Consumer complaint received 2021-07-05
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, on behalf of a non-profit organization, I opened an account with XXXX for processing credit/debit card payments. I purchased a device, called XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX from XXXX and got it connected with the new account we opened at XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX thru XX/XX/XXXX we used the card reader and accepted credit card payments totally {$4900.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the following email from XXXX : Unfortunately, after a full review of your account, we are unable to provide your business with our services. This decision was taken in accordance to Part 16.1 of the XXXX  Terms and Conditions which you agreed to during the application process. This can be found at XXXX XXXX XXXX 

On XX/XX/XXXX : I called them to inquire if they need any additional documentation, and the reason of their denial. They said, they CAN NOT GIVE ANY REASONS, it is their final decision. I asked them to deposit the money collected into the bank account of the organization that I had given while opening the account with them. I also noticed my access to my account at XXXX had been BLOCKED. 

Then on XX/XX/XXXX, I get an email from them with the following message : After a full review of your account, we are sorry to inform you that we wont be able to provide you with our services. This closure is in keeping with Term 16.1 of our Terms and Conditions, which can be found here : XXXX XXXX XXXX. Due to the rules and regulations of our financial industry partners, we are unable to disclose any additional or detailed information as to why a specific account is closed. Because of this, our decision is final and there is no appeal process. Regarding the current transactions pending on the account, we can either refund the remaining balance to the cardholder or keep the funds on hold for 6 months. Please reply directly to this email with your decision. 

On XX/XX/XXXX : Within a few minutes of receiving their email, I replied saying : We have already sold goods, so please deposit all the collected money into our checking account. 

They have not replied to my email. I have called them twice and they keep saying that they can either refund the remaining balance to the cardholder or keep the funds on hold for 6 months. I repeated asked me that we have sold the goods, and we need to get the money. If they need any additional documents, we can provide. They are NON-RESPONSIVE and NOT GIVING us the {$4900.00} collected. 

On XX/XX/XXXX : Not having received any response to me email, I called them again and spoke to XXXX and told her we need the funds credited into the non-profits bank account, otherwise I will report to government agencies. She was going to check with her team and get back to me in an hour. But have not heard back from her or anybody. I had told her that we have sold goods, and we need to get the money. If they need any additional documents, we can provide. They are NON-RESPONSIVE and are NOT GIVING US the {$4900.00} collected. I notice on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX # XXXX that other people had similar issues with this company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation