Brian Leonard was in the midst of a kitchen rework when he realized he wanted to deposit a test to pay one in every of his contractors, however the seemingly easy transaction shortly became a rescue operation after studying that his financial institution had "closed" and his cash had allegedly vanished.
However because of his persistence and a name to his native tv station, the Oakland, California man not solely recovered his "lacking" $33,000 but in addition got here face-to-face with the rising pattern of companies reminiscent of banks closing their brick and mortars or transferring to restricted hours resulting from employees shortages and the prevalence of on-line banking.
The scenario started when Leonard needed to pay his contractor $33,000 for the work that had been finished in his kitchen. Needing to switch the cash from his Wells Fargo account to his Financial institution of America account, Leonard stated he introduced a cashier's test straight to the teller at his common Financial institution of America department so it will instantly clear, in keeping with KGO-TV.
After making the deposit, the teller allegedly instructed him the cash could be accessible by both the afternoon he got here into the department, Leonard instructed the information station, or by the subsequent morning on the newest.
However the cash allegedly did not present up that afternoon, or the morning after. He known as Financial institution of America the subsequent day looking for out what occurred and was shocked to listen to that the transaction seemingly by no means occurred.
"The girl stated that there was no file of the transaction," Leonard instructed KGO-TV. "So so far as she was involved, no transaction occurred. No one stated, 'We'll discover out the place the cash is, we'll make good on it, we'll handle it.'"
The information grew to become gloomier: Leonard was reportedly instructed the department was closed indefinitely, mere hours after he reportedly made the massive deposit.
"After I realized the department was closed, and the teller that took my $33,000 cashier's test is nowhere to be discovered, my coronary heart sank into my abdomen," he stated. "I felt like I simply noticed the boat leaving the dock and my cash's on the boat."
So, he tried his luck at one other Financial institution of America department. The doorways had been reportedly locked, making Leonard "very nervous" concerning the prospect of ever getting his a refund resulting from having no additional communication with the teller at his common department.
He trekked to a 3rd department, which was open however unable to reportedly assist him. Leonard stated the financial institution supervisor instructed him there was no file of a $33,000 transaction and, due to this fact, nothing that might be finished.
Leonard stated he confirmed that particular financial institution supervisor his cashier's test and deposit receipt as proof of the deposit, however the response was the identical.
That was when he contacted native media retailers, in addition to higher-ups at Financial institution of America, to straighten issues out.
A Financial institution of America spokesperson instructed Newsweek that the unique department the place Leonard deposited the $33,000 cashier's test was solely quickly closed and never everlasting—a traditional prevalence resulting from consolidating staff and assets, particularly all through the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've resolved the problem with our shopper's test deposit," the spokesperson instructed Newsweek. "The deposit was not misplaced. This was a cashier's test that was made out to Financial institution of America as an alternative of the shopper, which induced a delay within the processing of the transaction. We have apologized to our shopper for the inconvenience and waived any associated charges."
Financial institution closures occurred in 2021 at file ranges. In response to S&P World Market Intelligence information, a file 2,927 branches closed their doorways final yr—a 38 % soar in comparison with 2020 when 2,126 branches shut off the lights.
Wells Fargo, with 267 closures, led the pack and was adopted by U.S. Financial institution at 257.
Apart from the pandemic, reasoning for the uptick in brick-and-mortar avoidance contains extra clients merely selecting to handle their accounts and conduct transactions by way of cell purposes or different digital units.
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