Consumer complaint received 2020-02-11
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MD
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
My problem arises from 3 telephone payments I made on my Citibank AAdvantage Gold World Elite MasterCard Account, ( # XXXX ). In each case, Citibank mishandled my account information, misrouted my payments to incorrect bank accounts and falsely accused me of non-payment. Citibanks conduct was egregious and caused my considerable harm, my credit card was cancelled, I was subsequently denied credit, my credit score has been damaged and Ive been tremendously inconvenienced. 

By way of background, I'm a retired schoolteacher, living alone, and Im XXXX years old. I live on my pension and savings. I suffer from XXXX and Im physically handicapped. During the last five years, Ive had both XXXX   and one XXXX  XXXX. In XXXX, I collapsed when my XXXX   XXXX. It took me months to recover and I still have great difficulty XXXX. In XXXX, completing my grocery shopping and errands became too difficult for me, so I began purchasing groceries and household staples online with my Citibank credit card using the website XXXX. 

I have one credit card and one checking account. I've had my credit card since XXXX, though Citibank was not always the issuer. Its easier to pay by phone, so I provided Citibank with my bank account information to facilitate telephone payments and I called Citibank monthly to make my payment. I always pay my bills on time. 

As stated above, my problems with Citibank arose from the three transactions listed below : Payment 1, on XX/XX/XXXX : I called and paid {$2800.00} requesting that Citibank use my account on file, ( # XXXX ). Citibanks agent entered the wrong account information and routed my payment to an incorrect account. Because Citibank misdirected my payment to the wrong account, the payment was returned unpaid as No account/Unable to Process. My bank statement for the subject period is attached as Exhibit A. On page 3, it shows that no Citibank payments were presented to the account on XX/XX/XXXX and a balance of {$14000.00} available to pay the bill on that date. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank to find out why my payment hadn't posted. I learned of the problem and processed another payment by phone which was posted to the correct account and the bill was paid. 

Payment 2 : on XX/XX/XXXX : I called and paid {$4600.00} requesting that Citibank use my account on file. Citibanks agent entered the wrong account information and routed my payment to an incorrect account. Because Citibank misdirected my payment to the wrong account, the payment was returned unpaid as No account/Unable to Process. My bank statement for the subject period is attached as Exhibit B. On page 4, it shows that no Citibank payments were presented to the account on XX/XX/XXXX and a balance of {$10000.00} on that date. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank to find out why my payment hadn't posted. I learned of the problem and processed another payment by phone which went to the correct account and the bill was paid. 

Payment 3 : on XX/XX/XXXX, I called and paid {$1500.00} requesting that Citibank use my account on file. Citibanks agent entered the wrong account information and routed my payment to an incorrect account. Because Citibank misdirected my payment to the wrong account, the payment was returned unpaid as No account/Unable to Process. My bank statement for the subject period is attached as Exhibit B. On page 4, it shows that no Citibank payments were presented to the account on XX/XX/XXXX and a balance of {$10000.00} on that date. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank to find out why my payment hadn't posted. I learned of the problem and processed another payment by phone which went to the correct account and the bill was paid. 

As a result of the mis-directed/non-payments, Citibank closed my account. Ive contacted customer service and requested Citibank re-open my account on numerous occasions. Citibank refused to re-open my account in letters dated, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and in subsequent telephone conversations. 

I called customer service on multiple occasions and spoke to various personnel about the transactions in an effort to solve the problem. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to a supervisor named XXXX ( # XXXX ) who confirmed that the misdirected/non-payments resulted from the Citibank customer service agent entering incorrect account information for any payment. 

I even applied for a new Citibank AAdvantage credit card. By letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, Citibank denied my application. 



XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Maryland

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