Kroo users have taken to social media to complain about the delays and issues with depositing money.

Although a current account, Kroo upped the easy access savings rate to a market-leading 3.03% AER earlier this month. And after being recommended by Martin Lewis at MoneySavingExpert.com, it has been overwhelmed with demand.

Kroo claimed on Twitter that “a minority of applications require a manual review” and that this should take about a week – but some customers claim they have waited up to 13 days.

A Tweet from @KrooBank on 2 February, wrote: “We’re experiencing high demand for our current account. Most applications are automatically processed in minutes. Applications that need manual review, could take about a week. We’re working hard to reduce this time.”

Many customers have taken to Twitter to complain about the delays.

One tweeted on Tuesday: “So you are ignoring emails as well as live chat now, five days without a reply from customer support, absolute disgrace.”

Another tweeted: “Are you responding to messages via the app anymore? Used to be replied to, but it’s been five days now.”

Customers attempting to open an account are not told about the delays – potential customers are invited to scan a QR code to download the Kroo app where they can then click to open an account. However, Kroo admits to the delays in the FAQs on its website.

Martin Lewis mention sparks demand

Kroo launched in December, offering in an-credit interest rate of 2% on deposits up to £85,000 which beat all other retail bank offerings at the time. At launch, Kroo CEO Andrea De Gottardo claimed the bank is “raising the bar on banking relationships”.

Kroo upped the interest rate to 3.03% on 1 February, making it the highest easy-access rate. This move sparked huge demand for the account. It was featured in MoneySavingExpert’s Weekly Money Tips email as well as on The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV.

Some people who have been successful opening an account claim that cash deposits are not showing in their account.

One customer tweeted on 3 February: “Not liking this company…They have to approve cash deposits and it takes hours/days…In that time, your money is missing and cannot be accessed.”

In response @KrooBank tweeted: “We know that there’s been delays receiving payments into some accounts. Kroo is experiencing high volumes of payments requiring review and our team are working to complete these as quickly as possible. Rest assured, all approved payments will be credited to accounts when reviewed.”

Angela Wakelin, chief operating officer at Kroo, said: “We’re working to streamline our processes and manage the demand but are obligated to perform additional checks and balances for some applications and we appreciate people’s patience with this.

“The majority of applications are approved automatically (70%) and are processed in minutes with cards arriving within two to three days. Customers can use their virtual card in the meantime via Apple/Google pay and transfer funds into and out of the account immediately. 30% of applications require further checks, including those looking to deposit between £20,000 to £40,000 (depending on risk profile), and are taking a maximum of 10 days to process. These checks are now running smoothly.

“We have reduced checks on inbound transfers which was causing a delay but as of last week, we have automated this process and it is running smoothly but some amounts do require additional compliance checks.”

Kroo customers with queries should email help@kroo.com