Consumer complaint received 2022-08-08
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: AL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
Citibank Experience Notes XX/XX/XXXX I was holding a large sum of money with my investment company waiting for stock market to go down and buy in. The funds had been there since around XXXX. This money was saved over 10 years from simply putting away my paycheck and also owning XXXX XXXX  of rental properties that I had built myself. These properties were sold as pandemic took hold and I was on call again for my employer and working more. I couldnt really maintain the properties frequently as they got past 10 years old.

The market kept going up and interest began rising. Citibank offered % on their Accelerated Savings account. There was also a {$1500.00} bonus if you kept over XXXX funds in there for 90 days. I determined I would put up to a significant amount there since it is FDIC insured. I transferred money to Citibank from my investment account. 

XX/XX/XXXX Opened Citibank account to draw some interest as the stock market seemed to continue to be high and the investment sweeps were yielding around XXXX interest. Citibank issues banking card which I put in my safe and locked the card online. I had no intention of using this account for anything but to hold money until the market corrected. 
XX/XX/XXXX Transferred XXXX XXXX to Citibank XX/XX/XXXX Transferred XXXX  to Citibank XX/XX/XXXX Transferred XXXX to Citibank Account fully funded XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Stock market was beginning to fall in correction territory. Felt like there were some bargains to be had. Possibly XXXX for good dividend stock. Possibly XXXX. 
Citibank to Investment account XXXX ( XXXX ) to purchase securities when time was right Citibank to Investment XXXX ( XXXX ) to purchase securities when time was right -- -- -- - At this point I recognized Citibank only allows $ XXXX withdrawals per month. I was not happy about this so began considering closing the account. Other banks like XXXX or XXXX  are not as restrictive with ACH transfers and I felt like this it was time to transfer the remaining XXXX  from Citi back to an investment account and begin buying XXXX XXXX XXXX % ) and XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) while the market was down. 

I had also determined as home prices begin to correct, we began looking for retirement home in XXXX My better half and I had found a couple we liked, but putting a contract on one was impossible without closing this account if we went that route. 


XXXX XXXX 3 hours on phone..no one could tell me why they could not close my account. Talked to various offshore persons..Call back in 24 hours. Gave mothers Maiden name, SSN, 2 factor authentication, etc. 

XX/XX/XXXX 2 hours on phone. Again only that account had to sent to fraud team. Various offshore persons only to be told this time 48 business hours. I demanded someone who could tell me what data I needed to verify my account. They finally hung up on me. 

XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with an executive at a local bank. He advised me to type up official document asking for account to be closed. It was notarized locally and I sent it to Citibank via certified mail. Citibank received the letter XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX OCC ( Office of Currency Comptroller ) case was created. After doing some reading I determined that the OCC could benefit me on getting this resolved. 

XX/XX/XXXX FDIC case created. 
FDIC determined this action was under the authority of existing OCC case and closed FDIC case. 

XX/XX/XXXX Called to see if Account had been closed. Spoke with offshore rep she said account had notes that it was scheduled to be closed. Then hung up. 

XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with XXXX XXXX, executive office, XXXX XXXX XXXX stated the account was under review for XXXX days as it had been flagged as fraud. She said she was closing the XXXX complaint. She also said that during the investigation, no interest would be paid. Right now it is 1.01 % so that is around $ XXXX dollars. She stated my credit card of 15 years would also be closed as Citibank was terminating any banking relationship with me. I wanted to close anyway after having this experience with their terrible offshore teams. I wanted to no longer do business with Citibank myself so this was acceptable. 
XXXX was kind but also stated the executive team had no control over the fraud team and the 30-60 days was non negotiable and inside the contract when the account was opened. XXXX stated the $ XXXX in my account would be held, and there would be no updates or communication with the Fraud Team .

I checked the OCC case and it is still under review. 
I began looking for a local attorney that handles banking law. 

XX/XX/XXXX Contacted my state senator. Got XXXX  response. 

XX/XX/XXXX Emailed XXXX XXXX CEO and XXXX XXXX -Chief of Staff of Citigroup executive team. Received canned email from Citibank executive response team. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX with XXXX about the status of my account. She will talk with analyst to determine the status. XXXX is part of the executive committee.. She transferred me to XXXX who said she would have an answer to where the money is by XX/XX/XXXX. The account was closed XX/XX/XXXX. Emailed CEO back stating this was unacceptable as $ XXXX of my life savings has been unaccounted for since XX/XX/XXXX and no one knows where it is. 

Spoke with a local property attorney ) suggested I call a banking attorney friend for a consultation. 

XX/XX/XXXX Contacted another of my states senators. Received canned response. 
Contacted my state congressman for my district. Received canned response. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  will be in my hands by XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with XXXX she determined the 60 days from XX/XX/XXXX would be XX/XX/XXXX. She spoke with another department and indicated the money would be in my hands no later than XX/XX/XXXX. I called the attorney and cancelled the XXXX consultation on XX/XX/XXXX based on this phone conversation. 


XXXX XXXX No correspondence from Citi on when or if check will be mailed. Emailed XXXX asking for status of the check being sent by XX/XX/XXXX. Got canned response saying within 15 days I would get answer. 

XXXX XXXX Opening case with Consumer Financial Protection and attempting to schedule new appointment with attorney.

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