Consumer complaint received 2023-07-07
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: MO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023 I initiated an electronic transfer of {$12000.00}, from my Joint Synchrony High Yield Savings account, where I am the primary owner of the account, and my wife is the secondary owner. The destination account for the transfer is also a XXXX XXXX account owned by me and my wife at XXXX Bank ( a.k.a. XXXX ), where I am also the primary owner, and my wife is the secondary owner. 

These XXXX accounts had been recently linked to enable electronic transfers, following the the Synchrony Bank process, which involves the typical XXXX small test-deposit verification process. This means that the ownership and exact information of the XXXX savings account had already been verified by Synchrony. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from Synchrony Bank with the subject line : ALERT : Your transfer # XXXX did not complete, and the email went on to explain that : a ) the transfer amount could not be deposited, b ) that the funds would be returned to the Synchrony Savings account within XXXX days, and c ) that if I required information about the issue I should call the customer service number provided in the email. 

I did call, of course, and the Synchrony agent on the phone informed me that there was a mismatch in the ownership of the receiving account, meaning that the ownership of the XXXX XXXX account receiving the funds did not match the ownership of the Synchrony account where the funds were being transferred from. I was completely baffled by this and tried my best to explain that this was not possible since both my wife and I were owners of both accounts, and furthermore, with exactly the same ownership structure ( me as primary and my wife as co-owner ). 

When I started asking the agent whether they needed anything from me to demonstrate that there was no mismatch in the accounts ownership, the agent interrupted me to tell me that the real issue was that he could see that there were several logins in the past XXXX weeks from geographies other than my home state ( Missouri ). Then, as I was beginning to clarify that, indeed, I had been traveling abroad the last XXXX weeks, so the logins were mine, the banker again interrupted me to inform me that, at that very moment a decision had been made to close my account because of suspicious activity. He also told me that our other joint account with Synchrony, a money market account, would also be closed. 

I was shocked! I asked the agent for information on a recourse, and he said I had none. I asked the agent what to expect ; what would happen next? 

The answer was that, after the funds of the failed transfer reappeared back in the XXXX Synchrony savings account, both the savings and money market accounts would be immediately closed. When closed, I would have no more access to them on the app or website, and the complete balance would be transferred out of Synchrony, and back to the bank accounts where they originated from, before they were deposited to Synchrony. He also said that the process would take XXXX to XXXX working days. At that point I was still shocked but happy to hear that my funds would be returned to me within a week. The total balance in or Synchrony joint savings account is {$12000.00}, and in our Synchrony joint money market account is only {$10.00}. 

The failed transfer funds reappeared in the Synchrony savings account almost immediately on XX/XX/XXXX, however, none of the other steps I was informed about occurred. The accounts were not closed, I continued to have online access to them via the app and website. The only apparent difference was that a restricted account flag appeared underneath both of them in the app dashboard, and of course no withdrawals or transfers were enabled. The funds were not being returned to their originating accounts. 

To understand this inconsistency, I called again Synchrony Bank customer service on XX/XX/XXXX to ask about the status of the account and when could I expect to see my funds returned to me. 

The new agent gave me a different answer than the previous representative. She indicated that our Synchrony accounts were not closed, but rather, under investigation. The reason for the investigation was the failed transfer, nothing about the international log ins. She also said the funds were locked in the account until the investigation was concluded, quickly indicating that there is no time limit so the investigation could go on indefinitely. She also told me that she could not give me any more information because the case was being looked at in the back office. I asked about any recourse to either clarify the situation or get access to our funds, but she said I had none. 

So, the bottom line is that Synchrony Bank frozeour joint savings and money markets accounts, seized the funds deposited in those accounts ( currently {$12000.00} and {$10.00}, respectively ). In my attempts to get an explanation and path for resolution I was given conflicting reasons for the issue ( first the failed transfer, then long ins I made while traveling, then the failed transfer again ). I was also given conflicting information on the status of the accounts ( first they were to be closed and later under investigation or restricted until further notice ). 

To date, Synchrony Bank has not reached out to me, via any means, either to request documentation about ownership of the accounts involved, my travel documents, or any other information they XXXX need to quickly resolve their investigation. I am not seeking that my Synchrony accounts be reinstated. Frankly, I dont want to continue being a client. What I want is to recover my money, and that if the bank needs information, that they reach out to ask for it.

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