Consumer complaint received 2023-09-11
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from Synchrony Bank- a bank I do business with. The representative asked my security question to verify my identity, and I said that I would not answer, and would call the bank directly myself. When I did so ( within 5 minutes of the call ) I was told that the call was legitimate, and they wanted to know if I added an external XXXX XXXX account to my Synchrony acct- which I absolutely did not. They then asked if I also attached a Green Dot bank external account- again, I absolutely did not. I was told that TWO transfers, each in the amount of {$30000.00} were made from my account- one on XX/XX/XXXX ( the day of the call I received ) and another on XXXX XXXX for a total of {$60000.00}. I was initially told the XX/XX/XXXX transfer could not be stopped, but it was. HOWEVER, the XX/XX/XXXX transfer could not be stopped. 

I have not, for many years, made withdrawals from this account. I have XXXX account attached to it, from XXXX XXXX XXXX  Bank. Each month for many years, I make a monthly deposit of {$200.00} to keep the account active. Each month, for years, I would receive an email from Synchrony Bank, informing me when my {$200.00} transaction was initiated, and when it was finalized. I received NO NOTIFICATION when not only a new external account was attached to my Synchrony account, but when transfers of {$30000.00} were made. How, in this time when fraud is rampant, does this happen? WHY was I not notified? 

As per Synchrony, I filled out and submitted affidavits of dispute of these transfers, and sent them via XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and they were received on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Since that time, I have had only one phone call from them, to confirm that the XX/XX/XXXX transaction had indeed been canceled but not the one for XX/XX/XXXX. The representatives I speak to have told me XXXX different things : that the investigation would take XXXX business days ; that the date to resolve this issue was XX/XX/XXXX ; and that there IS NO TIME FRAME. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into my Synchrony account to find that a provisional credit was issued. In my notifications section, there was a document stating as such ; it also said that if it turns out there was no fraud, they would take the money back. 

Please note that I received NO phone call regarding this provisional credit ; if I didnt log in to my account ( and have been daily ), I wouldnt have been aware of this until I received the same document by XXXX mail a week later. 

I called again on XXXX, and again, received no concrete information regarding when this investigation would be completed. I do not feel that the bank is doing anything to expedite this matter and return my money. I have given them the opportunity to rectify this, but each time I call, it is clear there is no sense of urgency to resolve this. 

I have a log of each time I have spoken to them, the time of my phone calls, and the duration of each call. I am a retired woman on a fixed income, and because of this issue, my account is restricted. Filing a complaint is clearly the only way to get this resolved.

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