Consumer complaint received 2022-03-11
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
I have had an account with XXXX in the US for decades. I opened an account with them because I also have a XXXX XXXX account, and I was able to move money from the US, where I am paid, to XXXX, where I live. My husband is a XXXX, working for the XXXX XXXX XXXX, and so we move around constantly. I earn money as an author and my publisher is in XXXX. 

All of this changed when XXXX XXXX decided - without my permission- to move my accounts ( both checking and savings ) to Citizens Bank. This change occurred XX/XX/XXXX. Because I have been traveling since XXXX, I never received the debit card or any information about my new account. So I have been stuck traveling with no access to my money. I rang XXXX XXXX in XXXX to ask when was the last day I could use my XXXX debit card, as I needed to know when it would stop working. They insisted they did not know the date it would stop working or when it would be sent to Citizens. I asked XXXX why they were moving my account ( I still have my XXXX XXXX account ) and they said they were only keeping their international customers. Well, I have been an international customer since I left the US in XXXX. The XXXX XXXX was unable to answer any of my questions. 

My husband finally received the Citizens letter in XXXX ( where we are currently posted ) and scanned and emailed the information to me in XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ). But when I tried to enroll in online banking so I could access my accounts and pay bills, the site refused to allow me to enroll without a US phone number. So I rang Citizens, was on hold for more than an hour, and then talked at length with two representatives who told me there is no way I can possibly access my online accounts. I was stunned. 

Citizens representatives, including a manager - who insisted he had no boss above him- just told me that I can not access any of my accounts online. These reps told me that I have to have a US phone number. I said I do not live in the US. ( I have a US chip that I use only when in the US, but I have lived outside of the US since XXXX, and thus almost never use a US number ). I need my three international numbers on my accounts so I can access them. The representative and manager refused to change my number on the bank 's system, saying it was impossible. They can not add an international number. The manager insisted it was impossible for me to access my own money, and seemed surprised that this caused serious problems for me. Neither of them gave me any solution to how I could access my money. I am panicked I am that I can no longer access my money. 

I have bills to pay. Today. XXXX XXXX  bills, credit card bills, and all manner of other bills. I need to preserve my credit rating. I need to access my accounts online. But I do not live in the US nor am I likely to ever live there again. 

I asked the manager of Citizens for an email address of someone I could write to who might have the power to come up with a solution. He said that the bank had no email addresses, at which point I lost it and said, " You're a bank. You email each other all day long. You can find me an email address. '' Finally he gave me the address for the Office of the Chairman. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a letter to the Office of the Chairman, outlining the problem and asking for solutions. It was answered by XXXX XXXX XXXX. Whose phone number is : XXXX. She said I could ring her. I don't have international calling on my mobile as I usually use XXXX so I asked if we could do that, or XXXX, or anything that is free. She didn't reply to that. Finally she wrote to me again and said that I needed to close my accounts at Citizens, because they can not have international clients. So I have rung a half dozen banks with international branches, and none of them would allow me to open an account from abroad, and none would allow me to transfer money for free between US and XXXX accounts, as XXXX did before they sold my account. So finally I opened a XXXX  account, because XXXX  allows me to transfer money from country to country for a low fee and in the various currencies I need. So I sent my XXXX  account information to XXXX XXXX and asked her to please transfer all of the money in my Citizens account into my XXXX account. I will sign whatever form she needs and get it back to her. 
She replied that she could not do this. She said I had to get a bank to officially request a debit from Citizens, which of course XXXX does not do. And I can't get a US bank to take me anyway. 
So Citizens is still holding my money XXXX - for a month now. I can not pay any bills. I have credit card payments that are now overdue and I am worried about my credit rating. I also am without money in XXXX, and unable to access the only money I have in the US. I need money for food, for my XXXX XXXX I am feeling quite desperate. And no one at Citizens will give me a solution that actually works. They have no understanding of my banking needs and I am furious I was forced into a domestic bank that is so ignorant of the rest of the world. Please, please help me access my money at Citizens. I have two accounts there, checking and savings. 


I fail to understand why XXXX would send its international clients to Citizens, a bank representatives inform me is only a domestic bank, incapable even of allowing customers with foreign phone numbers access their money. How could I have been sent to such a parochial bank? My XXXX account was linked to my XXXX XXXX account, and I was able to easily move money back and forth between countries. 


I would be so grateful for any help. You would only allow me to make a complaint against one of these banks, but I also please want to complain about XXXX XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation