Consumer complaint received 2020-06-26
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I have had a credit card account with Fifth Third Bank open and in good standing for a few years. 

I recently ( about Monday, XX/XX/2020 ) checked my XXXX  credit report and noticed that my account with Fifth Third Bank was marked as closed on the credit bureau 's report. I had not requested my account with Fifth Third Bank be closed, nor had I received notice in any form of its closure or intention by any party for its closure. 

On XX/XX/2020, I called the Fifth Third Bank customer service telephone line and spoke to a live telephone agent. I informed the agent that my XXXX  credit report was listing my Fifth Third Bank credit card account as closed, and that I had not requested the account closed. I requested the status of my account from the agent and he informed me that the account was indeed closed and that the closure was by the bank for the reason of no activity on the account within a 6-month period. I then requested that my account be reopened, but the agent declined and stated that the closed accounts can only be reopened within 30 days of the account closure and that it had been more than 30 days from the account closure. I informed the agent that I had not previously received any notice of the account closure or of the bank 's intention to close the account. The bank telephone agent stated that I should have received a notice about the bank 's intention to close the account and then another notice once the account was closed, that he did not have the ability to reopen the account after the 30-day window, and that I would have to speak with an account specialist regarding the reopening of the account ; however, the account specialists were unavailable by telephone due to measures taken regarding COVID-19. I was advised to go to a physical branch to speak to an account specialist. 

On XX/XX/2020 I went to my local Fifth Third Bank branch and discussed the issue with its agents. An agent, upon examining my account information in the bank 's system, determined that there was no notice sent regarding the closure or intention for closure of my credit card account by the bank. The branch agent informed me that she was unable to reopen the account and that it must be address by a telephone account specialist. The branch agent further informed me that the telephone account specialists should once again be available as of XX/XX/2020. 

On XX/XX/2020, I again called the Fifth Third Bank credit card customer service line and spoke to a bank agent. I requested to speak to an account specialist and was transferred to one. I explained the happenings to date to the account specialist and requested again that my account be reopened. The agent declined, stating that the bank only does such if requested within 30 days of its closure. I explained to agent that I had not received timely notice of the account closure or the intention for its closure, and that, as confirmed from the physical bank branch, the bank had not sent the notices. Were the bank to have provided timely notice of the account closure or intention of account closure, I would have timely provided the bank with notice of my desire for the account to stay open or be reopened. The account specialist agent verified and confirmed that the notices were not sent and then put me on hold while he reached out to someone else to try to approve the account reopening beyond the normal 30-day window given that there was no notice to establish when the account would close or closed. After the hold, the account specialist agent again informed me that the account would not be reopened past the 30-day window despite the bank not sending the notices, and that the bank was not required to send the notices. 

Fifth Third Bank has failed to provide written notice of its intent to close my credit card account with the bank or of the account 's closure. To date, I still have not received such notice, and am uncertain as to when the account actually closed, except that it would have happened some time about XX/XX/2020. Fifth Third Bank does allow for the reopening of the closed accounts if notified within 30 days of the closure, but it is unreasonable for the time frame to apply if the account holder is not notified of the action taken and when it is taken or to be taken.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation