Avoid this bank at all costs.
Do yourself a huge favor if you are considering BBVA Bank (Now owned by PNC)... just move on.
I am a formal Simple customer who was onboard for their folding Simple customers into BBVA prior to the PNC merge. The experience was the worst banking experience I've had in over well over 25 years. Even worse than the time a local credit union allowed a total stranger to come in and empty and close my account without any ID. Yeah, that really happened... and yet I'd still put BBVA far worse than any experience I've had yet with any bank. Because at least I could talk to someone at the Credit Union and make sense of things.
During the months leading up to the Simple transition they made some grand claims that there would be no interruption of service. Well, I was locked out of my account for nearly 5 days and while they also claimed I would be able to use my debit card, it also did not work. Their customer service department was completely overwhelmed by tons of now disgruntled Simple users so getting phone support was nearly impossible. But the message on the hold line made it seem like they were overwhelmed due to COVID19, so as a Simple customer you felt even less like you mattered at all to them. Even when you waited on hold for hours, you would most likely be disconnected with no reason or customer service reps would act like they couldn't hear you. Whether it was true or not, who knows... bottom line was they were really under prepared and clearly did not care.
I have no hard numbers to back this up, but I had heard there were something like 3 million Simple users. Imagine having a business where you can instantly gain 3 million users and then doing less than the bare minimum to make those customers welcome? Then on top of that, locking many of them out of their accounts altogether and lying about it on social media.
Then after they screwed up royally, they claimed they would be waiving fees as a way to say sorry... Gee, what a kindly gesture that totally makes up for my not being able to even buy a loaf of bread for a week /s. Doesn't matter because it turned out to be another lie as they apply a 3 dollar transfer fee when you are trying to move your money out of their crappy bank to another.
If you want to call in now to their support center, you can get through finally but be prepared to be speaking to someone over a connection that sounds like a cement mixer running in the background. That wouldn't be so bad but then it's clearly an offshore support center so trying to understand a very thick accent through the distortion is just a recipe for frustration.
There's no end to the 4 letter expletives I could lay out for describing this bank's level of service, but keeping it civil and straightforward, they are absolute junk. Avoid at all costs. Until the day I die, I will never recommend or use BBVA / PNC for anything banking related and I would tell anyone to run far, far away. Sticking your money under your mattress would be a better alternative.
11 June 2021
Unprompted review