Consumer complaint received 2021-02-09
Company: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA
State: VA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Account opened as a result of fraud

Complaint:
First National Bank ran a fraudulent and intentionally misleading campaign to get new customers they had no intent of honoring. 

Full offer details. 

1 Present this promotional offer code when opening a new FNB personal checking account XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX. A {$50.00} minimum deposit is required when opening an account online. To receive the {$400.00} direct deposit reward, the following conditions must be satisfied : 1 ) Set-up and have a qualifying direct deposit ( s ) totaling {$2500.00} made to your new personal checking account within the first 90 days after account opening ; and 2 ) your account must be in good standing once the above conditions are satisfied. Then your {$400.00} reward will be credited to this open account within 15 business days following the 90 days after account opening. Your qualifying direct deposit ( s ) needs to be an electronic-type deposit, similar but not limited to, paycheck or pension from your employer, government benefits ( such as Social Security ), or other affiliated depositors. To receive the {$200.00} reward, 15 customer initiated debit transactions must be made from your new personal checking account within the first 90 days after account opening ; debit transactions could include POS, PIN, ATM withdrawals, transfers to other accounts, mobile banking, online bill pay, wire transfers, personal checks, and XXXX ; 2 ) your account must be in good standing once the above conditions are satisfied. Then your {$200.00} reward will be credited to this open account within 15 business days following the 90 days after account opening. Offer valid for new personal checking accounts opened XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. Offer subject to change without prior notice and may be terminated or extended based on response. Offer does not apply to multiple checking accounts. Existing FNB checking accounts or accounts converting to another personal checking account are NOT eligible for this offer. You can receive only one new checking account reward related offer per household per calendar year ; bank employees and members of their household are not eligible for this promotion. FNB may offer multiple promotions to its customers at one time. Even if you met the requirements for multiple promotional offers you are only eligible for and will receive one promotional reward offer. Checking accounts closed by customer within 180 days of opening are subject to a {$50.00} account early closing fee. Some of our checking accounts do accrue interest based on balance, for example : our XXXX Checking account currently pays .01 % Annual Percentage Yield on balances of {$2500.00} to $ XXXX. Depending on the checking account chosen the rate may vary. Interest rates are variable and are good as of XX/XX/XXXX, and are subject to change at any time. Fees could reduce the earnings on the account. See the Consumer Fee Schedule for further information on fees applicable to this account which is available at an FNB branch. To the extent required by law, First National Bank will report the value of this reward to the IRS on Form 1099 MISC. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the account holder. In the event that we determine in our sole discretion that your account does not meet the eligibility criteria or the activity on your account does not qualify to meet the required conditions, we will not be obligated to credit your account with the reward payout. 

Offer available at the XXXX, MD, XXXX, VA, XXXX, NC and XXXX, and NC ( DOWNTOWN ) FNB locations. 

PROMO CODE : XXXX Offer Ends : XXXX XXXX After opening an account, and following every step along the way to get these benefits, they were denied to me because I was 'out of area ' from the promotion. I live 12 miles away from the XXXX, VA branch. My zip is XXXX, the bank is XXXX. 

If they had no intent of honoring this offer, they should have told me originally when I signed up for the account. Not after 4 months of waiting. None of that communication happened and they allowed me to sign up, fund, and use this account for months, and only after I requested the promised bonus did they deny my request. This is a malicious and intentionally misleading marketing practice.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation