Discover Bank
Article Submitted By: BestCash Admin
The place to post comments or questions about Discover Bank.
Discover Bank is the banking arm of Discover Financial Services, which also owns the Discover Card. The bank offers CD and Money Market accounts at competitive rates.
Discover not only offers competitive rates, but the bank is considered financially sound, having received a 4 Star Soundness score in the September 2008 update from Bauer Financial.
Comments
ACCOUNT REP WITH DISCOVERBANK, August 16, 2011
I am sad to see all of the dissatisfied customers with Discover Bank. In the last year, we have worked on improving services to allow for easier access for customers. I am glad to forward all of your complaints and comments to head quarters to see what we are able to do to improve our services. I am very sorry to all the customers who have had a bad experience with Discover Bank.
Brad , January 26, 2011
Opened a saving account online. Everything was smooth and my funds showed up right-a-way. I also have a discover card and never had any problems with them. Don't let the cry babys scare you off, try it for yourself.
Arvid, January 08, 2011
There is just too much for me to type here about how awful my experience has been with them so far (IRA/CD tranfer). Three weeks and web site shows $0.00 in my IRA. No replies from cust. serv. email. Confused and conflicting info from reps on the phone. Wish I would have researched them (such as finding this site) before I got involved. Disaster. Stay away and don't be sucked in by a few tenths of a % larger interest rate. Wish I would have just stayed with my bank and left things alone. Too late for me - but I will suggest you DO NOT get involved with them - at least regarding an IRA/CD transfer!
Lloyd C. Spencer, January 03, 2011
I hope I don't have the Same bad luck others have had. Due to having health problems if they don't cash my CD I will be out on the street.
Anonymous, November 05, 2010
Discover Bank forwarded a new account welcome kit containing documents indicating our name, address, SS#, DOB, email, beneficiary information and current account information in an UNSEALED ENVELOPE WITH DOCUMENTATION MISSING. The INEPT (non) customer service personnel had no idea what action to take; the security/fraud department will only handle the situation AFTER you are a victim. No one above the level of moron would talk to us. No SUPERVISORS will take customer calls; no MANAGERS will take customer calls. This is an FDIC insured Bank. Notification was made regarding Discover Bank's violation of their charter. Contact was also made to the FBI inasmuch as bank accounts (for possible terrorist activity and/or money laundering) may now be opened WITHOUT our knowledge due to Discover Bank's DISREGARD for the protection of their customer's private information. Discover Bank REFUSED to absorb the cost of identity protection (even through Discover Card) thus causing TREMENDOUS financial strain due to DISCOVER BANK'S ERROR.
Gale, October 06, 2010
Wow - thanks for all the comments good and bad! I wanted to direct wire to DB rather than give out my account number. Have most definitely changed my mind - thank for sharing. After reading all this, I will most definitely go elsewhere!!!
claire, June 15, 2010
opened 2 CD and a MM account in feb/march this year. All went smoothly, their new web site is easy and clear. Only needed to call their cust. support briefly for ID verification at opening. Much appreciated their 24/7 availability. Set-up electronic xfer to AND from external accounts so I'll be able to push/pull money from external accounts,up to 100k at a time. Quite happy with the interest rates.
Ben, May 09, 2010
AliceZ, There is no minimum balance requirement, so I recommend you withdraw your money and maintain zero balance (just don't close your account yet) until the 90 days is up, then you close the account. That's how I did it. That way you don't have to deal with them messing with your money after you close the acct. Good luck.
BillR, May 08, 2010
I opened an account with DB and tried to verify that my linked accounts were listed. I couldn\'t see them and called DB support and then tech support. They said they are having issues with DB working with IE8. I asked them when it would be resolved and then said they didn\'t know at this time. If I am not mistaken IE8 is used by quite a lot of people. I\'m going to wait a few days to see what happens. If you use IE8 you might look and see if your linked accounts are showing and can be used to transfer funds. I wish this forum could notify me when new posts are made.
AliceZ, May 07, 2010
Just opened an account, prior to seeing this forum. I\'ve leaned that interest cannot be wirhdrawn or I will lose the 1.34% interest rate. Deposits and withdrawals are limited to $50,000 per month. I would think they would at least increase that amount for deposits, unless they don\'t need the my money. (Any comments?) Six withdrawals allowed a month. Thank goodness I opened with only $500, which I will leave there for the 90 days and then withdraw.
chris, April 19, 2010
Go back and reread the posts that say to stay away from DiscoverBank. Then BELIEVE THEM, as I did not. They have currently \"lost\" > $100k of my cash for about 1 month, repeatedly debited my checking acct (unauthorized) causing all kinds of overdraft fees/bounced checks. I had to close my checking acct so they\'d not be able to withdraw any more random amounts. You get right thru when you call but no one can do anything to actually help you. Everytime you call you have to reeducate them on the situation. Its lawyer time for me. Stay away from these guys unless you want to have horror stories like these to post below this post. Gee, and their credit card is my fav w/ that cash back and all.
Paul, March 26, 2010
Haven\'t been able to connect for about a month with my Vista desktop and Firefox. I \"could\" connect with my Windows 7 notebook and Firefox. Finally decided to try to connect with Vista desktop, using Internet Explorer, which I never use, since it\'s so slow. Was able to connect to my account with IE. Tried changing Firefox options to allow pop up exceptions, etc. Still not able to connect with Firefox and my Vista desktop. So, guess I\'ll be using slow IE to connect to my Discover account.
Ben, March 22, 2010
Hmmm.. Glad I found this site! One would think that the idiots at Discover Bank would have thoroughly tested their software before deploying the new system. Based on the postings here, I took the plunge with American Express Bank and loved it. Love their site and didn't even have to call customer service even once. I think dc meant to say American Express Bank instead of "American Expressing Savings" :)
GKM, March 06, 2010
Had acct since Jul 2009. All good until New system Mid Feb 2010. 2 weeks & Can't move money on Website. (Called too many times--NO FIX) Closed acct today 3-5-2010.
JJ, March 05, 2010
I have an savings account at Etrade that was sold to DB. Looks like they are going to try to make the transfers this weekend. Based on these comments I think I'll take half my balance out now before the move just in case. Thanks.
dc, March 04, 2010
The user interface have improved some over the older version but the problems of "services unavailable, try back again in 20 minutues" remain or locking me out altogether. The issue is they have NOT invested enough to improve their backend infrastructure to deploy better and faster servers! It is absolutely deplorable. The rate isn't all that good to be worth the frustration the stupid system puts one through. I haven't had to call customer service once since I moved all my money over to American Expressing Savings!
jb, March 01, 2010
Discover Bank is pure trash. My CD expired and they never sent the check. I had to call about 5 times and finally ordered them to wire the funds and waive the wire fee. That exercise might as well have been from the dark ages via carrier pigeon as they made it as difficult as possible. The account was closed on 2/11/10, and as of 3/1/10, I (or my Schwab account) have yet to see the funds.
Discover Bank much improved Feb. 2010, February 22, 2010
Discover Bank came out with a whole new website system around Feb. 14th or so... and it's a ton better. I had opened a savings account with them in 2009, but their online interface was so terrible that I didn't add any more money. Now that the new system is in place and is much easier to use I will be adding more money to this account. I just thought that any new people reading this might like to know that the online interface improved a great deal in mid-February 2010. Transfers are now super easy (just like on Etrade, for example).
jd, February 21, 2010
I opened an account with DiscoverBank and had them fund it from my checking account. Everything went smoothly, without a glitch. I had to call several times for assistance (because I was opening the account for a trust instead of for individual). I have to admit (that based on these comments) I was expecting the worst, but instead each call was answered promptly, each DiscoverBank rep was friendly knowledgeable, and easy to understand, and so far, everything that I've been told has turned out to be correct. I have been impressed so far with how well this has worked.
acct rep at discover, February 14, 2010
Hello all I did not write that second message. Someone used my name I put on here. Its really sad that people would stoop so low. But anyways I'm sorry for all the bad experiences you all have had. I am not here to argue with any of you I just came across this site one day and figured I could help out some of you that were having issues or maybe answer some questions. I wish you all the best of luck with your investing.
Ada, February 11, 2010
One more thing. When I opened the account two week ago, the rate for saving is 1.70%, but when my account is all set up, it went down to less than 1.40%. Disappointing! I've got a feelling of being cheated!
Ada, February 11, 2010
Too terrible. I recently opened a DB online saving account with a initial deposit of $500. But I don't know how to transfer money in and out the account so I googled it. Then I was led to this website and saw so many comments. I decided not to make any more deposits and wati until 3 month to close the account.
Corky, February 08, 2010
I rest my case abt DB! With the idiots they hire for acct reps like the aforementioned dickhead and the totally inapt staff it is a little wonder they have such bad customer service. Instead of taking the opportunity to understand the issues their customers are having with their online banking services and making the appropriate efforts to fix the problems, they just pissed us off more with idiotic remarks made above instead of alerting their mgmt and say listen, "we have an issue here! Look at these terrible customer experiences. What can we do to engage these customers and fix their problems? !!! The rates aren't all that good to put up with the horrible online service! Actually you can do alot better than the 1.35% they're offering and with a lot less aggravation! If someone has the email of the DB President, let me know! It is Christina Favilla! I'd challenge her to come on this site and give her a piece of my mind. I'm writing WSJ abt this site and getting them to contact Ms. Favilla!
Linda, February 07, 2010
What a screwed up website for online banking. I'm trying to make a simple transfer deposit & getting system error messages & being told to call customer service. Discover Bank you need to get your act together!
Savings Geek, February 06, 2010
Glad I didnt go with Discover Bank. Bad features and functionality.
Smarty, February 05, 2010
To DB account rep: If you are indeed an account rep for DB, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your response to Corky is completely unprofessional. Corky is a CUSTOMER and, as such, is allowed to be mad/frustrated/angry for poor service. You do not have a right to be angry with this person. (S)he did not use abrasive language, personal insults, etc. Your job is to explain the issues and respond to customer complaints. I am a new customer to DB and, so far, I have experienced some issues. Setting up online transfer capability is far more difficult than it should be in 2010. I use a host of other financial websites and it is not nearly as hard to do on those sites. Also, I opened up a CD and a savings account at DB, and I had to input all of my information twice to do this. Had I wanted a MM account or other accounts, I would have had to enter it a third or fourth time--not acceptable. I am willing to give DB a chance, but it concerns me that its representatives display the kind of disrespect you did in your message (and it is "you" not "u"--you're not texting one of your buddies here, you're dealing with customers).
acct rep at discover, February 05, 2010
NYC User- the 1099s werent issued until the last week of jan. they must be mailed by jan 31st. please allow 7-10 business days to receive it. also please if u cannot wait call and we will be more than happy to tell u the amounts on ur 1099 so u can file ur taxes without the 1099. Mary-Although I hate to agree with him Corky is right.... if u dnt want ur savings pull the money out and then close it after the 90 days. i understand u are upset about the rate being dropped and we really appreciate customers like u who want to use the online savings account as it should be. but..... unfortunately 75% of customers wanting the acct do not want to use it online they just wanted the good rate. therefore it defeated the purpose of an online acct. that is how online banks make money is by customers managing their account online. 75% of the customers abused the account and therefore costs had to be cut and the rate suffered. And now to Corky............ u sir or madam or whatever u are.....please go back to ur other bank...hahahahahahahaha go take that crappy rate. even though we have lowered rates we are still higher than the national average and alsooooooo we are a 5 star bank!!!!! although u may like other banks website (may i mention we have a new site coming mid feb....had u have read the main page u would see that) 5 star means that we are very stable and use our funds well. sooooo when investing if the bells and whistles of the website make u want to bank with someone that is a shame....id rather have a stable bank than an unstable bank with a pretty website. To all the other db customers please hang in there great things are coming in the near future and to all considering discover please do ur research on banks and u will see that we have high rates (they are lower than what everyne is used to but they are a whole lot higher than everyone else) Please post ur concerns and questions and i will check back to answer them for u.
NYC User, January 31, 2010
Wow, I am so glad to have found this site! I opened an online Discovery Savings account in Oct. 2009 because the interest rate was 2%, slightly higher than ING's rate where I had my $$ since 2006. I am now thinking of moving my $$ back to ING because the interest rate dropped to match almost that of ING and I HATE the Money HQ feature. 10 days to have my $$ transferred from my Citibank checking account to Discover? Thats crazy!! ING took only 4-5 days max!! Also, has anyone received their 1099 IRS Interest Statement from Discover? ING already updated their "Tax Forms" link but where is that feature on the Discover Online Banking web site? Am I supposed to wait until Feb. 28th for my statement by mail? I want my forms so I could start my taxes!!
Corky, January 31, 2010
Mary, Just transfer your money out of there and leave a $0 balance in there until the 90 days are up and then close the account. You are NOT required to maintain a minimum balance. That's what I did. I was tired of the incompetence and lack of proper infrastructure to support their internet banking. I have opened an HSBC and American Express Personal savings and am so satisfied with the services. I have never had to speak to their customer service. Their website design is so intuitive to use. Good luck.
Mary, January 25, 2010
I opened an online savings account at Discover Bank about a week ago and just tried to close it - that should tell you a lot. I can understand why their service reps get screaming customers all the time! Couldn't figure out how to make a deposit into the account once they finally told me it was open, looked at everything online, read the welcome kit, finally called the service number where someone said I had to go to the Money HQ tab which required additional registrations and not just the routing and account number of the bank I wanted to transfer from but also the user id, password and security questions and answers I use to access that account online! I never heard of such a thing! So I called to close the account and have just been told that, since it has been open less than 90 days I have to make the closure request in writing AND pay a $20 fee. Don't be tempted by the rate - DO NOT open one of these accounts and tell everyone you know - you may never see that money again! I am actively looking to spread the word on this as much as possible so if you know of other places to post reviews that get a lot of readers, please post it.
C, January 07, 2010
This has been a lousy experience for me. My initial deposit did not work (despite email saying it went through). I was able to gain access to the site for a few days, but now it continually tells me the service is unavailable.
DSL, December 20, 2009
Interesting comments. I opened a savings account with Discover Bank a couple months ago online. The initial transfer went fine using ACH. I then tested a transfer from one of my other accounts with $1000 and that went fine as well. I have made a total of 3 more transfers with 2 exceeding $100,000 each with no problems. My experience using ACH regardless of the bank or financial institution is that it takes 3 full business days for the transfer to complete and for at least one day money either shows up in both places or is gone from both accounts. However, the next business day, all is correct. While the online access is pretty basic, it seems to work fine for me. The only complaint I could make is that it took 3-4 days for someone to answer my question submitted via the message center and the answer was not as helpful as it could have been.
Corky, December 18, 2009
This is classic business 101. What are you folks in customer service telling your mgmt what the customers are screaming and unhappy about? What is Discover doing abt gathering the information and the "lessons" learnt and making the changes and and improvements to the online banking services to address the frustrations that I and many of your customers are going with the poor services. Online means online. Do you know how many times I tried logging to my account only to have the damn service tell to try back in 20mins or account information unavailable! I have also called abt incorrect info (missing entries) shown on my account and only to have the acct rep tell me he/she doesn't why the info on my acct is different from what he/she seeing on her screen. Do you know how many times I have been told, "we don't design the website, the tech support folks did." Huh??!! Are you guys kidding? The bottom line is Discover doesn't have the infrastructure in place to handle the demands of a online banking service! If anything, you folks in customer service should be knocking on your mgmt door to get the problems fixed. Trust me, if Discover invested in the resources to getting the website and user interface designed correctly that is befitting the bank its size, you folks in customer service won't be getting these irate customer calls, you'll see these types of calls decrease! Get with it. Have you guys heard of reverse engineering? Open an account with American Express Personal Savings or INGDirect and learn from the user interface design, etc account access and intuitiveness of the website and information presented. Get with it! I wish you forward this comment website to the online banking honcho in charge or better yet the bank president!
acct rep at discover, December 11, 2009
Hello all I am so sorry to hear about your bad experiences with the bank. I personally work in the bank and I get upset customers all day. I get customers that are vulger and nasty for no reason. I would like to say please remember that all banks have different procedures and policies so just because our other bank did it doesnt mean we will or can just the same as your other bank couldnt do things but we can. Customer service is a hard job to do because if people would just call in with a positive attitude...but no they call in yelling and screaming and there are some that you wonder how and why are they allowed to be out with the common public!! We re making improvements to our website. Also we can do ach for more than 25000 coming into your account. if you call us we can do that over the phone but all outgoing achs have to be done online. if you have any questions about something you were told but it wasnt true or wanted to know anything about the bank please post it and I will write a response back with an answer.
Corky, December 11, 2009
Discover sucks big time. I finally transferred all of my money out of there 2 months after I opened my account. I didn't close the account right off because I refuse to pay the $20 closing fee for the lousy service. There is no minimum balance req'd so I'm leaving it at $0 for the req'd 90 days, then I'll close the account. I'm so much happier with the service with American Express High Yield Personal Savings, and I rather take the 1.7% rate at AmExp than the 1.75% at Discover with all the incompetence, lousy service and terrible web user interface they call online banking!
Gene, December 03, 2009
Opened a savings account on 11/10/09 for $500. 20 days later found that there are restrictions of no more than $30,000/mo transfer in and no more than $25,000/month out. Several other restrictions including $20 to close account within 90 days. Therefore, I transferred $499.99 out and will wait to Feb. 10, 2010 to close the account. ING Direct is offering 1.5% (above $50K) if you accept online access to all of your accounts. They have never had any restrictions over the past four years.
nyc customer, November 16, 2009
Absolutely Horrible Customer Experience: 1) The main customer service people don't know anything about the online "Money MOvement" feature. So, if you transfer money online from your bank to Discover, they can't help you 2) Even the "money movement people" aren't good. 4 business days after my transaction and 2 days after the money had been pulled from my checking account, they said they don't have security clearance to "see" the above mentioned transaction. So I have 10K just missing and they can't help. 3) I was advised to check back later (presumably to hope the money is there). And, oh yeah, I should refresh my browser b/c sometimes the money doesn't show up till then. I will pull my money as soon as I can.
david, November 09, 2009
I had no problems opening up both savings and cd accounts online, although it was slow. It's the transferring into and out of Discover that was really terrible for me. When transfers into Discover worked, my money would disappear for several days - between the debit showing up at my ingdirect account and the deposit showing up at my discover account, there'd be typically 3-5 working days. My last transfer from ing to discover was a nightmare. Ing showed *2* identical debits when I submitted only 1 transfer request from discover. The discover site also showed only 1 transfer request. After 3 phone calls to discover (who kept blaming ing) and 2 calls to ing (who said they'd investigate but confirmed that they received 2 separate authorized requests from discover). About a week later, a mysterious re-deposit from discover to ing showed up - obviously the discover site had made a second, unauthorized, transfer request. Fortunately I had the funds in ing to begin with so I avoided overdraft fees but my money was missing for almost a week when I had no idea what was going on. I tried to transfer the bulk of my savings funds out of discover - unfortunately my cd money is stuck there for a while - but money hq kept telling me the request was over the limit, even though I was in a new month and statement period. Another call to discover, she admitted there was a problem but that if I phone ing and give them the discover routing and account info they can make the transfer request. So at least she admitted that the discover site was all f'ed up. I ended up using the bill payment feature to transfer back to ing - it's faster than money hq when it works. So now I'm just waiting for my discover cd to mature so I can get the rest of my money out. I've had a discover card for over a decade and never had a problem, but their online banking sucks. I just don't trust them with my money, their site can't do even the simplest things reliably. I'm also not happy with their security - every time I call I need to give them my ssn to authenticate. And their site doesn't have the personal image and security phrase as extra authentication that my other online banking sites do, so it would be *really* easy for someone evil to redirect customers to a copycat site for phishing.
jb1, November 06, 2009
I like to share with you my disappointing story with discovery. I am with discover many years. I was happy with their credit card, so when I saw 2% saving I jump on it. I opened checking and saving. Soon I realized that checking is much lower than advertised. You got to read fine print! I was a little disappointed that company like discovery was not clear about it, but that's OK, I should have read fine print, it does explain that apy depends on balance. So, I thought, I just close the checking. Oops $20 fee for closing before 90 days, minimum balance $2,500 - disclosure, you got to read it to. OK next best thing transfer balance above 2500. I tried to do it online, cannot. I called representative ask for transfer $6,000 from checking to saving, no problem, right? Wrong! Nothing happen for few days. I called customer service for explanation. I was told they have my request. After about two weeks finally I could do it by myself online. 90 days passed I called to transfer remaining balance to saving and close my checking account. I opened account on 8/6 I called 11/4. According to representative, the account need another 2 days to avoid penalty. I called again 11/5 this time representative agree that account is open for 92 days. He said he would close my account and transfer the balance within 24 hours. Called 11/6 again, because nothing happen, I was told they have my request and it probably will happen on Monday. This is internal transfer between saving and checking. Most of my banks do it instantly, discovery needs few days. By the way ach transfers take a week. Additional complains. 1 Most of the time you cannot login. 2 The webside is disorganize. 3 Transactions are missing explanation 1 during login getting error suggesting to try again in 20 minutes 2 you cannot see all your transaction on single site. for some strange reason they divided transaction in two categories, so you can see one list or the other but not all. 3 finally transaction are missing. They pay interest on the last of the month. For some reason October interest disappear. I have it on pinted statement. I see interest for previous and next month, but not for the October. I called representative, they acknowledge that it is unusual, but that's it.
Dan, November 02, 2009
I opened an American Express High Yield savings acct and I've just transferred 99% of my money from Discover to American Express. The rate is currently @1.7% certainly higher than ING and HSBCDirect. I'm leaving minimal amt in there to meet the minimum 3 months to avoid closing charges! Frankly there is no minimum that you have to maintain to keep the acct open for the 3 mos to avoid the charges! I'm so tired of the damn discover website telling me to log in 20mins later every time I try to log in or acct current inaccessible! They just don't have the backend infrastructure or bandwidth to support the kind of service needed.
Ken Griffiths, October 26, 2009
Just opened a Discover savings acct. a few days ago. They transferred $$$ from my bank -wow- how efficent. A few days later I try to transfer $$$ INTO Discover online - called them - said I have to wait 10 days but they still have my bank info, routing and bank acct info !!! WTF ???
Ted, October 22, 2009
I opened a savings account for $500 with the normal hoops to jump through. Wanted to then transfer $55K in to it. Could I? No. They have a policy that forbids them from accepting more than $25k per month via ACH. What kind of bank won't take your money? This lunacy plus the exasperating nightmare of a website and unsatisfying "customer service" makes leaving a no brainer. This so called bank is a cruel joke to avoid at all costs. Wish I had seen their track record before I wasted my time. Use them at your own peril.
Dissatisfied, October 21, 2009
*I should begin by making it clear that I am receiving nothing from ING for submitting this post. I do hope that someone from Orange comes across it, though, because they deserve the props.* I can't agree enough with other users. I am a longstanding, satisfied Discover Card user, and the high savings rate at DiscoverBank (which later dropped significantly) roped me in. Last summer, I sadly pulled money out of ING, whose website and customer support I have found to be nothing but amazing for the past five years. To give a sense of the difference in experience: When I called ING to tell them that I didn't want to renew a CD, the rep kindly asked why I was then moving my money. When I replied, "I never thought it would happen, but the ING savings rates just aren't competitive enough anymore," I could almost hear her nod her head as she simply explained the focus they were placing on their customers with mortgages. (This was in June or July 2009.) "We hate to see you go," she said, "but thank you for your business." It felt like a "We're still in love, but maybe should move on" type of break-up. It was a kind of painful. What made it worse was the terrible relationship with Discover that ensued too soon after. After several days of trying to log in to my new DiscoverBank account with only about a 20% success rate, I called customer service. The rep was horrible. He was arrogant, unknowledgable, and downright rude. I felt like I was talking to an insolent fraternity boy who was showing off to his friends. AFTER I explained to him my problem and walked through what I was doing with him step by step, the dialogue went like this: "Well, our website just isn't that difficult." "Well, this is what I'm doing, and it's only allowing me to log in 1/5 times, which I can't explain." "Wull, I never have any problems with this!" (No kidding.) I hope so sincerely that that call was recorded, and that the employee was fired. The money is staying at Discover for the moment (I opened a couple of CDs), but not a penny more shall enter. It couldn't even if I wanted it to, it seems, because for the past 48 hours I have been getting an error message telling me that my account is "currently inaccessible" and to try again in 20 minutes. The moral of the story: interest rates, like relationships, have bumps. When the relationship is good, though, it's worth riding out the bumps. Lesson learned. ING, I want to get back together.
LP, October 15, 2009
Can't believe they dropped their rate so soon after hyping their 2% interest rate. And in order to transfer any of my money to another bank Money HQ is asking for all my info for the other bank: account #, user id, password, & pin. Sorry, I don't share that confidential info!
Dan, October 07, 2009
I can vouch for the terrible user experience. It took jumping through hoops to get the transfer accounts set up and the damn site locks you on the first login try - service not available, try 20 mins later, half an hour later I still can't in. I understand locking me out after 3 or more tries due to typing errors but to be locked out after the first try! They can't seem to get my balances right. What I see online doesn't match my paper statement! My balance doesn't match the balance info in account details! Why can't they just show total balance versus available balance in the event of pending deposits to be cleared. Now that they have dropped to interest rate from 2% to 1.85%, it seem hardly worth the effort! I'm going to close my account after the 90 days! I have had it with Discover.
Sue, October 07, 2009
My experience after opening a savings account a few weeks ago has convinced me to stick with the account I have at DollarSavingsDirect. Discover's interest rate has dropped to 1.85%, DollarSavings is 1.70%. Not enough of a difference to make it worth the hassle of having to go through Discover's 'Money HQ' feature just to transfer funds. DollarSavings is much easier to deal with, as is IngDirect.
LP, October 02, 2009
Just an update: I received confirmation from Ing Direct that the funds had been transferred to Discover Savings. Pros: Discover Bank Savings' rate of 2% for a savings account is one of the best rates & the $ is FDIC insured. Con: I wish their website & processes were more user friendly. I do not want to have to register & agree to the fine print of Money HG just to be able to transfer money. If they were able to accept my original deposit w/o Money HG, why am I being required to jump through hoops & agree to another service AFTER I have established my account?
LP , October 02, 2009
I have been a long-time satisfied Discover Credit Card user. Recently my monthly statement included an advertisement for the Discover Bank Savings offering 2% APY. Trusting the Discover Card name, I went online & the site looked familiar & I was able to easily open the savings account. However, after that things have gotten a little strange. I had to re-register to see my account online & now the site (which no longer looks like the familiar Discover CC site) is not user friendly. It made me wonder if I had accidentally gotten on to a fake site. The weirdest thing is that it does not allow you to make additional deposits unless you register for the Money HG service & wait for an email with a code to activate it. I have NEVER had a savings account before where it was not simple to add additional money. Also, beware there is a $20 charge if you close the savings account before 3 months. Although Discover Bank shows that my funds have been received & an account is open, the $ has yet to be withdrawn from my Ing Direct account which seems strange. By the way, I'd like to mention that online banking with Ing Direct has been a wonderful experience. I only opened this Discover Bank savings account in search of a higher rate. Now I'm wishing I had been content with Ing.
JC in NJ, September 28, 2009
Wow, is all I can say when it comes to DiscoverBank, A Bank that is totally online. The website is horrible. I mean it's not that I don't understand how to use it. I read very carefully what needs to be done to transfer money and to set up the account itself. However, you simply have to end up waiting or e-mails with codes never arrive. The design of this site is poor and on top of it, it simply is broken. I'm looking into getting my money out of this company ASAP and I would advise you to think twice before putting money into a company that has these many visual problems. Think about all the problems you don't know of or can't see on the surface.
Jim, September 17, 2009
I just opened 2 accounts at Discover Bank. One for myself and one for my father. It was a bumpy start getting the accounts set up. I had to make a half dozen calls to customer service. Their reps are not the most knowledgable. They also would not let you set up beneficiaries online as most other banks do. This was a hassel, had to call them several times to get it right, then wait for paperwork. With the set up problems behind me, all seems to be going smoothly now. If you have the patience to get through the initial headaches, it's worth the effort. They have one of the better rates out there. The money HQ is a great feature. It not only lets you transfer money between banks but also allows you to send money to anyone anywhere electronically for free.
JB, September 14, 2009
i agree with you robert. i absolutely LOVE etrade, i just wish there rates weren't so stinking low these days. they use to have one of the highest rates around!
Robert, September 12, 2009
Avoid Discover Bank. Their website is poorly organized and poorly managed. Transferring money is too difficult and you don't know what hole it goes down for far too long. Who is making money on your money while you have no access, probably the same people running the MoneyHQ at Discover. THis is no way to run an online bank. Plus a $20 dollar fee if you close the account within 90 days after opening, this is buried in agreement. DollarSavingsDirect.com, EmigrantDirect.com are easy to use, and reliable. E*trade is also reliable but their interest rates are trending down.
JB, September 11, 2009
I think i'll skip the money HQ thing. I can transfer money in electronically through my other bank and now that i verified it with the small deposits into the discover online savings i should be able to pull it back out when i want. It's funny, i opened my account on the 3rd of Sept. and the opening deposit shows being deposited in my discover online savings account on the 4th of Sept., however the money still hasn't come out of my funding account at my other bank! lol. It's been 8 days! Guess i'm earning double interest on the same money!!
Rob, September 11, 2009
I opened an account a few months ago. I haven't had any real problems but agree with other posts that the online experience is poor. How to do the additional transfers not as simple as you would expect, it should be just as easy as the initial transfer. My main complaints are with the money HQ transfers. It takes entirely too long to transfer money, averaging about a week in most cases. I also did not like having to supply my banks online login information, why couldn't they just use router and checking account information and let you confirm your identity once they transfered small amounts like other banks do? To get past that annoyance I simply temporarily changed my password to my bank so that it could verify my identity and then changed it back after completing the setup. I am probably going to leave the money I have in there now but plan on using another online banks for future deposits.
J, September 09, 2009
ING is only 1.4% right now, but i stay with them precisely because of their excellent website and customer service. 4 years and no problems. I guess if I had a ton of cash in there the extra fraction of a percent might be worth it, but for my needs I'll trade reliability and website aesthetics for a few extra bucks.
Gper, September 09, 2009
JB, I use Discover online savings. In order to transfer money between accounts at different banks you have to first set up Money HQ. Basically you give them your external account # and routing number and Discover will probably make one or two small deposits in to your account, which you will need to verify with them once your receive them. I'm not sure why they have Money HQ instead of an integrated transfer system, but I think it may be because Money HQ might be run by some third party. I haven't had such a difficult problem with discover bank. They did hold my initial deposit for 10 days but it still eventually cleared. I received an accurate statement in the mail when I opened the account. My only complaint is that the latest interest payment does not show up in my recent activity online. The total balance of my account went up (as if the correct interest payment was there) but there is no record of the actual payment. Anybody else have this problem? I do think Discover Bank has a poorly functional website, especially for an online bank. I only have my money there for the good interest rates. A more competent online bank with a well put together interface, although with much lower interest rates, is Citibank. The Ultimate Savings Account is ok over there, but the interest rates are lower and seem to be getting even lower every month or so.
JB, September 09, 2009
I opened an online saving account recently, took a few days to get access to the account, but I can now login and see my account. I initially opened it with $500. It shows the $500 in my online savings account, but it still hasn't came out of my funding accout (checking). Never seen a bank that gives credit before it's debited! I'm just trying to figure out how to be able to transfer money into and out of the account through my other bank. It said free transfers into and out of the account when I signed up, just hard to find out where to do that. Theres a banking HQ which looks like that could be it, but it needs to be setup. Does anyone know how to transfer money into and out of the online savings? Also there should be no fees associated with either, correct?? Thanks in advance!
Kevin, September 01, 2009
follow-up to 8/13 comments above... After waiting a month with no ability to login to my account, no initial deposit taken from my checking account, and no letter/call from Discover letting me know of any problem, I called them. Tech support told me they could fix it, and it would take 24 hours. The next day, it worked! Then it didn't! It was fixed for a few hours and then broke again. Two days later they call me and tell me I have to call general account support. I call them and find out my initial deposit had been returned. Maybe I wrote the routing/acct number wrong, maybe they messed it up, who knows. But either way, it a deposit is returned they should probably LET ME KNOW. My money was finally taken from checking today so it looks like I'm almost in the clear. Still can't login to my account, but I expect after the deposit clears it will all be fine.
WW, September 01, 2009
Follow-up to my 8/19/09 comment above: So I opened my account on 8/19/09 with an initial EFT transfer of $500 from my bank. I saw my bank account being debited the very next day followed by a slew of e-mails (presumbaly the login info/password etc. => haven't opened the e-mails yet.. my bad). I then received a welcome letter/confirmation of my account opening on or about 8/22/09. All in all, had it not been for my laziness to open the e-mails, the registration process seems to have gone ok.
Quizzer, August 24, 2009
To Mopsley: Which bank are you going to? Thanks
mopsley, August 22, 2009
Thanks to everyone for all that detailed info. Was just about to open an acc't at Discover but after reading comments will definitely go to another bank. Mopsley
Guest, August 19, 2009
Blrowe and WW, I'm waiting to know your experiences with Discover online savings. Thanks
WW, August 19, 2009
Wished I had read all of the comments above before I opened my online savings account 10 minutes ago. I guess I'll just keep the initial $500 transfer in there for 90 days and see what happens. Will update my experience with Discover in the coming weeks. (I have Capital One and Wilmington Trust Direct accounts but their rates are getting lower and lower...)
Blrowe, August 19, 2009
I opened an account [online savings] on the 14th with an initial ACH from my real savings account of $500 just to see if they are competant..so far I am waiting for it to be opened will update tho nothings been xfered so far or "opened" as far as "verfied" as far as I know
Quizzer, August 17, 2009
Whats the best option to move from Ally? -Discover -AmEx -Cap1 Thanks
Lance, August 17, 2009
I haven't had any trouble. Opened a CD online. Received confirmation and was able to transfer funds from my main checking account.
Kevin, August 13, 2009
Opened an online savings account about 3 weeks ago, maybe more. You'd think I would know the exact date, but I never got an e-mail confirmation when I opened it, so who knows. After two weeks of having no clue if I had an account or not (the money hadn't been transferred from my checking account yet), I got a welcome package in the mail, that had my account number. So I created an online account (actually got e-mails for doing that!), but I am STILL unable to log in to it ("service not available" error). Last week I got another letter from them, that had my account balance, showing as the amount that should have been transferred in. Trouble is, THE MONEY NEVER CAME OUT OF MY CHECKING ACCOUNT. And I still cannot log in to the online service. So in short, this is a terrible experience, this company has no clue how to operate an online bank, and after a month I have no idea if I have an account or not. I'm sure if I call them I'll have even more horror stories, which I'm doing today.
Dougster, August 09, 2009
I'm pondering a Discover Online Savings account and would like to know how well, or not well, that kind of account has worked for anyone.
Sambo, August 07, 2009
I have been trying to open an on line CD for two days. No luck, so I went on line to see if there were any comments about this. Thank G I did and saw all the negative comments. Discovers sorry on line sight saved me all the problems you guys have been through. Thanks
Jimbo, July 28, 2009
Follow up on above. Took several more calls involving 2 managers. Account closed and check issued on July 24. Overnighted UPS and received on Monday July 27 WITHOUT any additional interest for them taking 10 days to close the account and issue a check... and 3 more days to get it to me.
Jimbo, July 22, 2009
My experience with Discover Bank. CD matured 7/15/09, requested in writing on July 8, that account be closed. On 7/15 called and was told didn't receive request, need to fax in request via long distance number. On 7/15 called back different rep, Jennifer, and was told no letter needed will close account. On 7/17, Ryan, said not closed yet... should be by Monday. On 7/20, Brandon, account still open, having tech problems, but will handle right away. On 7/21, Jessica, will confirm with management and get account closed. On 7/22, Charlene, we're running a little behind, check should be issued by Monday 7/27. Again on 7/22 talked to manager, Heather, having computer problems, took information, has to make some calls and call me back. It's only 26K, but WTF? I would like the money. Missed out on a local CU 3% deal valid only 7/17-7/23. Figured I'd have a check before then from Discover Bank... but still waiting. 2 hours now and 'Heather' hasn't called me back.
Lara, March 11, 2009
Just opened a CD. No problems - yet. Will let you know.
Paul D, March 03, 2009
I have had nothing but errors with Discover Bank. I processed an online CD with them, but they debited by bank twice, which caused an overdraft on my part. The balances never show online, the details of the account are not available online. My Roth IRA CD now shows a zero balance online, and they can't find the money I deposited with confirmations from my WaMu checking account. 48 hours to find out what happened? 3 different CSR's, no answers... the rates are not worth the incompetency. You've been warned, again.
Gerrit Erasmus, January 25, 2009
Stay away from this bank! I opened an account with a large bank transfer over two weeks ago, but we still don't have access to the money. Several tech support people promised to look into it. When I didn't hear from them and followed up, they kept insisting, "The problem is resolved." Maybe their problem is resolved, but not mine. I finally got hold of a CSR who acknowledged that the money was unavailable, but couldn't explain it. A half-hour later, she came back with the answer: They routinely hold deposits for 10 business days after the money clears. If that's not enough, they routinely sell customer information to unaffiliated marketers. To opt-out, you have to first read the fine print in the privacy policy, then call the provided number. Furthermore, they won't let you withdraw more than $35K in a month - also hidden in the fine print - and they charge you $20 if you close the account within 90 days. And, yes, the online banking system is terrible, regularly throwing esoteric error messages only meaningful to developers. You've been warned.
B Libza, November 25, 2008
I agree with Mary that their on-line banking is deplorable. I do not get accurate account information on my Money Market account history. My two last deposits do not show up on my on-line statement as well as the last interest payment. I have called them at least 4 times on this problem, and while they admit there is a problem, they have not been able to fix it. I am disappointed that a company like Discover can't even run an on-line bank with any competence.
Seth, September 22, 2008
I had no problem opening my account. My account was opened within 2 business days. Mary, did you try opening it over the weekend? Maybe that was the problem?
Mary Crowell, August 29, 2008
Discover Bank's online banking system is deplorable. 24 to 48 hours means 6 days. We have not been able to get satisfaction from anyone by telephone and therefore are now struggling to close the account we opened in early August. We were trying to deposit additional funds and found it could not be done!
James H., August 25, 2008
Hello Admin, theres something wrong with the link on the following page-----> http://www.bestcashcow.com/cash_equivalents/savings.html. when you click on HSBC's "post/read reviews for this bank", it takes you to discover bank page.
BestCash Admin, August 14, 2008
James, I'm not sure which rate you are referring to. As far as we can tell, there is no date on when the rates expire. Discover can, like any bank, lower the rate it is offering at any time.
James. H, July 23, 2008
This rate only applies until mid august. After that, this rate will drop back down to 3.05% or lower.
