For decades, semi-retired businessman Doug Tanger appreciated the concierge-style service he got from First Republic Bank. On the few occasions when he faced problems with his accounts, bank personnel quickly came to his rescue.
But First Republic collapsed last year after depositors pulled billions of dollars out of the Silicon Valley-based bank in a devastating bank run.
Tanger said he was relieved when the country’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, swooped in and purchased First Republic at auction. He trusted there would be a seamless transition.
“First Republic customers were assured that our accounts would be smoothly transferred to Chase,” said Tanger, 70, who lives in Brookline. “But that’s not what happened.”
JPMorgan Chase scheduled the transfer for Memorial Day weekend, when it would migrate 800,000 First Republic savings and checking accounts into JPMorgan Chase online accounts. It would be one of the last steps in integrating the two banks.
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But, when the migration of accounts was complete, some customers complained they weren’t able to make payments with their debit cards. Others said their attempts to reach customer service for help by phone turned into nightmarishly long periods on hold — with only limited help when they finally got through.
Tanger discovered another problem, one that threatened to lower his credit score: he was blocked from paying bills from his online checking account because the addresses of his 35 payees had vanished from his bill-paying function at JPMorgan Chase.
Tanger made his frustrating discovery when he tried to pay an Eversource electricity bill, something he does routinely every month. He entered the amount to be paid and the date of payment, but when he tried to execute the payment, this popped up, in big red letters: “MISSING INFORMATION.”
“You must reschedule your payment,” the message went on. “To complete your payment you must enter an address for the payee.”
Tanger said that presented him with the tedious task of researching all the physical addresses of his payee. Those addresses were in his First Republic bill-paying account, but did not migrate to his JPMorgan Chase account, he said.
JPMorgan Chase responded to a Boston Globe inquiry on Tanger’s behalf with a statement: “Last weekend, we successfully transferred 800,000 personal and business accounts for First Republic clients to our systems, which gives them access to 4,800 branches and online and mobile banking. We’re working with clients to resolve any lingering issues, like moving payee information over from First Republic. "
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The bank also said the complaints it received from customers about not being able to use debit cards was resolved as of May 27.
Tanger, meanwhile, has spent long hours laboriously searching online for payee addresses for inputting into his JPMorgan Chase bill-paying accounts.
In some instances, when payment on an account is now due, he’s reverting to paying with a paper check, so as to not risk a blemish on his credit report while he continues to research payee addresses, he said.
“It’s terribly frustrating,” he said, citing this bank message he got: “It looks like this part of our site isn’t working right now.”
“The JPMorgan Chase corporate office had months to plan this and yet it failed me and apparently other customers. Someone screwed up on the tech side. Why didn’t they test it first?”
JPMorgan Chase announced its acquisition of First Republic in the spring of 2023.
“If this were not so time consuming, frustrating and confidence deflating (not good for a bank) it would be funny,” he said, adding that he plans to stay with JPMorgan Chase based on the good service he gets from local personnel while faulting the corporate office.
Got a problem? Send your consumer issue to [email protected]. Follow him @spmurphyboston.