Consumer complaint received 2020-07-31
Company: FIRST HORIZON BANK
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
Please find below a summary of the key events that occurred, in timeline form. The same information in a more-readable format can also be found in the attached " XXXX XXXX  CFPB '' PDF. 

XX/XX/XXXX On the above captioned date, I opened a High Interest Checking Account and Statement Savings account at XXXX XXXX  XXXX, GA branch. I informed the banker that I wanted to take advantage of the new account promotions they had going on at the time. The bonuses and corresponding terms were broken down as follows : {$400.00} bonus for High Interest Checking Account : To qualify for {$400.00} Cash Bonus : Primary signer must be a new checking client to XXXX   who ( 1 ) Opens a new High Interest Checking account with a minimum {$100.00} deposit balance with new money not currently held by XXXX ; ( 2 ) Maintains a daily minimum balance of {$5000.00} or more within 10 days of account opening ; ( 3 ) Has {$2000.00} or more of combined direct deposit per statement cycle made to this account within 60 days of account opening ; AND ( 4 ) Account remains active for at least six months. 
{$150.00} bonus for Statement Savings Account : The primary signer must be a new consumer savings client to XXXX  who 1 ) Opens a new Statement Savings account with a minimum {$50.00} deposit balance with new money not currently held by XXXX ; AND 2 ) Deposits and maintains a daily minimum balance of {$15000.00} or more within 10 days of account opening for 90 days from the date of deposit. 
{$50.00} bonus for opening both a checking and savings account : To receive the extra {$50.00} : You must complete all requirements for BOTH the checking and savings bonus. After you have completed all requirements, we will deposit the remaining bonus due in your checking account within 10 business days. 
The accounts were opened in the branch. I asked the banker if I needed to make any deposits at that time, but was told I had 10 days to make the required opening deposits. 

XX/XX/XXXX Within the 10 day time period, I met the opening deposit requirements and daily minimum balance requirements for the bonuses with the following deposits : A {$5000.00} transfer from my external bank account was posted to the checking account A {$15000.00} transfer from my external bank account was posted to the savings account XX/XX/XXXX Despite having met the minimum balance requirement within 10 days and maintaining greater than a {$5000.00} balance in my checking account for the rest of the statement cycle, which ended on XX/XX/XXXX, I was charged a $ 20 monthly service fee. 

XX/XX/XXXX Before the {$20.00} service fee was errantly charged, I initiated a transfer of {$1500.00} from my XXXX XXXX  checking account to my external bank account. This should have resulted in an account balance of {$5000.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX I checked my online account and realized I was charged the {$20.00} service fee on my checking account. I immediately called the banker who opened my account, who acknowledged the mistake, apologized, and reversed the service charge. 
The mistakenly charged {$20.00} service fee caused by balance to temporarily drop to {$4900.00} from XX/XX/XXXX until the service fee was refunded on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received the {$150.00} bonus for the Statement Savings account, as expected, exactly 90 days after my XX/XX/XXXX deposit. This indicates all terms of both the Consumer Products Consolidated Disclosures Truth in Savings Disclosure and the Bonus Addendum ( both attached ), including the minimum opening balance requirements, were met successfully. 

XX/XX/XXXX After not receiving the expected {$400.00} checking and {$50.00} checking/savings bonuses, I called the banker who opened the account. They informed me I didnt receive the bonuses because I didnt meet the bonus requirement of maintaining a daily minimum balance of {$5000.00}. I pointed out that this was only because I was mistakenly charged the previously mentioned {$20.00} service fee by the bank, so that shouldnt preclude me from receiving the bonus since it was an error by the bank. The banker told me she would have someone reach out to me. Later in the day, I received a call from the assistant branch manager, who reviewed the facts of my case and told me they would have to contact the back office. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from the assistant branch manager who informed me I didnt receive the bonus because I didnt meet the requirement of opening the checking account with a minimum {$100.00} deposit. While untrue and a departure from what I was told the previous day, I dont believe this is why I didnt receive the bonus for the following three reasons : 1. The relevant terms of the Consumer Products Consolidated Disclosures/ Truth in Savings  Disclosures match the terms of the Bonus Addendum. Specifically, the Consumer Products Consolidated Disclosures/Truth in Savings Disclosures requires a deposit of {$100.00} to open the High Interest Checking account. As seen in the terms of the Bonus Addendum, it requires the same {$100.00} deposit. The fact that the account was successfully opened proves that these terms were fully met.

2. The High Interest Checking Account and Statement Savings accounts were opened on the same day and funded on the same day. According to the Bonus Addendum, both accounts have the exact same minimum deposit terms, with the sole exception that the checking account requires {$100.00} while the savings account requires {$50.00}. See the terms in the attachment, or in the second and third paragraphs under the XX/XX/XXXX notes above. The fact that Statement Savings bonus was received proves the deposits made on XX/XX/XXXX satisfied the minimum deposit requirements of both accounts.

3. The banker who opened the account explicitly told me I had 10 days to fund the account to meet the terms of the Consumer Products Consolidated Disclosures/Truth in Savings Disclosures and the Bonus Addendum. 

In summary, I satisfied all of the requirements necessary to qualify the {$400.00} bonus for High Interest Checking Account and the {$50.00} bonus for opening both a checking and savings account, but did not receive either of them. I believe the checking bonus was not triggered by the banks system because of the errant {$20.00} service fee that was mistakenly charged by the bank, which should not preclude me from receiving the bonus. I believe the {$50.00} bonus for opening both a checking and savings account was not triggered by the banks system because the checking bonus was not triggered. Therefore, since everything was done on my part to satisfy the bonus requirements, a fair resolution would be for XXXX XXXX to credit my account {$450.00} for the missing bonuses.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation