Consumer complaint received 2018-10-16
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: OR
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Can't close your account

Complaint:
My husband and I were trying to get a new mortgage through Citibank. As a part of the mortgage process, they offered us a discount on the interest rate if we would open a Citibank account and deposit funds prior to the close of escrow. There are no Citibank locations in Oregon or Washington, so I opened an account online around XX/XX/2018. CitiMortgage initially told us that the account had to contain {$50000.00}, so on XX/XX/2018 we wired in {$50000.00}. Citibank then charged us a {$15.00} fee for an incoming wire transfer, so the balance was now under the {$50000.00} they had requested, and insisted we add additional funds. On XX/XX/2018 we wired in {$100.00} to cover the first {$15.00} fee as well as another {$15.00} fee for this incoming wire transfer. 
On the day we were to close escrow, we were told by CitiMortgage that we had not fulfilled the banking requirement, and that the Citibank account had to contain over {$200000.00} to qualify for the rate they had quoted. So, on XX/XX/2018, we wired in {$150000.00} in order to cover yet another {$15.00} incoming wire fee, and to make sure we were over the {$200000.00} threshold. The escrow closed, and everything seemed ok. 
On XX/XX/2018 I tried to create an online sign-on for the Citibank account in order to set up a transfer of the funds back to our investment account at another firm. I was not able to sign up for an online account because Citibank had not provided me with a PIN number for the ATM card that they had sent to me upon establishing the account. So at this point, I called Citibank. I was told that since the account had been set up for less than 30 days that they could not reset the PIN number over the phone, but that they could send me a new PIN via XXXX and it would take 3 days. My husband and I were leaving the country on XXXX XXXX, 2018 for vacation, so I thought we should be able to take care of this prior to leaving the country. Our flight out was XXXX on XX/XX/2018. At that time, we still had not received the XXXX from Citibank. 
We returned from overseas on the afternoon of XX/XX/2018. The XXXX had arrived sometime while we were gone, so I used the PIN number and signed on to XXXX and set up the online account. This is when I found out that since the account was a savings account, the most I could wire out per day was {$50000.00} and it would cost {$25.00} per wire. Since the total account balance was {$200000.00} ( including interest ), this would take 5 different wires/5 days and {$120.00} in fees. In addition, since this was a savings account, I could not set up a " bill payment '' check to be sent to my other financial institution. Running out of options quickly, I called Citibank. After running through all the scenarios with the agent, and not getting any resolution, I asked him to just close out the account and mail a check to us to the address on the account ( the same address that I set up the account with, and the same address that they sent my PIN to via XXXX ). He said he had closed out the account, and it would take 10 business days to receive the check. So I waited. 
10 business days would have been XX/XX/2018, but I threw in an extra day due to XXXX XXXX. So I waited for the mail on XX/XX/2018, and still no check. I called Citibank. I was told that no check had been sent out. I was on the phone with them for 45 minutes just to find out that the New Accounts Fraud Division had flagged the account and no check went out. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY PHONE CALL, LETTER, EMAIL OR TEXT NOTIFYING ME OF THIS. AND ALL OF THESE AVENUES OF COMMUNICATIONS ARE ON FILE BECAUSE I HAD TO ENTER THEM IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE ACCOUNT IN THE FIRST PLACE. 
I asked them 1. Why the account was flagged. 2. Why I was never notified of the flag. and 3. Who do I talk to to get this resolved. I was told that absolutely NO ONE there could help me at that time, and that I would have to call back the following day to talk to New Accounts Fraud Prevention. 
So, the following day ( XX/XX/2018 ) I called the number the agent had given me of ( XXXX ) XXXX. I was told to select option 2, then option 1.  I called, and had to explain the whole situation to the agent, who then transferred me. I again had to explain the whole situation to another agent who put me on hold. I was on the phone for over about an hour when they disconnected me. I called back, again having to go through the whole situation with not 1, but 3 different agents. After another 45 minutes, I finally spoke with XXXX in the Fraud Division. XXXX said that since the account was opened online, and wire fraud can be an issue, the Fraud Division had flagged it. I was still not given any explanation as to why I wasn't notified of the flag, or that my account wasn't being closed as per my request. I explained to her that I couldn't open it in a branch because WE DONT HAVE ANY IN OREGON! At this point she said what she could do is have 2 of the wires reversed ( the  one for {$50000.00} and the one for {$150000.00} ) they would send the remaining funds to me via a check. She said this would take 24 to 48 hours to complete. Our phone call was at XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/2018, so 48 hours would be the morning of XX/XX/2018. At XXXX XXXX, my financial institution had not received to wire reversal, so I called back to Citibank. I spoke with XXXX in the Fraud Division, and had to go through the entire story again. She told me that the wires had not been reversed. She obtained the file notes from XXXX, and told me that she would " escalate '' the matter to her supervisor. Obviously, this was not satisfactory. Pressing her on the matter, I was told that they need another 24 hours, and asked " Would you please allow us another 24 hours? ". I really have no choice at this point. So here we are, the next day, and the wires still have not been reversed. 
I did ask Grace specifically, " If I flew to another state, and walked into a Citibank branch, would they cut me a check if I requested to close my account? '' XXXX said NO! That a Citibank branch would not cut me a check to close the account. 

SO, CITIBANK WILL NOT MAIL ME A CHECK FOR MY FUNDS, THEY WILL NOT WIRE OUT THE FUNDS, AND I CAN NOT PICK UP A CHECK IN A BRANCH. THEY HAVE OVER {$200000.00} OF OUR MONEY, AND EACH DAY THEY HAVE IT, WE ARE BEING CHARGED MARGIN INTEREST. THIS MONEY WAS " REQUIRED '' TO ESTABLISH A GOOD FAITH BANKING RELATIONSHIP TO RECEIVE A DISCOUNT ON INTEREST, BUT THIS IS NOT A GOOD FAITH BANKING RELATIONSHIP! THESE ARE ANFAIR BANKING PRACTICES! WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK AND TO CLOSE OUT THIS ACCOUNT, BUT CITIBANK HAS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE. PLEASE HELP!

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