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An Atlanta businesswoman has chosen to take legal action against Ameris Bank after she claims she was “racially profiled” by an employee who allegedly flagged and froze her account for no other reason than her skin color. The customer had visited one of their branches in Alpharetta last month and had met with the employee to get a replacement debit card for her longtime business account because the old card was no longer working.
However, as she sat there across from the employee, she noticed that the woman was looking up information about her business, something that didn’t make sense to her. “I’ve never had to come into a branch and get a debit card and someone had to look up my business on the Georgia Secretary of State or call and Google said business… It was the craziest thing, y’all. And I felt so, so crazy about it,” she said in her TikTok as she narrated her experience.
After several minutes, the employee eventually handed her a new debit card and she left the bank without checking to see if it worked. It was only on Thanksgiving Day that she realized that it didn’t, so she made plans to return to her own branch and let them know she couldn’t use the card.
Her Second Visit Raises Questions
When the woman returned to her primary Ameris branch the following week, she told the employees there what had happened in Alpharetta. However, according to her, after describing the steps the other employee had taken to issue her a new debit card, they immediately told her that it did not align with the bank’s standard procedures. She recalled the staff telling her, “No, that’s not protocol. We don’t look up people’s businesses on the Secretary of State.”
While the staff was checking her account records, they also found out that her account had been frozen and that the Alpharetta employee had placed what the bank calls an SOS flag on her account – a designation that blocks customers from receiving new debit cards and triggers an automatic freeze of their funds. The woman said she was shocked, and even the staff members seemed surprised to discover that the employee had taken such an extreme action against her, especially since she had not been depositing checks or performing any transactions that could have caused suspicion. Her account had been open for nearly 10 years, and she maintained regular automated payments without issue.
The Customer Believes She Was Racially Profiled
In her narration, the woman said she believed the Alpharetta employee had behaved that way because she is a Black woman with a high-balance business account. “I had a whole bunch of money in my account and I don’t think she could believe that it was my money legitimately or something,” she said.
Even though her branch quickly resolved the issue with her debit card, after learning the full extent of what happened, the woman is now pursuing the matter legally until the employee faces consequences. She also mentioned in her TikTok that she knew several people on the bank’s board and stated confidently that she intended to make sure the employee never had the opportunity to treat another customer that way again.
Netizens’ Reaction to the Ameris Bank Incident
In the comments section under the woman’s post, many people appeared shocked at the situation she described. One person asked, “What was her purpose for doing that? Why would she do that? That’s ridiculous!” Another wrote, “That’s blatant, bold. and an abuse of power [sic].” A third said, “She issued a new card so that you wouldn’t feel like it was her that was undermining you.” A fourth added, “As soon as you said your card didn’t work… I knew they froze it!! 🤬”
Some viewers encouraged her to proceed with her legal action. “Definitely sue. That’s absolutely ridiculous!” one wrote. Another advised her not to accept any apology, adding, “Send them a written request to preserve the video and then file a lawsuit against the bank and her!” Someone else recommended that she also “file a UDAAP complaint with the bank and with the CFPB.”
