Applied Bank
Reviews and Complaints

I wanted to fix my credit and opened a $350 limit business visa. This company is a joke. To make a payment online or over the phone is an additional $10 on top of you payment. The fees are ridiculous. I cancelled my card today after someone illegally charged my card overseas. I called and told them about the fraud and they told me to cancel my card and they'd send me a new one. They charged me $30 for the new card. In the meantime I couldn't pay my bill because the site was down, I couldn't get a balance statement, and the phone billing system asked for my card number which I didn't have yet. Got the new card and logged in on site to now find out I'm over my $350 limit by $100. When I called to ask them to explain it they said I was charged $30 for new card and a $35 late fee. That put me over my limit and then they charged me an additional $35 over limit fee. This company should be shut down it is BS. Go get a secured Visa from a normal bank that reports Monthly payments to the credit bureaus. Safer way to go

This Bank does not care about anything except charging fees. All they need is $.08 on deposit for its owners to make loans for a $1.00. You have to jump through several hoops just to contact them and you can hear the contempt in thier voices. My card expired and then they charged me $30.00 for a replacement card. They suspended my account for security reasons ie. (no current address). I had just paid the $50.00 annual fee bill that was sent to my address. It's very difficult to communicate with this Bank, its a scam, top to bottom. The CEO has definently engineered this operaation to prey on Americans that have had a tough time in recent years. Why have Americans had a tough time? Guess what? It was the greedy Banks that caused our troubles to begin with!

My husband and I recently got a secured card from Applied Bank, with a credit line of $2100.00. At first all seemed well. It was easy as could be to get the card and no applying for it. That cost us $50 for the first card. Then my husband ordered a separate card for me...another $30. Well that was expected. Then I notice, no matter when you pay your bill, there was always a charge, what looked like and was called an interest fee, even though I would pay off the entire bill in full by the due date. It took 3 phone calls to them, before it was disclosed that they charge what they call a "finance fee" not interest on all your purchases, regardless of when you pay your bill. There will always be these charges if you use your card. As soon as I heard that, I immediately decided to find somewhere else to get our cards from. Am now waiting for our security deposit to be returned. Their customer service is terrible. You will either get someone who is Indian that you cannot understand, or someone that makes no sense. They tried telling us twice that they don't charge any interest, that it's really a "finance fee". But on the statements it's called interest. I'm not paying interest on my own money. I detest this bank. Wish I would have found this complaints board sooner.

applied for secured credit card to reestablish credit, used it, tried to make my 1st online pmnt, website kept shutting down, i thought, no problem, surely i will be able to submit a pmnt over the phone, kept getting automated message stating technical difficulties, called all other numbers, was rudely transfered back to credit card dept w same automated message, i guess the late fee they will charge me is their way of funding their other financial ventures. Having much regret, this defeats my purpose of reestablishing credit. I will definately be closing my account ASAP! All togeher i have wasted 2 hours of my life trying to take care of this matter. SUCH A DISSERVICE!

I am in the process of preparing legal action against Applied Bank of Wilmington Delaware with regard to Applied Bank VISA and/or other credit cards. The basis of my legal action is fraud by withholding payments for 7 to 10 days after receiving said payment whether a payment is late or on time, excessive fees for said late fees applied by their practice of delaying account credits for payments received for the purpose of accruing additional interest charges and late payment fees and excessive fees for payments made using online debit card payments drawn on banking accounts from other banks and excessive fees for payments made by telephone using bank issued credit cards from other banks or e-checks issued by other banks. I am interested in contacts from anyone else with a problem related to Applied Bank and their credit card unit so that legal action may be pursued against this institutional fraud and settlements of accounts, rescinding of unlawful fees and punitive damages if applicable. [protected]@gmail.com is my email address.

This is THE WORST BANK ever. I have a credit card from this bank. I am a heavy credit user and make marginal income and often run my cards 10 to 30 dollars over their limits. I always catch up my payments before 40 days and I have six other credit cards that I make payments to online and otherwise. ALL of my other credit accounts including Bank of America, Capital One, etc. receive my payments immediately and credit them quickly. NOT APPLIED BANK! HUMONGOUS FEES for making a stinking payment and then they don't credit it for DAYS until a late fee is applied which pushes the card over the limit IMMEDITELY TRIGGERING ANOTHER FEE FOR OVERLIMIT AND I AM OUT 50 dollars right there. No one is available to answer any calls and there is no e-mail, no chat, no NOTHING! This bank STINKS! DO NOT EVER GET A CARD FROM THESE JERKS!

Applied Bank takes the cake when it comes to ripping off the consumer who is trying to clean up their credit from a failed economy that was brought about in the first place by crooked financial institutions! They say that making a direct payment from your checking account does not get posted to your account for 8 to 12 days even though they get the money within 48 hours and it can be verified. They are making millions of extra dollars a year on your money playing this game. Then they charge you late fees even though you made your payment well before your due date. They claim this is their standard policy for both secured and non-secured credit cards. What "A" borrower would ever in their right mind use this company? Don't mess with this unprofessional credit card company. You will be paying through the nose in fees not to mention the frustration it will cause you.

This is without a doubt the worst bank in the country to get a credit card from. These unscrupulous blood suckers will take as much money from as they can get. They hold your payment until it is late, just so they can charge you a late fee. They post payments late. They charge a monthly maintenance fee for nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing. Their customer service is non existent. I have had to report these crooks to the Delaware atty general and Delaware banking commission several times to get some satisfaction. BEWARE OF THESE CROOKS, RUN THE OTHER WAY.

In 2007, Applied Bank allowed me to enter into a hardship payment plan which would allow me time to pay down my balance free of finance charges. While in that plan my charging privileges were suspended and there was a strict stipulation that all payments had to be made on time or that the payment plan would be canceled. I maintained my payments timely and once the plan was ended and finance charges were again being applied, I was told that I would never regain charging privileges. Realizing that this was no longer a credit card account but simply a bill that I had to pay off, I continued to make monthly payments, most of which were on time. For the last year and a half, Applied Bank has charged me late fees of $35.00, on a couple of occasions, claiming that my on line payment was not made before their cutoff hour on the specified due date. Applied Bank also charged me a $35.00 over the limit fee, after charging me a $100.00 "annual membership fee, " which had caused my account to go over the limit in the first place. Why was I even charged a membership fee for a Visa card on a closed account? Since I was unsuccessful in fighting all of those unfair charges, I resigned to just pay off and rid myself of this Applied Bank bill. Then in January 2010 I missed making my $35.00 payment on my $107.45 balance. I received two phone calls inquiring about the minimum due payment of $105.00 ($35 each for Jan & Feb and $35 late fee). I explained to each representative that my pay day was on the 5th and that I would make the full payment at that time. The first representative accepted my answer, but the second representative told me that the payment had to be in by the 8th. and was pressing me to set up an automatic payment, which I refused to do. This morning (Feb 8, 2010) I went on line to not only pay the minimum, but to pay the total balance due. My current paper bill stated a balance of $160.33 (with no due date) but the on line statement quoted a balance of $175.33. I selected the total balance payment plus the $6.95 on line payment fee and received a transaction number for the submitted payment of $182.28. When I viewed the real time statement it quoted $210.33 as the total balance, which was including a $35.00 late fee claiming that the payment was due on Feb 6th. When I spoke to the customer service representative, "Leah" and her male supervisor (unidentified) they claimed that the last call I received was on Jan 27th and that they would listen to the recorded conversation in regards to me being told that "the payment had to be paid by the 8th." They quoted a total balance due (before my $182.28 payment) of $221.?. I refuse to accept anymore unfair charges.

I've had an Applied Bank Card for many years, paid on it every month @ more than the amount due, I noticed my debt wasn't going down after several payments of over $ $100/mo. I called customer service and was told my debt was correct even though my payments were large I told them to re-evaluate my acct. No said they it is what it is. I asked for a payment arrangement because my rent had gone up by $125/mo and I was only on SSDI for an income, they said pay amount due, period. I asked for a hardship payment plan, and they told me they had no such thing. Pay or else and they closed my account and every month increased the amount owed with interest & late fees. This ended up to be over $1325 more than I owed, to a total of approx. $2550. They turned me over to NCR collections then after months the RMS collections calling me day and night on my home phone and cell. I talked to RMS and told them I could pay some but I didn't owe what was claimed. Applied refused to settle and said Legal Action would follow. They have ruined my Good credit rating to Very Bad, posting negative comments every month. Now with my rating I can't afford to move because I'm a Credit Risk. Applied has ruined me, after I had been a good customer for years.

Four years ago I was trying to rebuild my credit after a bankruptcy. I was approved for an unsecured Applied Bank card. I made payments on time until about 6 months ago when I relocated to Florida. The job I came out for, wasn't there. I still continued to make the payments, but it became harder to do so. I found another job quickly, however it didn't pay as much. I fell behind. Then I started receiving the harassing phone calls. Then I had a checking account closed from under me. I had a payment scheduled but moved that over to my new opened checking account in the nick of time (that day). Apparently, when I called Applied to let them know of this they didn't notate any of this on the account. They have been chasing me for the past three months for a payment, and they have been trying to debit out of an account that has been closed. They call day and night. They call on Sundays, they are now my alarm clock. Its so nice to be woken up with a collection call. I have asked repeatedly for them to stop. I have been nice, angry, etc. they only respond with this payment is past due. You Jackwagons! I informed you of what happened. You still received a payment for that month.
I signed up with a credit counseling service. They are making payments on my behalf. These people still call. I am legally taking care of this debt. Applied is receiving payments.
I've counted as many as 12 calls within two hours. Unacceptable. Other creditors are playing ball and working with me. Not Applied. I still owe them $50.00 from August. Friends, this simply isn't right.
Do not get any card (Secured/Unsecured) from them. This financial organization is simply evil.

I closed my account with the a-holes at Applied Bank a couple months ago. I did this because I was tired of them saying my bills were late, even though I had had DELIVERY CONFIRMATION on them! I finally got sick of it and stopped payment on a check and instead payed online. Of course I was slapped with 4 different fees and they suspended my online bill payment privledges, my telephone payment option, as well as anything from my bank account. That left me with absolutley NO way to pay them except for MoneyGram(account info doesnt even exsist), send them a Money Order( but then it will be "late"), or Western Union (which costs you $19.95!). So I had to use Western Union, paying $19.95 would be better than all the fees they would charge if i mailed them a payment...I did this on Thansgiving Day when my payment was due. Of course the next day they had NO RECORD of it ( even though I had all necessary reciepts and proof)! Finally, today they said they got the payment, but because there was no one there to process the payment(Turkey Day) I would have a late fee! THIS IS ILLEGAL! That was the day it was due!

I just turned this over to my local Attorney General's office and plan to take full legal recourse! I would like to know how they are even still allowed to conduct any buisness in the U.S. after all of their lawsiuts, fines and violations. Hmmm...do I small another lawsuit?

I WILL KEEP EVERYONE POSTED ON MY EFFORTS TO BURY THESE [protected]@!%S 6 FEET UNDER!

This company is making me go broke. I pay my bill on time every month.. i have for 4 years with not 1 missed payment. Every time I check my account they keep charging me for late fee's, over limit fees and other fees that I have no idea are for. I have called them so many times.. I am so frustrated with them. they are purposely making it extremely difficult to work with them. I have disputed 2 items in the past year. one of the disputes was a double charge from a vendor having technical issues. Because of this double charge it caused another 35 dollar over limit fee. I disputed it. Applied bank never acted on it. I disputed a recent transaction. they actually refunded the money but it also caused an overlimit fee which they did not refund. but then they reversed the charge and took the money back from me that then again caused another over limit fee. I have tried and tried to talk to them on the phone and they will not fix anything.. this place should be shut down! this is illegal buisness!

Below is a formal complaint filed with Delaware Banking Commission against Applied Bank
Financial Company Information:
Credit Department
Bankcard Service Center
Applied Bank
Wilmington, DE [protected]
Telephone: [protected]
Type Account: Not approved secured Visa credit card with $200.00 removed from my checking account via ACH
Persons I have dealt with at the above telephone number:
9/16/2009 0936PDT Agent/Shawna
9/19/2009 0843PDT Agent/Ileana
9/19/2009 1056PDT Bank Officer/Darlene

Complaint:

On or about August 10th, 2009 I applied for a secured Visa on Applied Banks website Because this was a secured credit card a minimum of $200.00 would be needed to be placed in a saving account to open and secure the credit card.

The $200.00 was to be transferred to Applied Bank via ACH from my current Citibank checking account. This was to occur after Applied Bank had verified that this Citibank account was indeed mine. The verification procedure called for Applied Bank to make a minimum ACH deposit in my checking account and I in turn would verify the account by contacting the bank and letting them know the date and amount of the ACH deposit. This verification of account ownership was to occur 48 hours before the $200.00 deposit for the secure account was to be transferred to Applied Bank. I had requested that the transfer take place on August 28, 2009.

Between August 25 and September 5, 2009 I was in the process of moving to my current address in Palm Desert. I did monitor my Citibank checking account while moving and noticed the following transactions:
8/28/2009 0316EDT ACH deposit by "ccbavcppd sec ac vfc" amount $0.06
8/28/2009 0626EDT ACH withdrawal by "ccbsfcweb secured dp" amount $200.00
I never contacted Applied Bank to verify my checking account per their procedures nor did they contact me to verify my checking account.

I received a letter from Applied Bank dated August 31, 2009 re: [protected] 2 and in part it stated "we are unable to approve your application with the terms under which you applied" and "if we do not hear from you within 45 days of this letter's date, your entire deposit will be returned at that time".

I finally reached Applied Bank on 09/16/2009 and spoke with a agent named Shawna. I told her I would like the $200.00 returned to me via ACH as soon a possible. She told me this would take 30 to 45 days to process and that was the policy when a customer closed an account. I told her I was not closing an account as an account had never been opened per the bank's letter of August 31, 2009. Further I had no intention of allowing Applied Bank the use of my money for 30 to 45 days as the money was not being held in a savings account or escrow account. She asked to put me on hold, that it might take a couple of minutes to get this approved. I said sure put me on hold. She came back 45 seconds later to inform that the ACH had been approved but it would still take 4 to 7 days to post back on my checking account. I said great, thanks for the help and have a great week.

On the morning of August 19, 2009 at 0832PDT I received an automated telephone call from Applied Bank requesting I contact then regarding my credit card application. I again called the above number at 0843PDT and spoke to an agent named Ileana. After taking my information she said is this about the account you closed on August 16, 2009. I said no this was about being woken up at 8:30 in the morning about something that had been resolved on August 16th. And that being the return of the deposit money within 4 to 7 days via ACH. She then informed me that that was impossible as it always took 30 to 45 days when a customer closed an account.
At that point I said I wanted to talk with a bank officer. She told me there were no officers on the floor at this hour of the night. I told her that it was 11:45 in the morning Eastern time and it was a normal banking compliance issue an officer had to be on the floor at all times. Then she changed it to "one is not available right now but I can have an officer return the call". I said fine.

I received a call from a Darlene, August 19, 2009 at 1046PDT, informing me she was returning my call and she was an officer of the bank. She apologized for the early morning automated call. It was a computer glitch and she had received numerous complaints about that. I asked her the bank's policy on returning deposit money for a secured account when the application was not approved by the bank. She again started off about 30 to 45 days when a customer closes an account. I again stated these facts to her:
1. The bank removed funds from my checking account with out verifying it was my account
2. the bank had all information required prior to the removal of the funds from my checking account to make a decision as whether I would be approved for a secured account under terms offered on the website.
3. I never had an account to close. The application was never approved by Applied Bank.
4. I could understand not refunding the deposit if an account were opened to insure charges would not posted to that account after it was closed. But again an account was never opened.
5. If the bank can deposit $0.06 into my checking account via ACH and then three hours later withdraw $200.00 from this same account via ACH, why can't it return money via ACH in a reasonable time and I would define reasonable as 72 hours from the time the request came to the bank.
She told me she would email the department that handles that and request it be expedited. She also said she would follow up with a telephone call to that department on Monday (today) and call me with the status. I told her that I did not appreciate being lied to by the two previous agents and she said she would follow that up with their managers.

WELL ITS GOING ON MIDNIGHT AND I DID NOT HEAR FROM THE BANK OFFICER. IF DARLENE WAS A BANK OFFICER.

BOTTOM LINE I WANT MY $200.00 BACK IN A TIMELY MANNER AND I DON'T THINK 30 TO 45 DAYS FITS THAT DESCRIPTION UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.

According to them I went over my credit line with $9.00 and was charged a $35.00 overlimit fee. No matter how many times I ask them to find where I went over on that overlimit they can only tell me that I went over and there is nothing they can do about it. I then told them I was going to go go ahead and payoff this account by paying them in full the balance of $1, 144.19 including the $35.00 overlimit fee and ask them to cancel and close this account immediately. I was than told that even if I payoff the balance I would still owe them another $35.00 of overlimit fees for the month of March statement plus interest and the $10.95 maintenance fee. I cannot understand if the next billing cycle closest in March 16, 2008 with account having a zero balance why there would be another overlimit fee charge. Will that either was he able to explain to me. He just said if there is any other complains I can write to their inquiry department but they also will not be able to do much about my concerns. I was also told that even if I cancel this account it would take up to 90 days and I will still be responsible for the maintenance fees and the yearly fee if the account is not close by the time of yearly renewal.

I stopped Applied Bank BEFORE they could rip me off. This story actually has a happy ending, and I hope anyone who has been ripped off by these knuckleheads learn from my experience:

I had applied for a secured credit card from Applied Bank in August. I sent in the 250 dollars and was approved.

A week went by and decided to look up the site and see when I could expect the card. I had a question on what happens to the deposit I made and decided to look it up in the FAQ section of the site. There was no information whatsoever there, the first red flag.

I called them, and after being lead on a loop that keeps just giving me the account information and balance spread over an irritating 10 minutes, finally called a number (non-877 or 800) for PAYING THEM did I get through.

I explained to them I was curious what happens to the balance and the customer service rep was evasive with a nightmare out of Catch-22:

She "The balance is kept in a- non-interest account (!) and will be paid back to once you leave us. "

Me:"Ok...why is that not on the site?"

She:"Your account is set up where you have to call us for the information."

Me:"You mean it's not on the site at all?"

She:" Sir, you just axed (asked) me that question. Now you have your answer. You have to look through the site and if you don't find it, you have to call us."

Me: "Yes, of course that's why I'm calling you. Where is the information? Who do I talk to about this?"

She :" You have to look for it. I don't go to the website so I don't know where it is. If you can't find it, you have to call us."

Me:"So if I send this information to the FDIC, there will be no problem finding it?"

That ended the conversation in a hurry.

What they didn't know is I am a former network news correspondent and recorded the whole conversation getting it ready for national news casts and YouTube. This CSR was barely articulate and went round and round with me on this... I will post the conversation simulateneously with any national news organization that runs it. I will let you all know when...see how close this experience matches your own.

The good news--and ANYONE can do this--call your bank and have them reverse charges...Applied Bank might fight you, but these cowards won't fight a real Bank and the FDIC. Do this within 90 days and you won't have a problem getting your money back.

And...I encourage everyone to find the physical location of Applied Bank and go in, demonstrating your Second Amendment rights and demand to speak to someone in authority. Maybe then they'll listen to you.

I applied for the card ($500 card) in 2007. It is now Saturday July 4th, 2009 and they just called me again. (this is the 3 rd time in the past 2 years they have called me on a Federal Holiday) They call non-stop when I am late on a payment. I have made some regular payments they requested ($37) a month and I have made other payments of $40-$75..but I did miss a few payments here and there. They have verified I have made almost $400 in payments since I have had the card. My current amount due is $957.23. They charge a 10.95 monthy fee, they charge 12.95 to pay by phone, they charge last fees AND over the limit fees AND finance fees and they mark these on your bill as CASH WITHDRAWL so they can charge even more interest on top of those fees. I have Credit Cards with HSBC, WAMU, and Capitol One ... I have no problems with those companies...but APPLIED BANK...stay away from them...they are privately run and answer to no one...once again DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD THROUGH APPLIED BANK no matter what.

Applied Bank has been calling for 4 years for someone that has not had this number. I finally got a number out of one those idiots. I told them for the past 4 years to remove my number. So today after i cursed them out for the hundredth time. I call them back. They claim it takes 48 hours to remove the number. Wrong because they are still calling. I will report them for harassment at the BBB and other authorities. Enough is enough. I do know that they are outsource to India. They use American Names (saw it on a Documentary last month)
Caller ID: Unknown, Private, [protected], [protected]
Caller: Applied Bank
Caller Type: Collection Agency

We settled and closed a credit card with Applied Bank back in March 09. They keep sending us a bill saying we owe processing fees, late fees, and more. When we called and FINALLY got through to a customer service rep (I use this term very loosely), we were told they have NO notes on the settlement... Even when we gave them the extension numbers and names of the reps at Applied Bank whom we spoke with, they said there was nothing they would do. This is a complete scam - next stop is the AG office. Stay away from Applied Bank!

My name is Rachel Tucker, and I had a card with Applied Bank fka Cross Country Bank . and They offered me a settlement on the account. I agreed with the offered and I was told it would be paid by settlement and the account would be closed with a balance 0. They took my money and and now reporting as closed balance due 391.00 Closed.
Mo. Payment
Close Account Details Past Due $391.00
Payment Status Charge-off
High Balance
Limit $500.00
Terms Revolving
They did not report anything about paid by settlement. So it can move over to paid section. I did report this incorrect info to credit board and is waiting for a full investigation on this company. When I call regarding this matter I was told by applied bank, they had to look up the word settlement. I also have the letter that was sent regarding settlement and is getting the letter from collection agency stating I paid and the account is closed due to setttlement.