Higher One

For whatever reason, colleges love using this bank for issuing refunds. My advice to students — RUN AWAY! I’d rather it take a week to get a check from my college for my refund than wait on Higher One to process my «same day deposit.» Whenever I try to contact them, they give me the same BS answer about how they process it as soon as they get it, use the FAQ’s on their site, etc. Customer Service is appalling. And the FEES for this bank??? Oh my gosh. I’ve NEVER banked with someone with so many stupid fees. This is my last semester as an undergrad and I’m closing the account as soon as the funds (eventually) get deposited.

I hate this so called suppose to help us with are financial aide but robs us. Why do we need to pay to get financial aide then super charge us fees. Then I joined F*** higher one on Facebook. The students on that page gave me ways to move around from using higher one.

If –1 were an option that’s what I would give Higher One. I dread having to actually call this place. Be prepared to deal with incompetent employees and handing over all your personal information… several times over.
your looking at least a 20 minute wait as these people try to navigate through a system that is always «down».

If I could give this god awful «bank» a negative 1,000,000,000 star I would!!! I SUGGEST IF YOU START WITH THIS BANK DUE TO SCHOOL … Pay the fees for a CHECK BOOK and GET YOUR MONEY OUT ASAP. This is a pathetic so called bank! Never had a problem when money was refunded but had an incident where I ordered a package from an online company which for the most part was always reliable, but due to the heavy snowstorms on the east coast when I placed order it never went through on their end. So I called the merchant and they told me we NEVER took money out because we NEVER had an order! Which I get it on there part. So why when I call higher one to ask where the heck my money is they can’t answer my questions it’s is now February 2 and they get to hold my money for two weeks ohhh noooooooooo! If you ever order anything online DO NOT use this card. They are a scam I’m sure of it! Oh it takes 5 business days for hold to drop off!!! HELLO I ORDERED IT TWO WEEKS AGO!!! And theressssssss nooooooooo order!!! They suck and now my child has been without a car seat because of these people not giving me my money back! Supposedly tomorrow it will be in my account so we shall see. The worst customer service on the planet the worst! This back is literally a nightmare GET A CHECK BOOK ASAP

This company is absolutely ridiculous. I am having the exact same problem with them that I had last semester. My school released my refund to higher one in the morning and it is 8 p.m. and I stillhave not received my money from this ridiculous company. I advise everyone to report your problems with this company to the BBB. We can only get rid of them if we ban together.

I have had an account with higher one a couple of years. I can’t think of the last time I called higher one customer service but from what I remember the communication went very smooth. I made a call today and I could tell now the customer service agents are outsourced in the Philippines. They could not understand my questions that most bank representatives could understand. Stop being cheap and hired back the American customer service agents. You get what you pay for.

I had higher one for some time and they weren’t terrible… until this past year. They charge $ 5.95 a month for their «premier» service which they claim you’re supposed to get VIP level customer service. By VIP level customer care, they must mean being transferred to some call center in the Phillipines that doesn’t give a f*** about you and can’t speak proper English.
I got transferred to a «supervisor» and she was a complete moron who i had to explain myself 3 times to in order to get her to understand what my issue was. Then after all that she did nothing to resolve the problem. She not only sounded 12 years old… she also had roughly the same English vocabulary as someone that age.
This wasn’t the case in the past. Usually I got someone who was a native English speaker and they’d actually try and help you resolve issues instead of just finding ways to avoid helping you. Now I’m getting the same incompetent people that non paying account holders have been dealing with. They must having major financial problems to outsource ALL their customer service overseas, and then charge you money under the illusion you’re going to get real help. What USA based financial institution does that??? I’ve never dealt with a bank that somewhere a long the chain of command you can’t actually get someone not in a call center in the Phillipines or India.
What a joke. Don’t park a dime with these people.

This bank institution has rejected our address for unknown reason and due to this my child has not received his funds since October. The school and this bank has gotten into a pointing fingers at each other game to keep the funds and make interest from it. This is ridiculous! i can not believe this is allowed.

«All For You»? I think the slogan should be «All For Us.»
Terrible services ESPECIALLY for college students. They have the most ridiculous fees. So I am just canceling my card and having MY financial aid money (not theirs since they seem to act like I’m borrowing money from them) transferred to my personal bank account with Chase where they don’t charge 50 cents for every time you use their card.
I was forced into their program because my school uses them. My first class is almost over with and I JUST received my card that was suppose to be here a month ago. I called them to see where my card was since their tracking services didn’t work and all they did was tell me to contact my school. So I contact my school and they tell me to contact Higher One since the school does nothing but send my information over. This was on-​going for WEEKS.

There’s a reason why this Facebook Page exists (
). Higher One is the absolute epitome of a blood sucking corporation and it will take millions of us to stop this machine. The fees are absurd – $ 38 for an overdraft fee? Moreover, I’m an employee at a Community College and their now implementing Higher One as a direct deposit choice if you don’t have a bank – so that means more $ for Higher One.
People, wake up! We need to put an end to this institution. They’re unethical if not criminal!

Can I give negative star? Or at least none? I don’t understand why my school have business with these people. They’re horrible. It’s been a month since school started, they gave me two cards, I called in which one do I use and what should I do. They deactivated one, and said use the other one, either way I try putting in my info. Apparently my info (Social, email, and address was incorrect) of course I called in for service, about 30 min wait and they said it matches but apparently it was Google chrome fault, try Firefox, they all the browsers. I called again because I used a different computer and followed instructions after 10 mins speaking with the customer service. I told him my situation and he said the browsers shouldn’t be an issue and they would do their best to resolve the issue.
BASICALLY. Customer service do their best to avoid assisting, you have to wait for a long time for service.
You shouldn’t consider anything with these people.

I filed a report with the BBB and called for two days straight. This is the worst experience I have ever had dealing with my financial aid. I’m sure they are getting interest on the money and the longer they hold it, the more they make. Unfortunately I am paying interest to have this money. It’s just another way to screw over a college student.

Worst experience ever. My son still hasn’t received his financial aid, and the ongoing delay (well over 2 weeks) is hurting us. We cannot meet our obligations on time, thus costing us more money in the long run. If I didn’t have a credit card, he would have to drop out of school. This sort of financial problem, coupled with reckless customer service, is a big issue for someone who just turned 18. HO’s FB page on dispersement says they will contact you if there is a problem, but when my son asked why they didn’t contact him when unable to verify his ID, he was told that it was HIS responsibility to call them. That is ridiculous. He talked to the school about the problem, they told him to contact Higher One. He talked to Higher One, again, this morning. After all the calls he’s made, now they say the school hasn’t dispersed the money yet!!! I don’t believe it. It was scheduled to be dispersed September 3. That was over 2 weeks ago! It would be so helpful to know when money is coming for those families who are already hurting but need to go deeper to support their student indefinitely until money comes. Higher One should not be in business with higher education.
Here’s their FB page on dispersement:

When i was in college of NJ, they just sent the refund in checks. all i need to do is deposit the check to my account. SIMPLE AND EASY.
After i transfer to current college in FL, they sent me the higher one debit card, and put my refund in there. Every month they charge me monthly fee, When i use the card they charged me $ 0.50 every transaction, i asked the cashier to put it as «credit». so i don’t have to enter the PIN to avoid the $ 0.50 transaction, but it automatically goes to «Debit». It really dont make sense, I felt like SCAM. Why don’t the college send me refund in check to save all the complications!

Until 10 days ago, I was more or less indifferent toward Higher One. The last 10 days have changed my opinion of this company for the absolute worst and permanently.
Last January, I got my refund deposited to my HO account and was able to wire it to my «real» bank without any issue. Fast forward to last week, when I tried to do the exact same wire to the exact same «real» bank. I now get an error that states the routing number provided does not accept incoming wires. I contacted my «real» bank, where they assured me the routing number does, in fact, accept wires and that there is no separate routing number for incoming wires (as the HO customer «service» rep advised me to find out). The gentleman I spoke with assured me he’d create a ticket to look in to why I am unable to wire funds to my «real» bank, when I was able to do so last semester without issue.
When I followed up a week later (Tuesday ⁹⁄₈) I spoke to a «supervisor» who informed me no ticket was ever created. She proceeded to create the ticket and sent me an email confirming this. I called back again today (Thursday ⁹⁄₁₀) and was informed by a different «supervisor» that the ticket was created, but their «banking department» had replied to the ticket asking for the routing number in question before they could proceed. Apparently, the lady I spoke with on ⁹⁄₈ failed/​neglected to/didn’t feel like entering the routing number in the ticket, which is asinine, since the whole problem has to do with HO claiming the routing number doesn’t accept wires. Nobody called or contacted me to let me know they needed the routing number, and if not for me calling again today, I would not have ever known this information was needed.
In the meantime, I ordered a new card (on Tuesday ⁹⁄₁) because the card I had broke. Yes, the plastic is so cheap the card snapped in half. I had a separate HO customer «service» rep assure me the new card would be delivered in 3 – 5 days. It is now Thursday ⁹⁄₁₀ and I still do not have the new card. I checked my settings in the HO web site and the email confirming the new card getting sent and my address is correct. The «supervisor» I spoke with flat-​out told me there is nothing she could do about either the wire issue or the card not being delivered.
As it stands, HO is holding my money hostage and seems the least bit interested in letting me have access to it. This company is, at best, grossly negligent, incompetent, and a financial leech to students. At worst, this has to be criminal. I will be filing a complaint with the FDIC if this garbage isn’t sorted out by tomorrow.

This is a SCAM! it is very hard to get your money out of a higher one account. my daughter tried to use online bill pay to have a paper check sent to me to reimburse me for her college courses. guess what? no check! her account is zero and we are both out over $ 1600.00!
PARENT & STUDENT WARNING: DO NOT USE HIGHER ONE FOR RECEIVING FINANCIAL AID!!!

I’ve read many reviews about this financial institution that has integrated itself throughout campuses all across the United States, it’s ultimately a debit card that utilizes the federal aid refunds as a prepaid credit card with absurd fees. This institution is seeking to maximize profit by tapping into student federal refunds, likewise I recommend that you set up a direct deposit to a bank account on the HigherOne website instead of having a criminal financial institution take your money without regard for your financial well-​being. (As if college isn’t already stressful enough!) This is a classic example of higher education becoming more of a business than a platform for educating and HigherOne is definitely involved in sharing the profits with those same colleges. Check out the following article if you’d like to learn more.

Getting a simple question answered can take at least fifteen minutes. I once called to get a hold released and it LITERALLY took 4 hours. No exaggeration. I dropped my son off at school and by the time I got off the phone with them I was picking him up. Currently, for no reason at all, they have double debited my card. The first representative doesn’t know why so I have been on the phone for 11min 53, 54, 55 seconds waiting on a supervisor to answer the call, and answer what should be a very simple question.
ETA 30 minutes and my issue wasn’t resolved.

Higher One just lost a class action suit for charging students and customers excessive fee.
I rest my case.

Working with Higher One to get my college refund has been a complete nightmare.
I have been sent two checks, neither or which arrived, and been sent 3 «debit cards» so that I can open an account THAT I DON’T EVEN WANT TO OPEN. Then, when I’m able to open the account that I was FORCED to open, I will have to pay a $ 25 wiring fee to get it into my Wells Fargo account.
Because I have had so many problems trying to get things mailed to me, and they refuse to mail it to the school so I can just pick it up there, I have had to try several addresses. Every time I try a different address, I have to go to the university’s website, print out an address change form, scan it, send it back, and then wait for the university to update my address with Higher One.
When I called Higher One asking about my check and why there’s so many problems getting it to me, the customer service agent– Tamika — kept telling me to call the post office and confirm my address. I kept insisting to her that I was looking at my apartment’s lease & receive mail there daily from every other person I’ve given my address to, so I’m pretty confident my address is correct. Her response to that was that she recommends I call the post office and confirm my address. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU DEAF? This was a supervisor, too. Luckily the manager, Teresa, is competent and has actually been helpful. She might be the singular bright spot in the entire company.
I’m sure Higher One is loving all the time it is taking to get me my money since they clearly love making the interest off their money on hand (which is why they make you wait the maximum time before issuing checks). Meanwhile, I’m PAYING interest on my credit card balance waiting for you to do what should be a fairly simple task. But, if you efficiently mail out the checks, I guess you’ll make less money off my money, so, there really is no incentive for you all to fix your inefficient, backwards and antiquated processes is there?
I wish I could give you 0 stars. Better yet, I pray that you get sued for unethical practices so I can laugh at you and let out a vindicated «Serves them right.»
IF YOU CAN AVOID THEM, DO IT.
Thanks.