Online banking apps often marred by a lack of customer service

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Don Edwards said he was a customer of mobile banking app, GO2bank, for about 18 months.

"They gave you your money, like, anywhere from three to five days early, even though the deposit doesn't come in until the first," Edwards said. "Never had a problem or an issue before."

Before September 2022, at least -- when Edwards got a deposit that he said was hundreds of dollars less than what it should have been. Edwards called customer service, and was faced with another problem.

"I started calling them on the phone every day," Edwards said. "And sometimes you have to wait 30 to 40 minutes before customer service even answers. You got to go through all these prompts just to talk to somebody."

Once Edwards got through, he said he was told the email and password on his account had changed, meaning he was essentially locked out of his account. Edwards didn't change his information, he said, but he was never able to determine if he was the victim of a hack or if the bank was at fault.

What he does know, he said, is GO2bank didn't offer to help either way.

"GO2bank doesn't even acknowledge that this happened," Edwards said. "Who else has it happened to? Who else is it going to happen to?"

Clark Howard, a consumer and finance expert, said these issues often arise with online banking apps.

"When somebody uses one of these apps and everything's working fine, they think, 'This is great!' It's when the rubber meets the road and something's going wrong, that people are very unhappy with GO2bank," Howard said.

GO2bank and other similar apps are popular because they're easy to use, Howard said.

"It's always the lack of customer service and the lack of response that's making people furious," said Howard.

If you want to avoid a traditional bank, Howard suggested using a credit union instead, which is a move Edwards said he's already made.

"If I can't go to a physical institution to talk to you about my money, you're not getting any more," said Edwards. "I just want to tell people about this because all these banks online -- be careful, man."

Howard said credit unions offer more programs tailored to their customers, tend to be more flexible and are often known for their customer service.

Better Call 4 reached out to GO2bank, and its parent company Green Dot, several times but did not hear back from either.