I need to include the nice ones too!
Let’s hope this is the end of the story!
