Updated at 9:30am PT on 8/28/19: My 60,000 bonus miles posted today. Scroll down to the end of the post to see more details.
Good morning everyone. As part of my July App-O-Rama, I applied for and was instantly approved for the Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Credit Card, I even wrote a post about unboxing the new credit card. Everything looked good on my side, my credit card was activated and the $149 annual fee posted to my account (the only charge on my first statement). I paid the credit card and tried to make a few online purchases to complete the $1,000 minimum spend requirement, but my transactions kept getting declined (so embarrassing…). Uh oh, this didn’t sound good.
Even my $5.00 Amazon gift card balance reload transaction was declined. I decided to call the number on the back of my credit card to see what was going on.
The rep asked if I had the phone pin. I said no and the rep said that means the fraud / account protection team has locked my credit card. The rep said I would need to speak with that department to see what is going on with my credit card. Their phone number is 1-844-773-5116. The fraud / account protection team rep said my card was locked and I would need to provide identification verification documents. Here are the requirements:
- Send an email to iddocs@popular.com with my full name in the subject line
- Attach pictures of the front and back of my driver’s license
- Attach a recent utility bill (water, gas, electricity, cable, etc.) that has my name and address
The rep said that after the email is sent, I should call back in 2-3 business days to see if my card was unlocked. After a few days, I called back into the fraud / account protection team and asked for the status. The rep said that my scanned images of the front and back of my driver’s license would not work and that the fraud / account protection team is requesting photos of the front and back of my driver’s license instead. I don’t see what the difference is between a scanned copy and a photo of my driver’s license, but if that’s what they want, that is what I am going to give them.
I took pictures of the front and back of my driver’s license with my iPhone and emailed them to iddocs@popular.com. I waited a few more days and called back in. The rep said that my identification verification documents were approved and the unlock process had begun. “Unlock process?” I asked. Yes, the rep said, it takes 24 hours for your card to be fully unlocked. I thanked the rep and decided to wait 1 more day. I then did a small $5.00 Amazon gift card balance reload and the charge went through successfully. Woo hoo!
I have completed my $1,000 minimum spending requirement and am waiting for the sign up bonus miles to post to my Avianca LifeMiles account. If you have any questions about the Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Credit Card or identification verification process with Banco Popular (they are not very popular in my opinion), please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
On 8/28/19, my 60,000 bonus miles posted to my LifeMiles account.
Wow, what a pain. Thanks for sharing the story. I hope your sign-up bonus miles post without issue! ~Craig
I just checked my Banco Popular account and see that my newest credit card statement just posted. I see the 60,000 bonus LifeMiles listed. I checked my LifeMiles account but the miles haven’t posted yet, hopefully they do in 1-2 days.
I had to do the same verification as you but it’s all good now and never a problem popped up so far.
I’m sorry you had to go through that crazy verification process, but glad it all worked out for you.
I thought it was easy Grant. Just sent them a copy of my April bank statement and bam, got the card. 40K miles posted already and the additional 20K miles should post after spending the required $1000.
Your experience sounds different from mine. I was approved for the CC then they wanted identification verification documents afterward. Very strange. Why did they approve me in the first place if they needed to verify my identity.
Indeed different! They asked for proof at the end of the application process.
I signed up the card yesterday and got instantly approved with no problem. I also got the card number before the actual card arrives.
That’s great, congrats on the instant approval.