Customers Frustrated By KeyBank Takeover Problems

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There's a new name in local banking, but KeyBank's takeover of First Niagara has hit a few snags.

Now, they are trying to calm complaints from customers caught in the transition.

Over the weekend, First Niagara banks made the switch to KeyBank.

For some, the transition was a smooth one.

"I went online and I switched my First Niagara and my laptop through my phone with ease. There are more choices here on the ATM, checks are free, everything was easy," Steve Lindenberg said.

However, some customers were unable to access their accounts online. Making matters worse, when they called for help, they weren't able to speak with a representative for hours.

"So, I didn't have access to cash from Friday until Tuesday and couldn't check my account balances online for that period," Jim Wagner said.

Wagner said he was told by a person at the KeyBank ATM branch in Imperial that it was due to the conversion.

Other local KeyBank users took to Twitter to voice their frustrations with the online login process. Kerry Anne tweeted that she was on hold for 15-plus minutes and was hung up on three times.

"It kind of snowballed. Somebody tries to login, they can't login, they call the call center and the call center volume built throughout the day where the wait times were more than usual," KeyBank's Pittsburgh Market President Todd Moules said.

Moules said the login process has since been streamlined and that the call volumes were down. As of late Tuesday, he said 98 percent of the people who had problems had been able to login.

This is the first time KeyBank has had operations in Pittsburgh. It's the city's seventh-largest bank.

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