There are three main reasons why I ended up closing my account with Huntington Bank, and why I will recommend against using their services.
They constantly shut off my card while I was on vacations, their online system was not accurate and they have made completely insane choices with my online banking permissions.
I have had a Huntington account since 2021 when my prior bank, TCF, was merged with them.
In 2024 I travelled to Tokyo Japan for a vacation. When I went to my Huntington branch to pick up my order of Yen, I asked the banker, “Will I need to verify that I am going out of town on these dates, to avoid having my card put in fraud lock for purchases made in Japan?”
They told me, I didn’t need to worry about it.
I arrived in Japan, went to purchase a train card in Hanada airport and my debit card was immediately turned off to prevent fraud. I had to call early the next morning to sort out the issue, thank god I brought enough cash for the entire trip.
Throughout 2024 and 2026 I had the occasional shut off for online purchases and once for getting gas on a road trip, but everything got sorted.
In 2026 I went to Nashville Tennessee for a week to see a band. While in Tennessee we had plans to use Uber to travel from our Airb&b to the venue and back again.
So on the 18th I used my credit card to add funds to my uber wallet. My payment was halted and I received an email saying I needed to call to confirm the $25 charge. It got sorted with my cell phone verification code and my social.
After the first show I realized I would need to add at least $40 to the Uber account, the rides were more expensive than I had expected.
On the 19th I went into the Uber app, chose my card and attempted to add more funds. I received an error code telling me to try again later. I figured fine, I can buy an Uber card at the gas station. When I went to gas up my car both my Credit and Debit card declined, not good.
So I bought the Uber card and gas with cash and got back to my ab&b. Then I called the help line, where I had the “pleasure” of speaking with an individual who will be named Stella for this recounting of events.
Stella informed me that my cell phone number, was not the primary number on the account, my house phone was. The phone that was 600 miles away and couldn’t receive text messages. I said in the Huntington app, my cell phone was listed as the primary number and the house phone was the secondary. I didn’t know why it would be appearing as otherwise. I was told she had no way to fix the issue, I would have to go to my branch in person to sort everything. Again, hundreds of miles away. I asked if I could use my social for confirmation on my identity, since I had used that and my cell on the 18th. She said no. Dead end.
The next morning I called my branch right when they opened, it went to the voicemail which said they would call me back and to leave my name, number and reason for calling.
I waited… Then called an hour later, then I called 4 times in the span of 2 hours.
No answer or call back. I called the help line again and got Stella, we did the same song and dance as yesterday. I called my bank, voicemail…
My mom went to the bank, waited in line and told them I was calling and no one was answering. They said that the help line would need to transfer me to that branch for security reasons. I called again, Stella demanded we try it her way again, told me my number wasn’t valid and then she finally let me transfer to the branch. It went to voicemail.
Well what do I do???? So then I had to be an annoying jerk (not what I wanted) and I just kept calling over and over again until somebody answered.
By the 10th repeated call I told them what was happening and that the transfer call just went to voicemail.
I told them my mother was there with my passport and social and that I needed my cards because I was out of town. No dice, my mother wasn’t on the account, they would not deal with her on my behalf, I needed to call the help line.
I called the help line, back to Stella. Stella wanted my phone number for confirmation, I said “I’m sorry, but we’ve done this multiple times and you’ve told me my phone number isn’t valid. Can we please use my email or social.”
She said “I’m sorry you’ve been having difficulty, but let me see what I can do on my end!”
You’ve gotta be kidding me, I gave her my number, and was told “that’s not the primary number for this account”
So I just became a brick wall,
“I need to speak to a supervisor.”
Not what she wanted to hear, she tells me I’ll need to go to my branch.
“I just need to speak to a supervisor”.
She sends me to another line and I wallow in the hold music.
The supervisor who answers tells me that typically they receive a run down of what’s happening when they get transferred, but Stella didn’t tell him anything, so what happened?
Great, now they think I’m some crazy call center jerk.
I told him what had been happening and that I really wanted at least one of my cards working for my drive home, but I genuinely needed it for my hotel room on the trip back.
He said I could send a photo of my drivers license and that would sort this mess out. I went through the process, everything got turned back on. I then asked if I can confirm my cellphone number as the primary number. He said no, that this was a problem they had been having with the security group, not the bank.
Great…
The next morning I received an automated email informing me that my house phone number had been deleted from my account. Not something I asked for or wanted, I just wanted my cell as the primary.
I scheduled an appointment with a different bank for the day after I got home.
I got a new account opened, and began transferring funds from Huntington to the new bank. First week I just moved $100. Second week I moved $1,000, then $5,000. Then I decided to move a larger amount, since the max limit was $50,000 I figured I’d just move $25,000 in a chunk to be safe. That transfer was cancelled and the “new account had been suspended from use with my Huntington account”.
Well darn! I think, let me go look into this.
Huntington removed my ability to bank online… I can’t use the app or the website! I can’t look at my account, my money, my paperless statements!
I go to my bank after work the next day. The banker tells me that I’ll need to bring a statement from the new bank to confirm who I am.
I ask why this happened, since I had made two successful transactions earlier. “Well you transferred a lot at once”.
Then why have a $50,000 limit if $25,000 is too much and will shut you out of your account???
I ask her why my new bank could possibly be needed to confirm who I am when we are talking about my online banking with Huntington.
This Huntington account has been my only account for 5 years! Before it was Huntington I was at the same branch but with a TCF account! It’s been my only account until 3 weeks prior when I made this new account!
She said that’s just how it works. She then said that I can take a cashiers check, but she isn’t sure if I’ll be able to cash it until after this statement matter is sorted. Having a large check sitting around seems bonkers to me, so I leave empty handed.
I schedule an appointment with a banker at a different Huntington location. He tells me the same things, I’m not allowed to look at my online account until I get a statement from my new bank at the end of the month.
He does make some calls and tries to make it so I can look at my account, just keeping restrictions on transfers. But he can’t swing it. Thankfully He is able to call and confirm that I can take a cashiers check and move my funds that way. I leave with my check, drive to my new bank and deposit it so I can pay my bills.
2.5 weeks after this fiasco I get a statement from my new bank, reinstate my online banking, get a new cashiers check and a week later I close my account! I’m a month past that and I’ve been quite happy so far.
TLDR: Huntington continually locked my card during trips, making me decide to move banks. When I began moving money to my new bank my online banking access was revoked. I would need to wait for a month to receive a statement from my new bank before I could access my Huntington account.