Consumer complaint received 2023-05-08
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Overview : Truist Bank put our business checking account into dormant status in XX/XX/XXXX without any notification to us, even though the account had been used twice during the previous year, as recently as XX/XX/XXXX. This cost us {$63.00} when an online tax payment made in XX/XX/XXXX to the state of Delaware was rejected. I asked Truist to reimburse us, but they refused. They said there was no error on their part it is their policy not to notify customers when an account becomes dormant. 

Details : 1. I made an online tax payment to the state of Delaware using their website on XX/XX/XXXX. But on the evening of XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter via email from the Delaware Division of Corporations that said : Your payment in the amount of {$430.00} for file number XXXX to pay your taxes was returned by your bank for the following reason : ACCOUNT CLOSED. A {$50.00} returned check fee has been assessed to your account. 
Please contact your bank with any questions regarding this transaction. You may have to clear this transaction through your bank by allowing a debit or unblocking our company ID # XXXX. 

2. I called Truist Bank the following day, XX/XX/XXXX, to find out why the payment was rejected. The person I spoke said the account was fine and the last transaction had been in XXXX. The rep said he did not see any record of the XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

3. I then called the Delaware XXXX of XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and told them Truist said the account was OK. The rep said it was possible that there was a block on my bank account that would have to be removed before I could try to make the payment again using their online system. ( BTW, the rep said other customers had called about problems with Truist Bank. ) 4. I called Truist back ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and asked if there was any type of block on the account. This second rep told me that the account was dormant. She said that if an account isnt used for 365 days it automatically goes dormant, and that I would have to go to a branch in person to get the account reactivated. When I pointed out that this account had been used in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, she tried very hard to convince me that XXXX and XXXX were more than 365 days apart. ( This would have been funny if it wasnt so frustrating. ) 5. On XX/XX/XXXX, I went into a Truist Bank branch office to get the account reactivated. The rep in the branch said that Truist doesnt include online, ACH-type transactions when determining whether an account should go dormant, because it doesnt consider them to be customer-initiated, which was why the account became dormant. I asked for the rules in writing, and he printed out the entire 40-page Truist Bank Services Agreement . The relevant section is 14. Dormant Accounts under G. Account Rules, which says : DORMANT ACCOUNTS. With the exception of time deposits and IRAs, an account will be classified as dormant if there has been no owner generated activity on the account, including any deposits to or withdrawals from the account, or other account related contact for a period of twelve months or more. Recurring or Automatic Clearing House ( ACH ) or other similar electronic deposits or debits are not considered to be owner generated activity except where allowed by applicable state law. For an account classified as dormant we may, at any time in our discretion, reject any transaction in order to protect the account against unauthorized activity. 

6. Received a notification in the mail that the account had become active and would be accepting transactions, just in case we didnt want it to be active. ( XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from a XXXX XXXX at Truist Bank, who was following up on my complaint about the fine I owed to Delaware because Truist had not notified me when the account became dormant. He seemed sure that we would have received some type of notification, but said he would investigate and request reimbursement if there had been no notification. ( XXXX XXXX was a Suntrust employee before the merger with BB & T. ) 8. I emailed XXXX XXXX the letter from the Delaware Division of Corporations about the fine, and receipts for additional expenses incurred to pay the taxes a second time. ( XXXX of {$63.00} ) ( XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX. XXXX XXXX called back on XX/XX/XXXX to say it is Truists POLICY not to notify customers when their account goes dormant, because customers should know the rules, which are right in the Bank Services Agreement. So since it was not a bank error that we were not notified, Truist would not reimburse us for the fine. 

The main concerns I have with Truist Bank are : 1. Truist Bank did not communicate the dormant status of the account to us in any way. There was no call, no email, no letter, and the monthly checking account statements we received for XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX did not indicate the dormant status. 

2. Ignorant customer service reps : When I first called Truist to find out why the tax payment to Delaware was rejected, the rep said there was no problem with the account. Then the second phone rep, who did notice the account was dormant, didnt know that electronic transactions didnt count. 

3. I question whether the rules Truist uses when deciding to make an account dormant are even legal. They are definitely outside the norm. They are much more restrictive than some other financial institutions. Both pre-merger Suntrust and my federal credit union keep an account active if it has online transactions only. 

The Truist Bank Services Agreement says Recurring or Automatic Clearing House ( ACH ) or other similar electronic deposits or debits are not considered to be owner generated activity EXCEPT WHERE ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE STATE LAW. I doubt that it is against Maryland law to consider electronic transactions when determining if an account should stay active. 

Truist Bank says ACH-type transaction do not count as customer-initiated transactions. Even direct-deposit of a paycheck doesnt count. Nowadays, and especially because of the pandemic we have just lived through, more and more business transactions are paperless. Multiple Truist reps said I should just go into the branch every month, etc., and make a deposit or withdrawal to keep the account active. No thank you.

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