Consumer complaint received 2022-01-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
I am writing to express my dismay ( and helplessness! ) upon discovering that since Friday XX/XX/2022, Citibank has blocked access to my checking account unceremoniously, without even bothering to notify me via email, phone call or text. 

For the record, as of Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, no issues were present and I still had access to my checking account online. To my surprise, as I logged into my checking account early on XXXX XXXX, I was shocked to discover that my checking account was totally off limits. 

Prior to my account been blocked, there was no indication whatsoever that my login credentials had been compromised, nor that an unauthorized person was trying to get access to my bank account. 

Not to mention the fact that, as a law abiding citizen that has never been involved in any type of illegal activities ( such as money laundering, writing bad checks, etc ), I do not owe any money judgements, student loans, nor do I owe any state or federal taxes. 

What's more concerning about this situation is that Citibank never bothered to contact me to inform me of any unusual activities on my account, or that my account was about to be blocked pending an investigation. 

I contacted customer service immediately via phone and social media ( XXXX ), and was told that the investigation unit that was responsible for blocking my account and that, since this is a holiday weekend, I had no other option that to wait until Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, to get in touch with someone from that unit to try to solve this issue. 

That means that I won't have access to my checking account for almost 5 days, with all the inconveniences that this entails. 

Needless to say, I am taken aback by the fact that a bank has the power to arbitrarily block a client 's account ( a good standing client at that! ) at any time without so much as a courtesy warning or notification. Is as if my primary checking account is been held hostage by Citibank without cause. 

What's more, I should have been notified if there was any suspicious activity taking place- which I wasn't. 

Again, I am surprised that Citibank, without so much as a courtesy notification, can block a customer from accessing his own money without cause or previous warning. 

I repeat : there's been no notification from Citibank that my account had been compromised, under investigation, or that suspicious activity was taking place. 

It's unconscionable that a financial institution can behave in such an egregious manner, imperiling someone's financial standing and highjacking my hard earned money without any consideration whatsoever. 

I would really appreciate if your office could help me unblock my checking account and investigate why Citibank decided to block my account without cause and in such an arbitrary way. 

This should not be happening to law abiding citizens! 

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

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