Woodforest Nation Bank Excessive hold times on checks and the reasons behind holding a check for so long are absurd! Columbus, Ohio

I am also a customer of woodforest national bank, and every single time I go into the bank or call and speak to a teller, I seem to talk to low IQ individuals and I have even asked to be able to speak to any employee who does have at least a G.E.D.

I have only ever spoke to employees that seem they are generally from low income or no income project housing/and or high school/middle school drop outs. I am spoke to in ebonics and apparently I need an ebonics translator every time I go into the bank to make a transaction! Woodforest will obviously hire anyone! Im closing my accounts!

Woodforest National Bank is dedicated to providing quality customer service and we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you directly.  Please contact your local branch or our Customer Care department toll free at 1-888-224-0132 or email customerservice@woodforest.com.

Ok - I'll play along - so let's say Woodforest DID call and verify the check......and???  Even if the funds are available at that exact moment - what is stopping the acct from having the funds depleted before the check you are depositing clears?  What if there is a stop payment on the check?  What if the check attempts to clear the other bank - or does clear that bank - and is then charged back to Woodforest because the check was stolen, forged etc.....?  Not to mention that many banks are restricting what information can be verified by phone - even if another bank calls.

Also - it can depend on your acct relationship with your bank.  Are you frequently overdrawn?  (I'm just asking - not assuming...)  Have you deposited an item within the past 6 - 12 months that was charged back?  How much is the deposit for?  Also - I've seen the hold actually protect the client many times - because YOU are liable for the money if you spent it all and the check was charged back.  The bank may take the loss initially - but they'll try to collect it from you.   

I do agree, 10 business days does seem excessive - however it seems there is more here than what is being revealed.  And...for the record - I am a 24 year banking veteran,  however I've never heard of this bank you're speaking of and I live nowhere even remotely close to you or Ohio. 

Reg CC is a banking regulation that ALL banks are required to comply with - although individual banks may evaluate your overall relationship before placing an initial hold. 

While I can understand the frustration you may feel - I feel confident in assuring you that this is not a conspiracy against you personally.  Good luck.

Woodforest can hold a check for as long as they may want but using false accusations to do so is not good business ethics. Yes, if they are claiming they have inside information that my grandfather's account or my attorney's account is suspicious then they should call and verify it. I know my grandfather isn't writing everyone in Columbus, OH Christmas checks so there wouldn't be a need to say that there's been past occurrences that could cause questions to arise now. Also, my attorney isn't the type to just hand out money to every John, Dick, and Harry so I highly doubt that is an issue as well. Bottom line is if they want to label something as "suspicious" then perhaps they should call and verify funds. I don't expect any check to be cashed immediately but I think it's interesting how they excuse their behavior. And a little "for your information"...did you know that Woodforest National Bank gives the teller the authority whether or not to cash the check? There isn't an actual policy on holding it, it's up to the discretion of an "UNEDUCATED" teller. I just spoke to a customer service rep a little while ago and learned that little tidbit. I also got a year of no bank charges. Corporate said the teller was falsifying a document because she has no evidence of her statement. Well that and Key bank, the bank the check was written through, also called my bank's customer support to defend the "suspicious" account. Obviously Key Bank knows what Customer Service means. It's amazing how that works.

  Reg CC specifies the conditions under which a bank can hold a check.   If the bank violates regulation CC, you can very easily go after them. 

" But when they hand you the agreement about the holding the paper states "they have inside information that the check will not be cleared". Now why would they put that as the reason unless they called the other bank and the funds weren't there?  "

  Let me get this straight.    You are saying that the only reason the bank should be suspicious about a check is if they called the bank of origin??   Now who is sounding uneducated about finance?

  Let's try a couple of other reasons.   How about if they've recently processed checks from that account that bounced?   How about if the check appears to be similar to checks that turned out to be forgeries?  I could go on, but I think you get the idea.   

 Bottom line.  Given the amount of checks that pass through this bank daily, do you seriously believe they're going to drop everything and start calling banks to verify checks?  Or are you suggesting that they just perform this courtesy for you?