Consumer complaint received 2023-03-24
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
XX/XX/2023 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing because Citibank closed a regular checking account I recently opened with them without notice and will not return XXXX that was in the account to me for at least sixty to ninety days. Additionally, my last conversation with bank representatives cast doubt on both the method they would be using to return these funds as well as the amount that would be returned.

In short, although I have spent many hours talking with various Citibank representatives, I can not get a straight answer from Citibank as to why they did this or exactly how I am going to get my money back.

Additionally, this money represents all of my liquid savings and not having access to it for several months is a hardship.

Citibanks only communication with me was after the account was closed in the form of a standardized email stating that my account had been closed because I had broken their user agreement. This is false.

This account was new and I have had only a few very standard transactions with Citibank.

At first, Citibank representatives said that a paycheck from the XXXX XXXX where I work was flagged and that this was the issue. Later conversations, however, showed that this check had cleared. The new reason given was that there was an issue with my initial deposit with Citibank from my old bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX 
However, any issue with this deposit seems to have been caused by an error on Citibanks part as documented in both their records as well as in the final statement from my previous bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX the bank from which I made the initial deposit into this account. 
Copies of both bank statements are attached for your review. 
According to records from XXXX XXXX XXXX  after I made my first deposit into the new Citibank account a transfer of {$12000.00} on XX/XX/2023 Citibank returned the entire deposit to XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/2023 for some unknown reason. 
The following day I noticed that my balance at Citibank was XXXX and assumed the transfer hadnt gone through. There was nothing to indicate anything was pending and there had been no communication from either bank, so I made the transfer request again on XX/XX/2023. This time the transfer worked and everything seemed fine for the next few weeks. 
This activity is all reflected in the attached final statement from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Citibanks records differ from XXXX XXXX XXXX and seem to reveal they made an error by initially crediting me with a double deposit on XX/XX/2023 something clearly not reflected XXXX XXXX XXXX records which show I made exactly one deposit to Citibank on that date for {$12000.00}. 
Citibank then lists a debit of {$12000.00} from something called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX  ) on XX/XX/2023 clearly impossible as XXXX XXXX XXXX received the return of my initial deposit two days earlier on XX/XX/2023. 
It was only after seeing a XXXX balance in my account that I made a second request for a transfer on XX/XX/2023 as reflected in the XXXX XXXX XXXX  statement. 
I then closed out my account at XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Shortly thereafter, Citibank closed my account without warning or valid reason and is holding my funds for an unreasonable amount of time. This extreme action was unnecessary as Citibank could have frozen the account for a short time and contacted me and a brief investigation would have cleared up this matter in a short period of time. Instead, Citibank took actions which have prevented me from accessing all of my liquid savings for a long period of time, causing me great hardship. 
I would be grateful if your agency could help me sort this out and possibly convince Citibank to release my funds ASAP, the total of which should be XXXX in the form of a certified check. 

Thanks for your help. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

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 non-monetary relief