Consumer complaint received 2018-09-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
Know Your Customer : We have been banking with Citi ( Citibank ) for 30 years. My wife and I maintain joint accounts. For the first 29 years we were treated well, never had any complaints, had had a mortgage from them, had a personal loan from them, and we've maintained 2 Citi credit cards. ( We are also Citi shareholders, reflecting our ( prior ) positive opinion. ) Starting XX/XX/XXXX, we started getting KYC questions for more information about our accounts. This we responded to and were told all was in order. We received additional requests over the next 12 months, each time asking basically the same questions, mainly : what is our source of income, and how did we finance our investments? 

Each time we are asked, we receive a threatening letter that if we fail to provide the information within a 3 week or so window, our accounts will be blocked. Let me repeat though, we get the requests for the same information each time. ( It should be noted, all this information can be reconstructed by reviewing our account history, details of which Citi has! ) We respond each time immediately and are told all is ok, and that if further information is required Citi will  contact us to request it. 

The latest request that has initiated this CFPB complaint, was dated XX/XX/XXXX. We responded accordingly on XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, and were told all would be ok. If Citi needed further information, they would immediately contact us. The threatening letter this time stated that if we failed to respond by XX/XX/XXXX, our accounts would be blocked and it could take up to 2 business days to have our accounts restored. 

Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX our accounts were " blocked ''. This means that we have zero access to our money in either our checking or savings accounts, and Citi prevents any incoming or outgoing payments to be made. We received NO forewarning, and in fact had not been informed of any problems since the XX/XX/XXXX telephone conversation. 

We immediately contacted Citi the morning of XX/XX/XXXX and were told more information was required which we again provided, both myself and my wife, the same as provided on XX/XX/XXXX. It should be noted that we had payments in and out due that day, and important bills to be paid over the coming 2 days. We were told the issue would be resolved as expeditiously as possible, but could take up to 3 or 4 business days, this despite their written policy of it taking 2 business days. 

We then followed up the next day, XX/XX/XXXX, as nothing had been corrected and we had already defaulted on a payment that should have been sent out on the XXXX, and would incur late fees each day on other payments that we should have made the next 2 days ( including one of our Citi credit cards ).  The payment we defaulted on was an investment purchase, so we additionally were missing out on investment income. We followed up each day for the next week, following as many routes as possible, but nothing changed, our accounts remained blocked. Citi told us each time our accounts would be fixed imminently, threated as 'priority ', and that Citi would let us know if further information was required. We received no request for further information. 

Today, XX/XX/XXXX, a week after this started, our accounts still blocked, we again called the KYC desk, and this time were told that no information had yet been processed. We again gave the same information as on XX/XX/XXXX and were told it could take another 3 or 4 business days. Without access to our money we had incurred a number of late fees, been unable to make any payments, and for our Citi credit card, are being charged a penal interest rate. 

We had concluded that Citi must regard us as a huge risk for whatever reason, and by doing so are putting our credit/FICO history in jeopardy. Plus, of course, Citi are generating fees for themselves. This is a case of complete incompetence or some kind of scam for fee income. No matter how many times we ask, we get no response as to why we are being treated this way. Citi 's customer service is non existent over the telephone, email, messages, etc., and unfortunately there are no Citi branches in the state where we live. 

We plan to go to our Citi branch where our account is maintained in XXXX today, an hour and a half journey each way, to see a manager and hopefully get something done.

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