Consumer complaint received 2022-08-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
I hold a few Citibank credit cards and as a cardholder, I received an " exclusive '' offer to open a Citi checking account and receive a tiered bonus based on the amount of new to Citi funds I deposited within the first 20 days of opening the account. In late XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for the account following the link in the email promoting the offer. During the process of opening the account, I was given the opportunity to deposit funds electronically from other bank accounts. I attempted to do this twice using two of my accounts at different banks ( XXXX XXXX  for a transaction amount of {$15000.00} and All XXXX XXXX for a transaction amount of {$12000.00} ) but the Citi website locked up each time. Finally, on the third and fourth tries, the transfers from the two banks were successful. Unfortunately it turned out that the first two transfers were successful ( despite no confirmation or other message from the Citi site ), resulting in the two transactions being duplicated by my third and fourth attempts. This resulted in an overdraft of each of these accounts with one of the banks stopping the second transaction and the return of the second deposit to the second bank ( for which I was charged and paid an insufficient funds fee by the bank ). After these issues with the Citi website, I subsequently successfully made two additional deposits from a third bank account ( XXXX in the amounts of {$10000.00} and {$15000.00} ) in order to ensure meeting the deposit level requirements to receive the promotional bonus. Final deposits made to the new Citi checking account totaled {$52000.00} which represents a large portion of my savings. 

After opening the account at the end of XX/XX/XXXX I received an account application approval email ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) and a starter set of checks and debit card in the mail. After the initial opening and deposit transactions noted above, I performed no other transactions in the account. I logged into the Citi website in XX/XX/XXXX and found a message noting that my checking account was blocked. I called Citi to find out why. I was told by the representative that she could not tell me why but that I would receive a letter in the mail and a check for the balance within 60 days. I did receive the letter several days later which informed me that the account would be closed within 60 days of the letter date ( again, without a clear reason ). The letter ( which was dated XX/XX/XXXX ) stated that I would receive an official check for any balance belonging to me that remained in the account. 60 days after the letter date was mid XX/XX/XXXX. After I did not receive the check by early XX/XX/XXXX, I called again to find out the status of my money. I was told that the account was closed and I would not receive any money. I protested, as the money belongs to me and was transferred into the account from other bank accounts owned by me. After much insistence I was told I needed to call the fraud department and was given a different phone number. I called there and was assured that information was not true and that any money belonging to me would in fact be returned. When asking about the status, I was told that the customer service reps could not see much information on the account, likely due to it being closed, and to get any concrete information, she would have to email the " back office '' and that I would get a call back when a response was received. She took two different phone numbers at which to reach me and told me it typically takes 24-48 hours to get a response ( I still have not received a call two months later ). She also said that in these situations, funds are typically returned 60 days after the account is actually closed, not issued on the day of the closure. I asked the representative if this meant 60 days after the date of the XX/XX/XXXX closure letter ( which would be XX/XX/XXXX ) the account was closed, then 60 days after that ( about XX/XX/XXXX ) a check would be mailed. She confirmed my understanding, and I agreed to wait for the follow up phone call and would wait to expect the balance be returned sometime in mid XXXX ( after the XXXX date ). I have now waited an additional 30 days ( today is XX/XX/XXXX, so now 90 total days after the account being closed and five months after the date of the account closure letter ) and have still not received the funds that I deposited in my account as promised. I have received no other communication from Citibank in the interim. My calls to Citibank customer service have required substantial wait times and each person I spoke with told me they could either not tell me the reason the account was closed or simply could not see much or any information as to its status. Considering this, that all the time frames I was provided have passed, and that it is now 5 months after the letter telling me the account was closed, I have become very anxious and concerned about the return of my savings as I still have not received the balance of the account. I do not dispute Citibank 's right to close whatever account they wish ( even without any particular reason as is the case here ), but the money deposited in the account I opened when prompted by their promotional message rightfully belongs to me and should be returned in a timely fashion. It has not and I am concerned as to it's whereabouts.

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