Consumer complaint received 2021-01-18
Company: WEBSTER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021, I elected to close my XXXX  investment account held by XXXX ( This investment account is linked to my XXXX savings bank account, which is serviced by XXXX  XXXX, aka WebsterBank ). Because it was a holiday, I closed my investment account using XXXX XXXX/WebsterBank 's online banking system. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged onto my XXXX savings bank account and was unable to find any trace of the {$13000.00} in either my XXXX savings bank account or in my XXXX investment account, which was alarming. I immediately called the XXXX bank customer service department and explained I had closed my investment account a few days prior, but didnt see my funds ( even as pending ) in my XXXX  bank account or investment account. They explained that, given the holiday, it might take another few business days for my XXXX  bank account to show the funds deposited. 

On XX/XX/2021, I logged in again to check on the status and learned for the first time that in fact, my Investment Account had not been closed, but instead, the system had reopened my account without my authorization and had also automatically re-purchased without my permission all of the same investments I had just sold. 

After discussing this alarming situation with customer service, I was informed that this occurred because I had a setting called autosweep activated on my XXXX  account relative to my investment account. This setting was designed to automatically transfer all money from my XXXX account into my investment account above a certain threshold, which in my case was {$1000.00}. 

I explained that I had closed my investment account -- which should have shut down not only the autosweep function, but any other setting that might have anything to do with an investment account that no longer existed. Once I had closed my investment account, actions subsequently taken by the banks system were simply not authorized by me -- I did not authorize the reopening of this or any other investment account, and I certainly didnt authorize the repurchase of any shares in any funds. 

It is my position that I am entitled to receive exactly the funds I did authorize at the time I closed my account. Any actions that occurred by the banks system subsequent to my closing the account resulting in me losing money after that point in time are solely the responsibility of the bank because they/their system took actions without my permission that caused my losses. 

Upon discovering what happened and why on XX/XX/2021, I took immediate steps to mitigate my damages in order to prevent any further potential losses. I instructed them to once again close my investment account on XX/XX/2021 ( at which point the investments were only worth {$13000.00} ) and to take whatever steps were necessary to ensure no account would be reopened again without my permission in the future. 

If I had received the money I was due in accordance with what I authorized, the total in my XXXX account would have been {$13000.00} + {$990.00} = {$14000.00}. Instead, as a result of the banks error, what I received was {$13000.00} + {$1000.00} = {$14000.00}. The difference is {$38.00}. 

Despite this error being entirely the banks responsibility, I have been unable to resolve the matter to date with the bank, and therefore I am filing this complaint to recover this sum ( {$38.00} ) due me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation