A former branch manager for Chase Bank went viral on TikTok after sharing stories of “fraud, corruption, and illegal activity” she claims to have witnessed while she worked there in the mid-to-late 2000s. She also describes a culture of pressure to open bank accounts by any means necessary.
“I’m ready to tell you about it,” said user @shennaigans, whose initial video on the topic has amassed nearly 372,000 views.
In 2004, she said, when she was only 27 years old, she was hired as a branch manager for Chase Bank. At this point, @shennaigans said she had already worked in banking for roughly five years.
During her first stint as a branch manager, though, she said she managed “a little in-store branch in a grocery store of Bank One,” which Chase later acquired.
What happened after Chase acquired Bank One?
Shortly after the acquisition, @shennaigans said she got a new president named Jojianta. (The Daily Dot could not immediately find a record of anyone with this name working at Chase Bank.)
“Jojianta started coming out to Arizona, where I lived, and visiting all the branches,” @shennaigans said. “I was hearing a lot of horror stories about how he would walk into a branch and if a manager’s shoes weren’t shiny enough he would turn around and walk out.”
With that in mind, @shennaigans said she wanted everything to be “perfect” when Jojianta visited her store. She also wanted a promotion, she noted, and sought to impress him. In the end, she said she felt like she did.
“After he left, my district manager gave me a call and praised me for the great visit that we had,” she said.
But then things got weird: @shennaigans said she was told by her manager that Jojianta “really liked” her, but refused to promote her unless she cut her hair.
At the time, @shennaigans said she didn’t realize “how illegal” this request was.
“I was only 27 years old and didn’t have a good support system,” she said. But she ended up cutting her hair and getting promoted to a freestanding location where she got a new manager.
How was Chase partaking in ‘illegal’ activities?
According to @shennaigans, “all Chase cared about was acquisition.” She noted that Chase measured this by the number of open checking accounts.
“There was a day… where I had a half-million dollar investment sale and signed over a million dollars in loans,” she said “When I told [her new manager] that, the first thing she said to me was, ‘How many checking accounts did you open?’”
@shennaigans said she and other branch managers were told to go “find checking accounts.” In fact, she said her manager would send her to construction sites where undocumented immigrants worked and have them sign the workers up for checking accounts “that they were never going to use.”
“It was really messed up,” @shennaigans said.
At one point, she said a confused customer came into the bank, unsure of what to do with his debit card because he didn’t have a checking account. That’s when @shennaigans said things started to get fishy and she did some digging as a result.
“A branch manager down the road had opened three checking accounts in his name and this customer was completely unaware,” @shennaigans said. That same branch manager, @shennaigans added, reportedly opened over one-hundred “completely fraudulent” checking accounts.
“I turned all of that into [my manager],” @shennaigans said. “I waited. Nothing happened.”
Did Chase Bank eventually take action?
Eventually, @shennaigans said she escalated the case to corporate security, who fired the the branch manager. But @shennaigans said that her direct boss was so “pissed off” that they started targeting her personally. That entailed denying @shennaigans sick days, among other things.
@shennaigans said she eventually left Chase for a different bank, but that several of her former co-workers suffered mental health issues as a result of staying.
“I could go on, and on, and on,” @shennaigans said. “The way that Chase Bank was in 2000 to 2010 was horrific.”
@shennaigans said she couldn’t speak to the bank today, but hoped it was “better.”
“Do not ever let an employer treat you that way,” @shennaigans warned her followers. “You deserve to work for a company that treats you with kindness and respect.”
“We thoroughly investigate these types of allegations and remind employees that they can confidentially report code of conduct violations at any time,” a Chase spokesperson told the Daily Dot.
Former bank workers share similar stories
While @shennaigans’s story might sound wild, other Chase Bank workers said they’ve encountered similar horror stories.
“Was a branch manager for Chase as well, in the early 2000s,” one former employee shared. “Don’t get me started on the boys club culture.”
“I was also a branch manager for Chase,” another shared. “I know the pressure that they put on all of us to hit goals.”
Apparently, the pressure to open new checking accounts has impacted workers at other popular banks, too.
“My son endorsed that ridiculousness as BM for Wells Fargo,” one woman said. “He refused to open fraudulent accounts and was regularly berated for it.”
“I worked at BoA and same,” another shared.
@shennaigans ♬ Suara Seram Sangat Mencekam – Kholil Buitenzorg
“Wells was the same too,” a third commenter noted.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @shennaigans via TikTok comment.
