Fidelity Investments
reviews and complaints

I have been unable to use this app as I cannot get past the log-in stage.

An error occurs every time I attempt to log in.

Message displayed:
"We're sorry. There was a technical problem. Please close NetBenefits and try again in a few minutes."

I am very surprised that this App is in the state it's in.
First, a big organization like Fidelity should have a decent dev and test team to support their mobile customers.
Second, it looks like they just had just released an update to this App just days prior to my downloading it. I also saw that users report this same issue on the previous version as well.

I am happy to adjust my rating once the issue is fixed and I can actually use the app.

I logged in to the app, and was presented with a button to enroll in benefits. When I press the button, it tells me the system is unavailable and gives me a number to call. I call the number and it asks me to enter my password, which has letters of mixed case and numbers over the phone. It is very hard to get past this system to a real live human, but after multiple attempts, I finally do. I was told that I wasn’t yet eligible to enroll, as I had to wait a month after my start of employment.

If I am not yet eligible, why have a prominently displayed button asking me to enroll, and then, rather than explaining why I can’t enroll, why state that the system is unavailable?

This is exactly the sort of bad app that wastes people’s time and drives people crazy.

I’ve had the same experience as several other people who have left reviews: I’m unable to upload my rollover check, because the app won’t allow me to enter the amount of the check. I’m new to Fidelity, had zero problems with my previous administrator. I called yesterday to complete this simple process, and was routed to four people. Three had no specific knowledge of the process and all four told me to use the app. I’d give the app zero stars if I could. It’s clear by looking at reviews that this is a persistent problem over the course of years. Fidelity is a huge institution, entrusted with enormous sums of money. There’s absolutely no reason a simple issue like this should persist. It’s stressful and a hassle. If I could take my business elsewhere, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

This app has been great; I have no formal complaints; I am an Amazon career professional and I keep a significant percentage of my retirement lot—con buen aproveche— with the Amazon employee retirement schedule; originally, I used the Fidelity Spire app; however I don’t utilize fidelity for my brokerage transactions; something went SNAFU around my fifth or sixth month into using the Spire app and I switched to Net Benefits which executes my retirement behavior(s) perfectly; that is to say it resembles a retirement collection and holding rather than a speculative advertisement for wagering; deposits are automated and on time; they are also accurate and the app does an excellent job of recording “back dating” events, late credits, interest credits and bonus credits as well as other more complicated occurrences.

I tried to complete a rollover with this app but even after multiple tries could not get one of my check images to work though the app.

Nothing on the app indicated this was the issue. Only an hour long phone call located the problem. I retook the pics using the app, looked them over they seemed clear & complete & sent them again.
The app. showed the check was being processed & would complete in a business day. Next day same thing finally called again & was told image was problem again. No notifications at any time about the problem. I asked to speak to a supervisor about the issue, I was connected with a person named Kirk who seemed be more interested in implying I was at fault than assisting.

As I seem to be able to deposit checks electronically through various banks, I have to believe both the app and the lack of customer support from Fidelity are a problem.
I will not complete the rollover with this company and place my funds elsewhere.

Let me preface this review by saying, in my 10+ years of owning an iPhone I have not once written a review of an app.. this one drove me to it.

Fidelity forces you to download the app to securely rollover 401K funds. Ok, fine, I can get onboard with that. The download/install process was about the only good thing about the app.

The “take an image of check” function is a fun game of hit or miss - with about a 97% success rate of receiving a large blue pop up that is literally blank and offers no indication why the perfectly crystal clear image, taken with the industry leading camera on the iPhone 11, is not acceptable.

After several attempts, in different rooms, with different lighting, and even once by candlelight while burning incense to attract good spirits, the images were finally accepted. Amen, I said to myself as I closed the app with a feeling of accomplishment.. only to have my hopes and dreams crushed two hours later when I received a notification that said image were not acceptable.

Throw your app in the garbage.

I was very excited when I saw this app was available for my 401(k) since I use my mobile device extensively. I thought the low rankings were a fluke. However, users hold a very high expectation of how apps perform. Overall the app has a very polished look. The pie charts, monthly/quarterly performance, and investment allocations all look very sharp. Unfortunately that is where it ceases to shine.

There are some basic user interface items that are counter-intuitive. On the page for one's retirement account you can swipe left and right through Investments, allocation, and vested balance -- however the "back" arrow takes you back through each of these swipes instead of to the previous menu level as expected.

There is often a second or two in delay without a corresponding "swirling circle" at the top of the screen to indicate the app is doing something. This also occurs when logging in. It has a halting, jerky feel. The scroll function is equally jerky -- almost like the original iOS. It isn't the smooth scroll that follows your finger's every move that you've come to expect from the last several iOS iterations.

Finally the app has a timeout issue. You'll be going along and suddenly it will pause, go to the green "loading" screen, and prompt you for your username and password again. Likewise after a little bit of inactivity it alerts you that you are being logged out -- yet I was able to navigate through 3 separate screens before being dumped to the login page.

If you're someone who just checks in on your 401k every few months, I guess you could say this app does exactly what you need it to. For me personally, I started really taking control of my money last year, and I watch it almost daily. That brings me to the single biggest annoyance I have with this app, which is having to agree to the EULA every. single. time. I. login. Why, God, why? If it hasn't changed since the last time I agreed to it (yesterday), what is the purpose of making me agree to it over and over? I've never seen any entity more paranoid about their daggone license agreement in my life, and I used to have access to California DMV records. They only made me agree not to misuse my access *annually*. I don't have access to anything here but my own money, so what's with overdoing the lawyer stuff?

But I digress. The other complaint, and I suppose it's minor to most people, is that I have to wait until the next day to see how my investments did. Shouldn't that be available shortly after the market closes? I understand that it's not intended to be a realtime brokerage app, but my other stock apps don't allow me to automatically calculate my 401k funds as part of my overall portfolio. Maybe I just haven't found the right one yet.

I have some other general complaints about Fidelity, but those have nothing to do with the app, so I won't go into them here.

Anyway, the bottom line is that if you're not as fanatical as I am, this app does a decent job of showing the performance of your 401k over time, and letting you make basic changes when needed. It's just not for the active investor.

In the app there is not one place to click on to see all of the investment options available to me and their performance history. In order to see this , I have to click on change investments then say which investment I want to change to then I see the list. Well I may not want to change . Can’t you just have a link to click on to see how all the various finds and stocks are performing and see if there is something I may want to change to. I think this is purposely being withheld so we have to hire one of your managers. It shouldn’t be.

Apparently 3.7.2 is the only supported version my ipad can use.
Since I can't run the app without getting an error , my choice is to buy a new ipad or quit using the app. Hello website.

I have version 3.7.2 on my ipad. When i tried to open it today , I get a message that this version is no longer supported , with a button to upgrade. The button takes you to the app store , but theres no way to upgrade ... all you can do is open the app from the app store.
Basically the app is now useless. Hopefully iget some feedback here before the app.

This app is broken, and you can’t find a way to report it or get someone to fix it.
I have tried this on multiple devices and even logged in through a couple of browsers.
It doesn’t allow me to access my account or make any moves with my money- SOMEONE NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THE FRAUD BEING COMMITTED HERE!
The options are available, but the controls are broken. Soon enough the’ll probably do an update again to clear the honest negative reviews.
If you want access to or control over your money, you’ll probably be better off going with someone else.

Fidelity, your recent update to the iPad version of your app is a disaster for anyone who trades. Most people use their iPads in landscape mode, sometimes attached to a physical keyboard. Now, when you start to enter a trade, the screen automatically moves from landscape to portrait, and there is no way I can figure out to prevent that. To see what I’m typing I have to turn the iPad over onto its side, keyboard and all. Also, there are now far too many screens to scroll through just to enter a trade. Very poor update from an ergonomic perspective.

Why don’t you hire some of the app developers from Chase? When I try to do a mobile deposit with their app it works the first time every time. With this app I try to deposit a check and even when I prop my iPhone 8+ on a box to hold it steady and use a 5000 lumen light it takes 50-60 attempts of being told to hold the camera steady and put it in a well lit area. How much more steady can it be than resting on an immobile object?!?!? How much more light do you need than 5000 lumens from 6 inches away?!? Whoever built this app should be fired!

The app gets the job done but it’s glitchy and hard to use. Navigation is confusing and when I Dismiss a view the entire screen blanks to white. Touch response is very slow too. On one tab view I’m completely unable to scroll down to take action on any of my accounts it just seems frozen. It’s better than the website but Its still hard to use. But it’s a finance app they’re all like this! except for Robinhood. It’d be cool to see this app redone as a true iPhone app, it just doesn’t make sense to do it the way they do it if a big swath isn’t functional

It says the app is up to date but for a few weeks now it glitches out on the login screen. It doesn’t remember my username, loads when trying to login then the app auto loads back to the main login screen without my username saved? I then have to force close the app completely and open again, only for it to work then and login like normal. It seems that the other try’s will work if you get the black logo page first before it takes you to login screen, super annoying and needs to be fixed/updated. Thank you. Anyone else having this same problem? I’m sure they are.

What happened to the “Rate of Return” screens? They are no longer there! I frequently (daily) would go to that screen to check current value & performance of my retirement savings plan. This would also let me see the performance of all other investment choices within the plan when I click on “Investment Performance & Research”. All of it is gone! Now all I see on Rate of Return screen are percentages! No corresponding dollar figures, just percentages. No links to see anything more than that. Also the option of “Investment Performance & Research” is no longer there.

I gave it an extra star because it does have the thumbprint login now, which is a big improvement and timesaver.
However once you're on the site you can't get the information you most want. The market falls or shoots up today and so you go in and check out what's going on with your investments, but all you get is gains/losses for one month, one quarter, or one year.
I spent about 15 minutes scouring the site to find the information I wanted and forget it, it's just not there. I had to get online and go to the regular website to find it. Really really annoying. and useless.

On iPhone X with iOS 12 you cannot change password when previous password expires. Password change screen has 3 password entry fields- 1st is the entry for the expired password ( no issues entering ), 2nd is first entry of NEW password, no issues entering, but for 3rd entry field, which is the new password entry confirmation, you cannot get the text entry to “activate” for the field, thus preventing password confirmation.

Makes using any password manager app more difficult. Seems it’s just a UI issue that should be corrected but seems sloppy that it still isn’t.

Please fix!

I’m 27.
I’m a software engineer.
I understand technology; I even help create it.

I have $100k in student loan debt.

Take it from me. It shouldn’t be this hard to access my 401k. There’s no excuse for a company like Fidelity to have an app so horrendous. The app has caused me to get locked out of my account more often than I’ve been successfully in. Face ID is a joke. Fidelity is a joke.

Fix your app. Help out the little guy for God’s sake. You’re one of the biggest financial firms in the world and you can’t even produce a piece of software at the functional level of a CS 2000 student.

Downgraded from 2 to 1 star. Latest update and Face ID still not working.
I hope the can manage money better then they are in keeping their app working.
Just call Apple and they help you get Face ID working.
Pretty frustrating to have to login every time

Original review.
So, you have my money already and charge me every month quite some “fee” for “looking out for me” You would think they have a few bucks to pay a first year student to look why the faceID doesn’t work anymore? Or even better. Fidelity could ask Apple to help them. Apple is actually pretty good and helping developers get it right.

Don’t allow members to submit the option for a name change and then send them a letter a week later saying request couldn’t be processed as no instructions were given. I thought selecting name change for the document upload would be sufficient. No form was presented to be fillled out. If I was supposed to write on a piece of paper and say I wanted a name change…that seems really pathetic. It wasn’t noted and honestly what’s the point in selecting name change on the app? Ya I’m requesting a withdrawal hence why I selected name change. Don’t waste my time with simple things your app should be able to do. Waste of paper

I was forced to take this update on a compatible device. Launched it, signed in and it still is not loaded after spinning, spinning. Piece of UNTESTED code and shoved out the door by second rate techies. Nothing in Fidelity's consumer facing technical world works-- not its app, not its website. And phone service is also busy probably because many cannot use the website or this app reliably. Too bad because their financial products are fine. Hire some competent techies not bargain rate and you will have better customer tech support and this app will be better. And no one from Fidelity EVER reads these reviews. Why not Apple?

Several observations below.

Right off the bat - to use it agree to these terms but there is no way to save whatever is viewed (even when a URL is provided).

Upload docs:
- only take pics on the spot but can’t upload pics already saved on the phone, so go collect them all in one place before you can do it...
- no way to crop the pics once taken.
- you uploaded your docs but you can’t review them - just a count of how many docs you’re about to upload.

Somebody marked off a few requirements here without much of a usability check, which for a large co. is cheap or careless or both.

No description of how privacy is protected just assurances.

Why would Fidelity Investments let us open an account and give both me and my spouse cards to use the money and then tell my wife the money is to benefit me only? Where does it say in the handbook of rules that your Fidelity Investment Account can be closed or restricted if you have a joint account and the wife buys a candy bar for herself and they know this for a fact that it was not for me and restrict your account and asks for a guardianship in the place of your General Durable Power Of Attorney you already have had in place for years now? I am just curious to know what gives an investment company such a talent of knowing the funds being used are not for the benefit of just myself so they restrict the account?

Before Christmas I needed to sell some of my Mutual Funds. I was in need of an attorney and paying some bills. I am over 70 and I had made my wife the POA on my account. She rolled the Money Purchase account over into Fidelity as they had been the record keeper for the Union I worked for since around 2017, 2018. I did want to roll it back with Vanguard but had issues with that and found that it might be easier to just roll it over to Fidelity and it was very quick like minutes. Anyway before this they had my account frozen due to a divorce but when Fidelity became the record keeper of both retirement accounts they restricted the account after my wife and I sent the POA and asked for her to have full access. She was never able nor I to sign in online and we had to call to get balances. So, Oct. 2021 rolled money over to them and they restrict the account stating they were reviewing it. I called and they did not give me any reason for a month or more. Then they call my wife and tell her that they needed to speak to me. So she said that is why she had a POA and they said. Until they could talk with me the account would stay restricted.

She called them and I spoke to a gentleman and I explained to him that is why I have the General Durable POA, so she can handle it. I married my wife in 1994 and again in 2014 after being separated and divorced in 2006. I had a stroke and prostate cancer plus a hip replacement and I needed help as my ex wife I married in 2007 was taking everything.

She came and went to court for me and has gotten most of it back but it has been an uphill battle and I am just tired and want to be able to spend my money the way I want.

They called and told my wife that the money was not for her benefit but mine.

They felt she was using the money in the account to better herself and that was not what that money was for. They asked about 2 withdrawals for large amounts and she explained that I wanted and needed a vehicle and I paid for it in full. A work truck for $30,000 and a another for $69,000. This was my decision. She went and purchased them. I have now been told that I have to get a guardianship or conservator ship. I explained that my POA is in my family trust and I don't plan on changing that for a guardianship. I was told that I had to get a guardianship back in 2015 with the court and after showing the POA I was told that it precludes the Guardianship. When I gave that information to Fidelity they said "well I guess the account will have to stay restricted". Why? I have not been able to understand this at all. I am too old to be taught any lessons this late in life. I just want to enjoy what time I have left with my wife. I have lost a son and mother, father and stepfather, nephew, 4 aunts and this was all during Covid. Please can't someone help me? I don't have much left after my wife was given wrong advice. She opened a savings account and all the accounts have both our names on them. I would like to just add her to my accounts so she has full access. They never gave it to her and treated her like she was a thief. I can't stand the way they have treated her and would love to know what I can do to change this. They told her once on speaker phone I heard, You will never be able to sign in online or have access to this account ever. Nothing was ever done and he never said he was sorry either. I have no control of my accounts at this time. I have no idea what is being done as I can not sign in nor can my wife. When we call we are put on hold they the call is dropped. I have been told to email and write the CEO Abby. So this is what I am going to send her with my letter. I have read other stories about Fidelity taking their money. Can they really do that? I worked in the Ocean since I was 12 years old. I became a Chief on Tuna Sanitors out of San Diego then Merchant Marine since 1992. I have missed so much and just want to live the last few years with my wife without fighting someone over what little money I have left. My money was frozen April`2014 thru Oct 2021. And now again? I am going to lose my home next. Why are they doing this?

I called Fidelity Investments to do a simple operation, in order to pay my taxes properly and not have trouble with the IRS. Basically, I needed to cancel my ROTH IRA. I was on the phone for almost 3 hours with Fidelity, spent two days trying to get the simple operation done with NO success, and at the end they decided to ban my account indefinitely.

First, the phone representative told me I was speaking too slowly. She also said that in the past (over 8 months ago), a phone representative thought my voice was "too masculine". So she decided to block my account. I was transitioning and I explained to her that was why my voice could have sounded more masculine. I am also hispanic, English is not my mother language, and hence I speak slowly. I felt strange having to explain my sexuality and my race to a phone representative. But despite this, I focused on showing the phone representative that it was me. For this purpose:

(1) I responded correctly ALL the numerous security questions they requested; (2) I completed ALL their 2 factor authentications successfully;

(3) I left my job and went in person to the fidelity branch in my city to verify myself with my driver's license. In person they were able to verify it was me.

However, despite these numerous verifications they still REFUSED to unblock my account and allow me to do the transaction.

It was strange that despite doing everything right, they brought up again the problem with the previous phone representative, and they forced me to speak about my sexuality and my race. It was an incident that happened 8 months ago and I sent a complaint to the company about the phone representative as he was very rude to me.

I believe they are now retailing against me because I complained about how the former phone representative treated me (he was accusing me of being a man and I felt very uncomfortable with his questioning, despite my numerous efforts of showing him it was me. I also passed successfully all the verifications he requested).

Fidelity knows that blocking my account will cost me fees with the IRS and this is how they are getting back at me for complaining about them. The last thing that happened was that they decided to close my account and I still have NO access to my money.

Fidelity punishes anyone who is slightly different than what they expect. I just want my money. I don't care if you think my voice is too masculine or too slow, or if you hate trans people or hispanics and want to make life hard for them. Just give me my money.

Rolled over IRA account in or around October 2021. Durable Power Of Attorney was verified. Opened accounts and bought stocks for a period of 2 or 3 months. Always they verified me as the person who had Durable POA over my husbands accounts since 2014. Now they restrict the account stating that I commited fraud. They asked for the documents again even though they have them and now are telling me they have to veify me and review my application. It will take at least 7 days or more. This is not right and The account is losing money and who knows what they are doing. Can't do anything as the account has been blocked as well. They had a block on the account for years before this for no good reason. To get the funds rolled over was a headache and honestly I was not able to roll over to anyone but Fidelity. When I tried to roll over to Vangard it weould not let me. When I changed it to Fidelity it was done in minutes. I think that is very wrong. This was done because I wanted to move the money out of Fidelity. I lost $18,000.00 in a very short time period after being advised on what to buy.

now unable to change anything because of the block.

I am president of the DLSSF. I sent in paperwork to open an account. I was told they needed Articles of Inc and other paperwork. I had sent Article of Inc Amended. So, I had to get it from the State of IL. I mailed it back to their representative, Mr. Ryan Audet, Fidelity Investments, PO Boc 77001, Cincinnati, Ohio [protected]. Phone [protected] Ext 15629. It was mailed back on Feb 1, 2021. Today I called to see if the account was set up. Mr. Audet stated they never received the paperwork and blamed it on the PO. Well, today I got an envelope back from Fidelity returning the check and the Articles of Inc they requested. It was addresses to Mr. Audet. The letter stated they were unable to confirm the account. If they had read the letter, all would have been clear. If this were the first time I have encountered an inept mailroom. They shouldn't even open Mr. Audet's mail. Certainly, if he isn't going to see it, then why would he have me mail it to his attention. He already had to credit me with lost gain from previous checks sent for accounts that were open and findable. I think this mail department doesn't read anything, just sends back everything. Easy peasy!
I don't wish to scan and send this stuff online as I do not have good eyesight and can't usually do it without much hassle. They should be able to process things when they receive it by mail or call the customer. Don't just send it back. Give me a break! Obviously they don't have processors including who they are so there is no accountability. And, I also once waited 3 months to get my RMD money from screw up. I am now on hold for over an hour to try to phone them at 6:45 Pm 2/16/21. There is no easy way not to consume many hours of my time fixing these things.