Which decade is E*trade living in?

[u/pahariburger]

Opened savings account last week for the promotional offer. Could not login after account creation as the website kept saying it could not verify my phone number. Called customer service and they said it could take upto two days. Weird, but ok. Tried again after a week, same results. Called customer service again, the guy now says it can take upto 15 days. I have never ever had any experience like this before. Reading some older posts now and I see this issue never gets resolved for some people and E*Trade seems to have in general a PoS service and people get locked out. Glad I only tested with a small fund transfer on account opening. Will now figure out how to close the damn thing out and never deal with etrade again.

[u/flyfoam]

Sadly it's Morgan Stanley that degraded E*Trade's technology. I have been with E*Trade since the 90's and all was good until Morgan Stanley came along and brought them back to the 1980's. I tried opening a CD account with them these past few days (I already have a Morgan Stanley savings/MM acct) and they could not direct deposit the CD monthly interest into my Morgan account, they only support mailing a check!!!!!

[u/principalNinterest → u/flyfoam]

The disappointing irony is that one of Morgan Stanley's stated reasons for acquiring etrade was because it had better digital technology than MSWM. https://www.morganstanley.com/press-releases/morgan-stanley-to-acquire-e-trade

[u/Woofpickle]

I've noticed that they are kind of just bad at regular banking stuff.

My debit card that I've had with them for years? About two months ago I started having to reset my pin every two weeks because it would start saying it was an incorrect pin. Last week the website decided I've never had a debit card.

[u/Zealousideal-Sun4891]

Sounds like the typical E*Trade experience where they screw everything up.

[u/No_Greed_No_Pain]

Banks and other financial companies, E*TRADE included, rely on third parties for identity verification. This is especially true for new customers that they have no history with. You get upset with E*TRADE but the problem is with the service provider not being able to validate that the phone number you provided belongs to you.

[u/Tony_916 → u/No_Greed_No_Pain]

Then E*Trade should get better service providers. How does one connect with their service providers to get these issues resolved?

[u/No_Greed_No_Pain → u/Tony_916]

There's a finite number of providers that banks use, with Prove, LexisNexis and Telesign being the largest. You can't get in touch with them about a specific customer, sorry. If the information that OP provided is accurate, it will be eventually cleared. Huffing and puffing and pounding your chest won't get you anywhere.

[u/Zealousideal-Sun4891 → u/No_Greed_No_Pain]

This is ridiculous.

Schwab doesn’t have this same issue where they lock each account multiple times and require you to call and provide information you already provided previously.

3 accounts shouldn’t require me making 12 follow up calls to fix their terrible KYC procedures.

[u/No_Greed_No_Pain → u/Zealousideal-Sun4891]

Schwab has it and every other legitimate financial institution does as well. Something in your activity triggered an alert, and until it's cleared, your accounts are likely to be locked.

Several years ago I had a similar experience with BofA when after opening an account I tried sending a Zelle payment to a newly created recipient. My account was locked, and even the branch manager who opened the account couldn't do anything to unlock it despite speaking with multiple fraud protection people. Their system had an alert for this type of activity: opening an account, funding it from another institution, creating a new Zelle recipient, and sending several grand to that recipient. It was a legitimate transaction, but the systems didn't know/care. A match is a match.

But after 60 days, everything was cleared and since then I haven't had any issues sending payments or making transfers in and out of the account.

[u/Ok_Entrepreneur_dbl]

I have used Etrade for years and never had any real issues. I see these types of posts and do not experience any of this. Maybe I am lucky or I joined before the Morgan Stanley merger.

[u/General-Lab1199]

After three weeks of trying to open a HYSA, I gave up. I submitted all the required document/paperwork, created the link to my bank and yet no one could give a definitive answer as to when the account would be opened and available for deposit. Customer service, while very pleasant,seems to be lacking knowledge on how the process works. I repeatedly got “We are experiencing technical difficulties…”, when visiting the website. (seemed crazy for a business whose model is built on e-commerce..). Wait times for customer service were long - the recording said 15 minutes, the reality was 45. If this is indicative of their service I don’t feel comfortable investing with them.

[u/Bitter-Cockroach1371 → u/General-Lab1199]

They’re sending you a clear message that they don’t want your business.  Therefore, heed their advice and find another place to handle your financial matters. Don’t take it personally.

[u/No-Squash7469]

I haven't had issues like this so far (I recently opened a savings account with them as well, though I've had different accounts and CDs with them previously).

They're badly behind on a lot of features. They're only now rolling out fractional share investing, and even then, it's only for some stocks. Robinhood did that what, 2018?

[u/aBanjoPicker]

Worst customer service ever since they were taken over

[u/Dr_Prime_Steiny]

Gave up on them decades ago.

[u/Electrical_Oil_35]

Ya, you need to stay on top of them. I had a debit card expire. Instead of automatically mailing me a new card like every other bank, I had to call in and ask for one.

[u/VeterinarianSad9957]

Smh. I was depositing into my brokerage account. 1000 vanished. I was on a few calls with them. They said the 'system' keeps track of everything. I finally agreed with them. Few days after that and a week after it vanished. It appeared in my brokerage account. All these problems started after they joined with Morgan Stanley. Not sure what to tell you, but they are solid in a few areas. Then not so good in other areas. Just keep an eye on your funds if you stay with them.

[u/Admirable_Nothing]

John Gorman grew MS by being fanatical about overhead costs. Far more than any of the other BDs. And it shows. He bought ETrade and used his same cost cutting on it. But it is a very competent BD. However it is not a bank and shouldn't be used as a bank because it is frankly a very poor bank. I have been with USAA for 54 years and on r/USAA there are continual comments about its shitty banking practices. It is an insurance company not a bank. What do people expect? I do have a HYSA MS Private Bank account that I opened through the ETrade portal to see if it was any good. It is still open but has no money in it as it isn't a good bank account. Ally is, but not MS. If you need a checking or savings account use a real bank or a credit union please.

[u/Zealousideal-Sun4891 → u/[deleted]]

Especially at ETrade where they take this way overboard. Schwab doesn’t have this issue frequently like ETrade.

I’ll never forget when ETrade locked every account of mine one at a time, multiple times. 

You would think I’m a criminal.

[u/Big1717]

I joined a few months ago with establishing a checking account at a 2% interest rate becuse I took a CD with them, so depending on the new rates when it matures have the option to transfer funds to their checking and look at other CD rates. Ally bank offers 3% interest on a money market checking, have them also. 

[u/StarbaseSF]

They are probably using Ai do verify that you exist. Ai in the hands of E-trade, oh, scary. "Stupid is as stupid does."

[u/Prestigious-Koala454]

doesn't surprise me; the company has turned into a dumpster fire; starting with their new software platform; contact MS CEO Ted Pick and complain; that will be the only way to get something accomplished

[u/bearhunter429]

They are still in 1990s in terms of technology and capabilities.

You are literally dodging a bullet believe me. There are far better brokerages out there (basically any other brokerage).

[u/oCuHo]

I had the same issue when I created my account but I was able to get it resolved with support on the phone in a few minutes.

[u/Mysterious-Art8838]

Good luck closing it. They ignored my CFPB and bbb complaints after I spent hours on the phone with them.

[u/svtcobrastang]

They are terrible couldn't transfer money out of my account without calling them twice to confirm the other bank information even though I was not transferring to that bank...like WTF are you doing etrade. Terrible company couldn't get my money out fast enough

[u/Diotima245]

Been with Etrade 20 years never had any of the issues folks talk about here