Friday, December 7th 2018 — Imagine going to pay for gas only to realize your debit card doesn't work and you have no access to your bank account.
That's what's happening to people in our area.
52 Wells Fargo banks began transitioning over to Flagstar Bank this past weekend, but the transition didn't go as smoothly as the company had anticipated. It left thousands of customers without access to money.
"I went to put gas in my car and I couldn’t. I could not use my debit card. It said it was declined," said Melissa Greer, Flagstar Customer.
Melissa Greer has been a customer at Wells Fargo for the past 5 years.
After her new Flagstar debit card was declined on Monday, she knew something wasn't right.
"I couldn’t get online, couldn’t use the ATM, could not use my card," said Greer.
Greer had no way of accessing her account.
She says it's even more frustrating knowing the transition between banks began around the holiday season.
After waiting 4 days, she finally went to the bank and sought answers.
"So I had to go in and sign and wait and there were a lot of people," said Greer.
A bank full of people facing the same issue -- debit cards not working and no access to online banking.
The CEO of Flagstar says the issues resulted from a system failure causing their website to crash.
"In order to get access to your online banking account, you have to access the website, that’s the portal to online banking," said Alessandro DiNello, Flagstar CEO.
He says most issues are now solved.
Flagstar is reversing any late or overdraft fees caused by the issue.
"I feel pretty positive at the fact we are making good progress at solving the issues at hand, said DiNello.
But even with people's account's back to normal, Melissa Greer will no longer be trusting Flagstar with her money.
"I will not be back ever again, I’m all done," said Greer.
The CEO says that's what he doesn't want to hear.
That's why he created his own e-mail box for customers to send their questions.
He has staff on hand continuously checking it to ensure all questions are answered.
If you continue to experience problems, you should visit a local Flagstar Bank. Give them a call at 888-248-6423 or email DiNello@flagstar.com