ComplaintsforEmpower Finance, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 30th,2024 I contacted empower/thrive to close my account. The account had a zero balance. On May 1st 2024 I asked them about a $4.47 charge after I had requested the account be closed. On May 2nd 2024 I was told the account would be closed and the $4.47 charge removed. On June 26th, 2024 I see on my credit report that the account is still opened and I have a past due balance of 70. *** requested that I get an explanation. Today June 28,2024 Empower told me I have an active account and I need to resubscribe to be able to pay the amount owed. However when I attempted to do this I see that the 70 is actually under their Thrive loans and I cant get into that portion unless I take a cash advance. I dont want a cash advance. I want the 70 gone, even if I have to pay it. I want the account closed ASAP and I want a correction to my credit report.

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Hello ******,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 28, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that a small balance remained on your Thrive line of credit account even after you believed to have fully satisfied the outstanding balance. Empower takes these complaints seriously and promptly investigated the claim.
  
  Following our investigation, we determined the following: On December 3, 2022, you created an Empower account in the mobile app. On January 19, 2024, you applied and were approved for the Thrive line of credit. From January 2024 to April 2024, you took draws on your Thrive line of credit and made payments. However, some of your payments failed which caused your principal Thrive balance to accrue interest and fees. On May 1, 2024, you reached out to Support asking why a small balance remained on your Thrive account when you paid the balance down to zero and requested to close your account. Support closed your Thrive account as requested, however your account still erroneously carried a small balance. 
  
  On June 28, 2024, we received your indirect credit dispute. Following the investigation of your dispute, on July 1, 2024, Support issued a final credit of $0.47 to bring your Thrive account balance to zero. This updated account information has been reported to the credit bureaus. Please allow some time for the bureaus to update your credit report. 
  
  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ***************************** We appreciate the opportunity to address your concern.
  
  Team Empower
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 21, 2024 this company withdrew eight dollars fraudulently from my account. No one has my account information but myself and I can tell you that I most certainly did not download any app or put my banking account information into anything recently. It frustrates me that my routing and banking account information was fraudulently used by a company for eight lousy dollars. I will be closing out this account, which is a headache if its own Because of this. I do not appreciate the way you all do business at all! People pay attention to your bank accounts!

  Business response

  07/12/2024

  Hello *******,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint response you submitted on June 21, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower debited your linked external bank account $8 for *********************** monthly subscription fee for an Empower account that you did not open. Empower takes these complaints seriously and promptly investigated the claim.
  
  Following our investigation, we determined the following: On June 5, 2024, an Empower account was opened by someone under a different name, however the account opener linked an external bank account associated with your name for Empowers monthly subscription fee. As such, your external bank account was debited $8 on June 19, 2024. On June 25, 2024, you contacted Empower Support regarding the charge and mentioned that your bank account was compromised. Support advised you to dispute the charge with your bank as there might be an unauthorized individual with access to your external banking information. 

  Following receipt of this complaint,  your Empower account was closed and marked as fraudulent on July 2, 2024. Since you stated you did not open this account, we recommend you check the security of your external bank account with your financial institution.

  We have refunded the $8 subscription fee to your bank account. Please allow 1-3 business days for the funds to arrive. 

  If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ***************************** We appreciate the opportunity to address your concern.
  
  Team Empower
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Empower charged me $84.25 multiple times without me signing up for an account. Has scam red flags written all over the company when you call them. Refused to let me speak to anyone who could tell me why I was being charged and insisted on emailing me back. Filed claim with my bank and now bank has an alert so they cant charge me anymore.

• Initial Complaint

  06/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Empower has been taking $8 out of my account every 7 days. I signed up online because they get you because they say you can get a advance. I never was given any advance at all. So thats why they had my account information because they said they needed it if i was approved for a advance. Instead they keep taking money out of my bank account. I have emailed billing and told them to cancel my account. June 18, June 14,May 10 they withdrew $8. Their policy says it charges $8 a month. Which is in very fine print. I would like a refund since they have not done anything for me at all

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Hello ********,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint response you submitted on June 20, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower debited the $8 subscription fee. Empower takes these complaints seriously and promptly investigated the claim.
  
  Following our investigation, we determined the following: On April 2, 2024, you created an Empower account in the mobile app and agreed to be debited an $8 monthly subscription for access to Empowers financial products and services, including Thrive line of credit, Cash Advance, spend tracking, credit score monitoring. Following your two-week trial as a new customer, your $8 subscription fee was scheduled to be debited on April 16, 2024, however Empower did not attempt to debit your account for this fee until we detected sufficient funds in your account. As such, your account was first debited for the subscription fee on May 10, 2024, for the April 16th invoice. Your account was then debited again on June 14th for the May 16th invoice, and then again on June 18th for the June 16th invoice.   The only record of your attempt to cancel your Empower subscription is on June 17, 2024, when you initiated this request within the app. Given this, your most recent $8 subscription fee was refunded to your external bank account on June 27, 2024. 

  As a courtesy, Empower Support has refunded the remaining two $8 subscription fees (totaling $16) to your external linked account. Please allow 1 to 3 business days for the refund to reach your account. 
  If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ***************************** We appreciate the opportunity to address your concern.
  
  Team Empower

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I started a free two week subscription on 5/21/2024 to be able to borrow $75 for a few days at a time. I ended up borrowing $75 on the 27th with a $4 fee to have the money deposited immediately, and paid back $79 on the 31st, borrowed $75 on June 16th, repayi g $79 on the 21st. I was debited $8 on 6/5/2024 to be able to continue my subscription, but my account was unable to borrow. After emailing empower on June 13th, 14, and 15th, to either give back the $8 for a monthly subscription I couldnt access, or give me access to my account, I was told to re-subscribe to be able to put the $8 to use. After I re-subscribed as told on 6/17/2024, I was debited another $8 for the same month of service. I need the company to stop jerking me around and give back my $8.

  Business response

  06/27/2024

  Hello *****,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 19, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower charged you an $8 monthly subscription fee though you did not have access to Empowers products. 
  Following an investigation, we determined the following: On May 21, 2024, you created an Empower account and started your 14-day trial, with an automated $8 monthly subscription fee to follow for access to Empowers financial products and services offered within the app. On May 21st and May 27th, you accepted two Cash Advances which you later repaid. Since your Empower account remained open following your 14-day trial, your linked external bank account was debited $8 on June 4, 2024, for Empowers monthly subscription fee. On the following day, June 5, 2024, you closed your Empower account. 
  On June 17, 2024, you reopened your Empower account and restarted your Empower subscription. Upon resubscription on June 17, 2024, you were charged the $8 subscription fee, as only new customers qualify for the ****** trial, as outlined in the Subscription Agreement. On June 17th, you accepted a $75 Cash Advance which you later repaid. On June 21, 2024, you accepted a $100 Cash Advance. 
  As you did not access Empowers app following the $8 subscription fee charge debited on June 4, 2024, we have refunded this charge to your account. Please allow 3 business days for the refund to arrive in your account. 
  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the opportunity to address your concern. If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ****************************.
  Team Empower
  
  

  Customer response

  06/27/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  06/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Since January 2024 I have been reaching out to Empower via the support email and the phone number which is rarely answered due to them not reporting my Empower Trive Loan correctly. To date, I have received three credit limit increases in April, March, and June. I pay the balance in full on time every month and I am not benefitting from this good payment history as Empower has refused to update my credit listings for Experian, Equifax and Tranunion since January 2024 with the correct balance, credit limit, and report payment history from January to June for the past six months. I don't understand why Empower refuses to correct my positive payment history and add it along with the correct balances and credit limits to each bureau. If I had a derogatory history they would update it with no hesitation. I have opened disputes and each time for some reason which I'm left to assume is incompetence, they respond with verification that the account is reporting correctly which it has not been for six months. I'm in the process of buying a home and this needs to be corrected asap and it is as simple as Empower doing an AUD Update with the correct credit limit which is $325 as they are currently reporting $250, the correct balance with is zero as the balance is paid in full monthly and I have attached statements to confirm this.

  Business response

  07/03/2024

  Hello Butoisha,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 17, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower incorrectly reported your Thrive line of credit account information to the credit bureaus. 
  We investigated your case and determined the following: On July 8, 2019, you created your Empower account. On December 31, 2023, you applied and were approved for the Empower Thrive line of credit. On January 9, 2024, you took your first draw and continued to take draws and make payments through July 2024. Following your first draw in December, Empower reported your Thrive account information to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax on a monthly basis. 
  As of April 31, 2024, your Thrive account was current with a $0 balance and $300 credit limit, which is what Empower reported to the credit bureaus. However, from a screenshot that you emailed Empower Support on June 24, 2024, it appeared that your Thrive account information was not appropriately reflected on Experian and Equifax. As such, on July 1, 2024, Empower submitted an AUD to Experian and Equifax to update your Thrive account information to reflect your $0 current balance and $300 credit limit. Please allow additional time for your more recent account information to be reflected.
  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the opportunity to address your concern. If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ****************************.
  Team Empower
  
  

  Customer response

  07/08/2024

   
  Complaint: 21863668
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Another AUD Update needs to be done to correct the Loan Type to Line of Credit is this is a line of credit, not other which is how Empower is reporting to Equifax.  I spent 6 Months contacting Empower so called support via Email and phone specifically asking for an AUD Update that they refused.  Empower even had the audacity to respond to credit bureau disputes saying and alledging that the information was reporting corrrectly.  I am requesting compensation as this matter has negatively impacted me and my credit.  Empower has also failed to resolve the error when I try to open an Empower card I get the error that something went wrong. Ongoing issues unresolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Butoisha ******

• Initial Complaint

  06/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Empower went in my account and stole funds that did not belong to them if I commit to a payday loan on my Job Transdev then it should come from my Job but they touched something that did not belong to me nor them and dont want to return the funds back

  Business response

  06/27/2024

  Hello ******,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 12, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower debited your bank account for an ********************** Cash Advance without your authorization. 

  Following our investigation, we determined the following: On April 21, 2024, you created an Empower account. On the same day, you accepted a $75 Empower Cash Advance, which you repaid on April 25, 2024. Most recently, on May 10, 2024, you accepted a $200 Cash Advance with a $7 instant delivery fee. While the first debit attempt failed due to insufficient funds in the account, the $207 payment was processed on June 9, 2024. 

  During Cash Advance onboarding in the Empower app, you agreed to Empowers Cash Advance Authorization terms which state, You authorize Empower to electronically debit the Empower Cash Advance amount from either the Empower Checking or ************* Account, either via ACH or the debit card you linked during enrollment to Cash Advance (on the basis of where your next paycheck is expected to be deposited based upon the information provided to us). When you set up Cash Advance in the Empower app, you set your external ********************* checking account to be your paycheck monitoring account and repayment account for Cash Advance. As such, Empower debited this bank account for all Cash Advance repayments. 

  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the opportunity to address your concern. If you require additional assistance, please contact our customer service team through email at ****************************.

  Team Empower

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They use an app to provide advances. I have been using it for over a year. All of a sudden the app is not allowing me to login and I've contacted them via email because there is no customer service number and I've been told they are working on restoring the app. I don't see anything where they are saying there is an app outage and no one can seem to tell me when it will be restored. I told them that I want to cancel the account due to it reports to the credit bureau and I am in good standing. I am leery of what is going on with them. It seems as if they should have the app outage corrected by now. I was told that someone would be reaching out to me regarding the issue and no one has. I've emailed them several times only to get the same response that "they are working diligently to restore the app" but it's two weeks in and nothing.

  Business response

  06/21/2024

  Hello *****,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 11, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empowers app had an outage which prevented you from accessing the app. 
  Following an investigation, we determined the following: On June 4, 2024, you emailed Empower Support asking if there was an app outage since you were having trouble logging into the Empower app. On the same day, Support requested a screenshot and then noted that it looked like you were trying to log into the app using a new phone number. As such, on June 6, 2024, Support sent you an identity verification link so we could update the phone number associated with your Empower account. After you completed the verification link on the same day, Support advised you to log in using your current phone number ending in 0383. On June 11, 2024, you called Support and the agent again advised you to log in using your phone number ending in 0383 and helped you reset your passcode, allowing you to access the app. 
  We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and appreciate the opportunity to address your concern. If you require additional assistance, please contact Empower Support by emailing  ****************************.
  
  Team Empower
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have tried to contact this company many times to revoke my ACH authorization and they seem to dodge every question i have about it. I want my ACH authorization revoked!!

  Business response

  06/21/2024

  Hello ****,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 3, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that Empower avoided your requests to revoke your *** authorization. 
  Following an investigation, we determined the following: You opened your first Empower account on December 2, 2022, using the email ******************* and accepted a $50 Empower Cash Advance. After you repaid, you took a $100 Empower Cash Advance on December 15, 2022, which you agreed to repay on December 30, 2022. On December 23, 2022, you revoked *** authorization and defaulted on your Cash Advance payment. 
  You opened your second Empower account on April 8, 2024, using a different email ************************ and phone number than the one used to open the first account. On the same day, you reached out to Empower from the email ****************** claiming that you had a duplicate account associated with a different email ************************ and requested the account be deleted. However, because you reached out from a different email than the one associated with the account you were requesting to close, Support sent you a Persona identity verification link to complete, which you did not. 
  On May 31, 2024, you accepted a $50 Cash Advance from this second account which you agreed to repay on June 12, 2024. On June 3, 2024, you followed up requesting to revoke *** authorization for this Empower account, but since you had not completed the Persona identity verification and were still reaching out from a different phone number and email, Support responded with the Persona link again advising you to verify your identity first. On the same day, you verified your identity and Support revoked the *** authorization associated with the account and sent you confirmation. On June 4, 2024, you requested to close both Empower accounts, which Support processed on the following day. As of June 12, 2024, you defaulted on this Cash Advance payment. 
  If you require additional assistance, please contact Empower Support by emailing  ****************************.
  
  Team Empower
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to bring to your attention a persistent issue I have been experiencing with the Empower app for several days now. Firstly, my bank balance has not been updated since May 29th, despite numerous attempts to refresh the app and sync with my bank servers. Additionally, the app frequently disconnects from the bank servers, hindering my ability to resolve the issue effectively. Moreover, there is a designated tab within the app for issue resolution, but unfortunately, it is unresponsive and not clickable, rendering it impossible for me to address the problem independently. Despite my efforts to seek assistance, I have not received any response from Empower customer service for the past three days. Furthermore, previous attempts to contact support via phone on X were unsuccessful, as the contact information provided has not been updated since 2023. Similar challenges have been encountered with reaching out through ********* where I have also received no response. Given the critical nature of this matter and its impact on my financial management, I urge you to prioritize the resolution of this issue immediately. I kindly request prompt attention and effective support to rectify the problems with my Empower app account.

  Business response

  06/21/2024

  Hello ********,
  
  We received the Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint you submitted on June 2, 2024, and we appreciate the opportunity to respond. Your complaint alleged that you experienced persistent technical issues with your Empower account on your mobile device preventing you from accessing Empowers Cash Advance product. 
  

  Following an investigation, we determined the following: On August 16, 2023, you opened your Empower account. On the same day, you accepted your first Empower Cash Advance which you repaid, and continued to use our Cash Advance product. From August 2023 through May 2024, your linked external Navy ******************** checking account was the primary account for Cash Advance eligibility and payments. 

  On May 14, 2024, you reached out to Support asking why the Empower app lost connection with your external financial institution. On May 16, 2024, after reviewing your account and finding that the connection was resolved, Support responded that the connection issue was resolved and that you should be eligible for a Cash Advance. On May 17, 2024, you were able to accept a $250 Cash Advance with an $8 instant delivery fee, which you repaid on May 30, 2024. On May 31, 2024, you reached out to Support stating that there was another connection issue between your external linked account and the ********************** app, preventing you from using Cash Advance. On June 3, 2024, Support reviewed your account noting the connection issue, advised you to reconnect your bank account, and provided instructions on how to reconnect your bank account. 

  On June 5, 2024, you linked a different external account (USAA) to be your primary Cash Advance account and were able to accept a Cash Advance on the same day. After repaying this Cash Advance on June 18, 2024, you accepted another on June 20, 2024. 

  We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the opportunity to address your concern. If you require additional assistance, please contact Empower Support by emailing  ****************************.
  
  Team Empower
  

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩