Applied for a CIBC Mastercard and was approved instantly. Was waiting on the email they said they'd send and never got it.

I call them today (at the request of a new email), and they said that my application was in fact NOT approved (despite getting a credit limit and all the stuff on their site), and that they needed to verify my identity (something they should've done in the first place since I have a fraud alert).

Usually with AMEX you call them and they do an indeitity check on the spot. CIBC wants me to wait till they call me back, despite it showing they've failed to call me multiple times.

Absolute disaster and I can see nothing has changed with Canada's crappiest bank. I know there are other Mastercards, but this one is the best no fee one other than the Roger’s Bank card I am trying to replace.

I get all the banks are same old same old, but partnering like AMEX like they used to would be infinitely better.

EDIT: Okay, so it seems like their explanation is that CIBC initially only pulled from Equifax (which does not have a fraud alert) which lead me to its initial approval. Then, after the fact, they decided to do Transunion which does have a fraud alert, and decided to hold my application. Problem is, they aren't calling me back to confirm my identity, despite insisting they have done so 4 times. They also can't transfer me to the person responsible when I call them.