Consumer complaint received 2021-01-11
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
Citi is the same company that issues Visa for Costco. 
I have their Visa Card I also have a high yield savings and a checking account at Citi Bank. 

XX/XX/XXXX I had called Citi Visa because I could not log in to pay my bill ( they always send me an email that the bill is due ). Was on line with them for 45+ minutes. Finally they said I must change my password. I did and then was able to log in to my account. ( had not had problems before to log in for this account ) .They could not tell me why it necessary to change my password. 

First Call to Citi re Banking Account XX/XX/XXXX Could not log into account. ID and password error message was that my info not match their records ; Had to talk to several different people. I kept getting message in red letters that they having trouble and check back later. This went on for several days. When I mentioned this message to customer service they insisted they were not having problem with their system/programs. The call was disconnected. Nothing settled. 

Second Call to Citi ( about 3 weeks later-it takes a long time on the phone with these people ) ( XX/XX/XXXX ) ID and password info not match their records ; Click on ID or password ; tried to reset password ; could not reset A different person said I had to use my debit card to get into my account I have NEVER used a debit card in my life and do not remember them giving me one when opening account. If they did, I would have torn it up and put it in the trash. Dont use them, ever. And I was never before told I had to use it to get into my account. Before I could always log in with ID and password. Then they decided my debit card had expired and they would send me new one, meaning I had to wait several weeks to get a new card before I would have access to my monies. They asked for pin ; I never used a pin, I have all the info they need to identify myself so I could have access but nothing satisfied them. This is not right, nor is it legal that I can not have access to my account and ALL my monies.. 

Third call to Citi Still not have access with my ID and password Still could not change my password to gain entrance Had to enter my new debit card # Enter last 4 of social Not match Enter checking acct # No access Spoke to their IT guy and he could not do anything On phone with 3 different people for an hour Supervisor said they sent a code to me twice to get into my account or so they said ; I never received a code from them. He said my records not match theirs ; he said he was calling my cell phone provider to confirm that my phone # belongs to me and I must wait 15 days to hear from cell phone provider for confirmation, then I can access my account. 

Next call to Citi ( XX/XX/XXXX ) Call to transfer monies. Told automated system wanted to transfer monies. I was put on hold for almost 17 minutes and then I hung up. It was evident they were not going to help me. Actually I just wanted to know how to use the Debit card in hopes I could get my money through the card. 

Next call to Citi ( first week of XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX first try to change password in XXXX " Account Access Locked The information you entered does not match our records. For your protection, we may limit multiple attempts during a 24-hour period. Get help unlocking your account access by selecting the Live Chat button. If you continue to have issues, please call our Technical Support Department at XXXX ( TTY : XXXX ) or XXXX collect from overseas for assistance. '' Finally got to speak to someone and asked how I use the debit card to access my money since I never used one. Was told to take it to any ATM machine and get monies. So I go to my XXXX XXXX  and give teller the debit card. He tried to deposit $ XXXX into my XXXX personal account. It was denied ; he tried again ; denied again ; he then tried to deposit just {$10000.00} as he said some times they will let you take out a little instead of blocking everything. Could not even withdraw {$10000.00}. 

I call Citi again and they insisted my monies is not locked but could not explain why I could not withdraw it. Then Im told I must sign a waiver before I can get the monies. She could not tell me who the waiver is for and why it necessary. Then she said they not want me walking around with cash and they want me safe. To which I explained it is my monies and I will well do with it as I please and it is none of their business what I do with it. She kept saying I need a waiver. 

Next attempt w/Citi Before I knew XXXX had blocked the deposit of {$20000.00} again,, I moved the other monies into the checking account and wrote a $ XXXX check to deposit at XXXX in my personal account. And I moved the {$20000.00} from XXXX to a different bank for better interest rate. Now it is blocked again. There may be fees for this by the new bank. 

Thursday morning XX/XX/XXXX Get balance summary every morning from XXXX. The {$20000.00} deposit was locked by Citi. Called Citi and they said it not locked. Needless to say we argued then he said it is probably because my checking account was never activated since I had not written checks from the account. I did write a check to my church in early XXXX. So he has no dispute now. He said he check on it and get it taken care of. After a wait he said the monies are available and I can write another check for that amount and it will not be blocked. I told him I not trust him because they have repeatedly tried to block me and if my monies are not released immediately I will sue them because their actions are illegal. He promised funds be available in 2-3 hours because that is how long it takes. I went back to XXXX and wrote another check for the remainder of funds ( which I had transferred day before to the checking account so I could move the monies out like that. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received my Account Summary from XXXX. Citi has again blocked/frozen all my monies. 

Please help. I need all my monies now. I can not even log into my account-still. 


I also have 3 recordings of my conversations with Citi Bank confirming the information I have posted here ; they are just too large to send. If you can advise me of another way to send them to you I will.

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 explanation