Consumer complaint received 2021-01-09
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
I enrolled the Citibank Account Package {$400.00} Checking and Savings Offer of Citibank N. A and the detail as below : " Open a new Checking account and Citi Savings account in Citibank Account Package between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 
Within 30 days after account opening, make a deposit of {$15000.00} or more in New-to-Citibank funds into the new eligible checking account or new eligible Citi Savings Account, and maintain a minimum balance of {$15000.00} for sixty ( 60 ) consecutive calendar days following the date when you made the {$15000.00} deposit.

The remaining balance requirement may be deposited into either the eligible Checking Account or eligible Citi Savings Account. '' I opened the checking and saving account on XXXX XXXX. And I transferred {$13000.00} to citi saving account by ACH transfer ( online transfer ) and {$1500.00} by XXXX payment to ciit checking account from my other banking account on XXXX XXXX. Then I transferred the {$1500.00} from citi checking to citi saving the same day which made the balance of {$15000.00}. 

I kept the balance at least {$15000.00} till XXXX XXXX, more than sixty ( 60 ) consecutive calendar days. 

I even double checked with the citi bank representative on phone call to make sure my balance met the balance requirement just after I made the deposit. And I was confirmed I've done things correctly. 

The program said {$400.00} rewards will be sent to me within 90 days after the 60 days of keeping minimum balance of {$15000.00}. XXXX XXXX was the 90th days and I still didn't get the {$400.00}. So I called the bank. They said they would investigate. 

On XXXX XXXX, I was advised " Unfortunately, your account does not qualify for this promotion because XXXX Credits are not considered a qualifying deposit. '' I studied on the promo program, no conditions on how the deposit made and I checked with the bank representative just when I made the deposit and was advised my balance meeting their requirement. But now they tells me that I am not qualified after 5 months when I opened the accounts. 

I am complaining about 1 ) XXXX credit is the real money that I transferred from my banking account in other banks. The money was deposited to the citi bank account and money is there. XXXX payment is just the alternative way of online transfer or check deposits. I see no reason why the XXXX credit doesn't account. If Inot, I should be alerted when I check with the bank representative on the phone call at the very beginning. Moreover, I transferred this amount ( XXXX ) from checking to saving account right away online which is an online transfer. In this sense, I made my saving account balance of {$15000.00} all by online transfers. Now matter what, the deposit is qualified. 
2 ) the {$400.00} rewards should be sent to me within 90 days after the 60 days requirements met according to the terms and conditions. First, per my understanding, the XXXX days should be the latest day to get the money automatically. But the bank did not. Second, they advised if the accounts are closed during the 90 days waiting for the rewards, I will not get the {$400.00} which means they force the consumer to keep the account open for another 90 days ; Third, during the 90 days, if I didn't keep the minimum of {$10000.00} in the account, I will be charged for a service fee every month. So this whole promo program seems a fraud to me : they forced you to keep {$15000.00} for 60 days and {$10000.00} for another 90 days to get {$400.00}. When you endure all this, they just told you you are not qualified.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief