2.0 stars across
18 reviews
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The worst of the bunch
This review is for: Discover Bank
I've done business with Discover Bank, Ally, ING Direct, AIG Bank and Emigrant Direct.
Discover is by far the worst. They are SLOW to transfer money out of your savings account. They are slow to acknowledge deposits made by mail. The customer service is a joke. Avoid them.
Posted by desperado657 -- Dec. 31, 2010
It IS as bad as you hear.
This review is for: Discover Bank
Customer Service was fine.
I spent about two months during the site launch having to call in and have them reset my password over and over.
Transfers to external accounts initially had to be processed as payments to people, even if that person was yourself.
Autosaving functionality worked as planned.
Set up 12 transfers on the same day to an external bank recently, received 4 letters in the mail two weeks later stating I'd exceeded the number of allowed transfers in a month. I acknowledged that and changed my behavior, but not before they banged me with $90 in fees; likely more than I would ever make in interest. When I called and explained the situation, that I was transferring to a bank from which I had a checking account to pay my DISCOVER CARD OFF, I was told that it was federal law that they charge me and that the fees were not going to be reversed.
I closed my account on the call. Ridiculous.
Posted by romangrey -- Oct. 4, 2010
Fees Suck
This review is for: Discover Bank
There was some confusion with some transfers between Discover and Chase and I believe I was incorrectly charged fees.
Chase quickly refunded their fee without admitting any fault, making this customer happy with Chase.
Discover didn't do the same.
Posted by johndoe -- Sept. 21, 2010
it's not that bad
This review is for: Discover Bank
i've had discovercard for a few years and its the best card ever. Their online system is easy to use and navigate, and they offer great free services like financial calculators to track your spending. Because I loved discovercard, i chose to move my money to discoverbank. I again haven't had any issues. I opened my account in June and transferred money in on the phone. They were very patient and nice. I've talked to a few people and they all were very welcoming. I'm not sure if they had a new training session inhouse, but the reviews i've read that protray discover negatively doesnt define my experience with discoverbank at all.
i will look out for the minimum balance requirement. I knew there was a minimum to start, so i'd assume there is a minimum to maintain an account. Makes sense to me.
Posted by akb925 -- Sept. 7, 2010
Be Very Careful With Discover
This review is for: Discover Bank
We built up 50K in cash with Discover Bank for the purchase of a home mortgage. Be careful not to keep more than 50K in your account since if you need the money above 50K they will penalize you for an early withdrawl.
In any case, we pulled our entire 50K balance out of Discover August 31st for the purchase of the new home. Well, guess what if you have a zero balance at any time during the month, they close your account and you forfeit all interest accrued. This defies common sense since you would expect that any bank that holds your money for even a day is due to pay you a return for your funds. Beware of Discover Bank, saying they are crooks is not right since as they will tell you "it was in their documents" but something does not smell right about the way they do business. I would be ashamed to work for them.
Posted by dadashek -- Sept. 3, 2010
Should have read the other reviews - ripoff alert !
This review is for: Discover Bank
Discover bank will do everything it can to hold on to your money and charge you ludicrous fees. I'm strugglign to get money back from a CD I opened. Customer service is rude, people take hours to respond. Never open an account here. It's a guaranteed problem.
Posted by rohitk -- Aug. 31, 2010
Not a good experience
This review is for: Online Savings
I opened a online savings account because of their high APY. There website is buggy (security warning everytime I click on something) and it lacks important information. And I called there customer service and the representative gave me a lecture how I did something wrong. Just terrible experience.
They look like they have good APY's but there fee structure is expensive and there behavior is fishy. I will never going to use any Discover product.
Posted by wildrogal -- Aug. 1, 2010
don't use Discover Bank
This review is for: Discover Bank
Discover Bank is pure trash. My CD expired and they never sent the check. I had to call about 5 times and finally ordered them to wire the funds and waive the wire fee. That exercise might as well have been from the dark ages via carrier pigeon as they made it as difficult as possible. The account was closed on 2/11/10, and as of 3/1/10, I (or my Schwab account) have yet to see the funds.
Posted by c7773ubs -- March 1, 2010
Discover the worst online bank
This review is for: Discover Bank
I have online savings and CD accounts with ING, Ally, and Emigrant. All have there strengths and not so strengths, but nothing compares with the total lack of service offered at Discover Bank.
Initially the online savings account was a little difficult to open and fund but I succeeded.
Then I tried to open a 60 month CD for 12 thousand dollars. Three times a representative checked my routing and account numbers. All three times the transfer did not go through... even though I was already set up and linked to my checking account. No email to notify me of a problem. No paper letters. No response to my emails. The only way I knew there was a problem was that the money never was withdrawn from my checking account. I had to call the "help" center and wade through the phone maze to try and fix the problem. After three weeks of frustration I gave up and opened the CD at Ally... in minutes.
My Discover experience was the worst customer care of my entire life. The mattress is more appealing!
Posted by gordondinsdale -- Feb. 16, 2010
not a good choice
This review is for: Discover Bank
Consistently poor customer services: it seems like everything they do revolves around their convenience, not the customer's.
As an example amongst many problems with them: to retrieve your money after a CD matures, you must set your alarm clock for the maturity date, as they will not take advance instructions!!! They will charge you $20 to transfer it out!
I was going to 'ladder' many CDs over an 18-month period, but I stopped at the 1st one since I realized only after opening the account that Discover Bank was a loser.
Not to confuse this review with Discover Card, which I've been happy with for, what?, 2 decades...
Posted by c.delapointe -- Feb. 11, 2010
Discover update
This review is for: Online Savings
Discover just went down to 1.35% for their online savings (as of 1 Feb 10). However, if you have a certain amount, they give you a higher rate - I don't know the threshold for getting the higher rate but I'm getting 1.59% on $27K (1 Feb 10)
Posted by quedita -- Feb. 1, 2010
BAD BANK
This review is for: Discover Bank
I have been a customer off and on for over ten years.
Each time I return after several years, I remember why I left to begin with:
*OUTDATED ONLINE INTERFACE
*BUGGY WEBSITE THAT IS MISLEADING, PECULIAR & SOMETIMES JUST WRONG
*INCONSISTENT CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT USED TO BE OFFSHORE BUT MIGHT AS WELL STILL BE
*UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR FUNDS (10 DAY HOLDS, LOW DAILY ACH LIMITS, ETC)
In short, everything about the way Discover Bank operates was designed to frustrate and limit customer choice apparently to increase profits.
This has been well known at the executive level for over ten years, and recent experience tells me that no progress has been made.
Vote with your $$$ and stay away.
Posted by JOJIBRO -- Oct. 5, 2009
Horrible experience in setting up account
This review is for: Discover Bank
First let me state that I have already used online banking with Emigrant Direct and it was easy to set up online and easy to transfer funds in and out. Not so with Discover Bank.
When I tried to set up a savings account online it told me I had to call a phone number because they were unable to process it online. I do so and am told I have to fax in a utility bill as proof of my address. Meanwhile I have a Discover Credit Card showing the address I am using!
I do this and then get an email saying the account is set up. I click on the link in the email and it brings me to a login screen with a username and password. I have neither since I couldn't complete the account set-up online.
So I call them AGAIN. They tell me to register the account online. I do this and am supposed to get a password emailed to me (it wouldn't let me select one myself) so that I can access the account.
I never received the email with the password so I call AGAIN and am told that it takes up to 5 business days to get that email.
What a joke. I'm a week into opening this account and have called them THREE times but still have absolutely no access to my account. I was planning to transfer most of my savings from Emigrant Direct to Discover but there's no way I trust them with my money now.
I regret ever bothering to open this account and do not recommend this as an online bank to anyone. The savings rates are lower at Emigrant Direct but I've had that account for 3 years with absolutely no problems.
Posted by lpaider -- Sept. 26, 2009
Fees for moving large amounts of money
This review is for: Online Savings
Although this account is currently offering one of the top rates available, there are some drawbacks to the account for which you should be aware.
First, there are limits on how much money you can withdraw from your account via their online tools - no more than $50,000 per month and $35,000 per day. I didn't know this when I signed up for the account, so I called them and they said I could withdraw larger amounts by calling them to get a check mailed to me or a wire transfer, but there'd be a fee ($5/check) and ($20/wire transfer). Not the end of the world, but definitely annoying.
Second, their website is outdated and they don't offer online statements - just paper ones. It's confusing to use their site, which you'd think wouldn't be the case for a large bank like Discover - if I didn't mind a bad website, I'd probably go to a smaller community bank.
Finally, discover bank's whole process of setting up online banking after registering for the account was a pain - taking multiple steps, lots of emails back and forth, waiting, etc.
For an online bank account, it's not very internet friendly - if it weren't for the current high rate, I wouldn't consider this account at all.
Posted by jay_squared -- Sept. 21, 2009
A plain ol’ good account
This review is for: Online Savings
Discover Bank avoids two pitfalls that make me hate a bank. They don’t lie to me and they don’t make it hard to move my money around. Specifically, this means they disclose their fees ($15 overdraft is annoying, but they’re very up-front about it) and they make it easy to use their online banking and/or other banks’ online banking to transfer lots of money in and out of the account quickly (via ACH transfers).
Also, they’re giving a good rate with low minimums. Making this a solid, meat-and-potatoes savings account. I’m reminded of Ally’s savings account, which is also worth checking out if you think this account looks good. I’d pick whichever of the two was giving the highest rates at the time.
Posted by greg -- Sept. 9, 2009
Excellent Customer Service
This review is for: Standard CD
I was first considering an online bank account about ten months ago when I wanted to transfer some of my assets out of my stock accounts. I was looking for a CD or Money Market Account but was unsure about online services and procedures.
The customer service people at Discover answered all my questions and helped me select some good account options for my situation. They explained the interest options and how and when I could withdraw my money. They were very thorough about explaining fees and security procedures.. I had never done a wire transfer before and the Discover people walked me through it step by step.
They have continued to answer my questions and I have been very pleased with the customer service and banking options. I was so comfortable using Discover Bank that I later went back and opened a Money Market account there too.
The only problem I have ever had there was once when I got two conflicting answers from customer service representatives. When I called back and talked to a supervisor she double-checked the answer for me. She also asked me the details of the previous calls and promised to look into the conflicting information. I was very satisfied with her response.
Overall, I would recommend Discover Bank to anyone interested in online banking. They have very fair fees and rates, a wide variety of banking services, and exceptional customer service.
Posted by winsal43 -- Aug. 6, 2009
Low transfer limits, bad interface and support
This review is for: Money Market
I was originally attracted to Discover Bank based on their good rate, their website (which looked pretty professional) and the fact that Discover is a big company with a good brand.
However, once I applied and my account was approved, I was shocked how bad the banking experience was.
First of all, the website for managing your account was tough to use, did not offer online statements, and looked like it was built in 1993 - not at all what you'd expect from a big company like Discover or based on the professional looking site that asks you to sign up.
Second of all, after opening the account with a minimal balance, I wanted to put my savings in there that I had been saving for a down payment on a house, but the site said I couldn't transfer in or out more than several thousand per day and no more than $35K per month.
I had asked a customer service person whether there were any transfer limits before I applied and she had said no, so I became pretty frustrated.
The whole reason I opened the account is that savings accounts are supposed to be completely liquid - so that when I found my dream house, I could take all the money out and put a down payment on it. But the low transfer limits prevented me from even putting the money in there in the first place.
I decided to close the account, since I had no reason to now use it, but then I read that there was a fee for closing the account in the first few months - so I didn't bother.
Thus, I still have it and hope they get better, but in the meantime, they're just an extra annoying piece of mail I get each month to remind me of this bank.
Posted by jay_squared -- June 3, 2009
Online Bank without Online Support
This review is for: Money Market
Discover's website for their Money Market account looks nice at first glance. But after some digging, there is a glaring omission - no online support. I hunted high and low and could not find a contact form or customer service email to get in touch with anyone at Discover. That's a concern - does this mean that I'd need to get on the phone with a customer service rep anytime I had a problem? I wasn't excited about that prospect, but I gave them a call to check out the experience.
It wasn't good. The rep I got on the phone was a disciplined slow talker, which unfortunately only accentuated the fact that he wasn't very knowledgeable. He had to get off the call 3 different times to find the answers to my questions. The prospect of having to conduct all of my interactions with Discover in this manner was not very comforting.
The one interesting thing he did mention was that Discover does not provide overdraft protection on the optional debit card associated with the account. I think he offered it as an honest fault with the account, but this is potentially a perk, as I've heard horror stories of people trying to buy a $3.40 coffee, exceeding their remaining balance, and then getting clobbered by a cascade of overdraft charges. Discover will just decline the transaction, which is probably the right thing to do. Although with only 3 debit card transactions allowed per month (according to Regulation D), this is probably not the account for anyone looking to use a debit card to purchase coffee on a regular basis.
Debit card perks on a limited transaction account and poor customer service do not make a great bank account experience.
Posted by SmallBizMan -- March 24, 2009
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