Consumer complaint received 2015-04-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Transaction issue

Complaint:
I recently opened an XXXX XXXX XXXX Platinum Select credit card account with Citibank ( " Citi '' ), largely due to their advertised promotion that upon spending {$3000.00} in the XXXX 3 months, I would receive XXXX bonus XXXX XXXX XXXX miles. Upon activating the card, I used it a handful of times and then attempted to activate the card for use with XXXX Pay. The last step of Citi 's XXXX Pay sign-up process requires you to confirm a security pin that Citi supposedly texts to your cell phone of record. I did not receive this pin through text so I determined I just would not use XXXX Pay with this card. I then went to a store and tried to use my card for a purchase, at which point it was declined. When I called Citi, they routed me to the fraud department, where an associate confirmed my name, my security password, and address then informed me the fraud alert was placed on the account due to a failure to verify the XXXX Pay. I informed the individual I did not want to use XXXX Pay and to remove it if it was causing this issue. She then informed me she would have to verify my identity yet again before removing the fraud alert and the only way to do so was to send me a text message to my cell and to repeat the security pin received in the text back to her. Yet again the text from Citi did not come through. She verified my cell phone multiple times and it still did not come in. I asked to speak with a manager, who then told me the same information and that the only other way to confirm my identity was through a call on a land line ( I do not have a land telephone line ) or to call my place of business during normal operating hours so they could speak to a receptionist who could then transfer the call to me. I explained I worked for a company XXXX but I live in XXXX and use my cell phone for my work phone so this was not an option. The XXXX informed me I was out of options then since the text message confirmation was not working. I offered to confirm my social security number, my mother 's maiden name, date of birth, or any other commonly used verification data and he said that would not be acceptable. The following day I went to a physical Citi branch at which point I provided government issued ID and my credit card to a personal banker verifying my identity, he then called Citi 's internal fraud line and they repeated they could only clear the fraud by sending me a text message with a pin. Citi attempted this again and the branch employee confirmed with Citi the text did not come in. I asked to speak to another fraud manager. Once she picked up, she informed me that Citi was in fact experiencing problems with XXXX, my cell carrier, in providing the text messages and was aware they were not going through. She finally removed the fraud alert, or so I was told. I then used the card XXXX times more and then it was again declined for fraud. I called yet again and Citi again tried to confirm my identification with a text, even though I had physically been present in a branch office and confirmed my identity with a Citi employee using a government issued photo ID and my credit card. The employee said they removed the fraud warning yet again. This morning I logged into my account and it says I have been shut off for a fraud warning yet again. This is unacceptable as they are not allowing me access to my account. Furthermore by limiting access to my account they are not allowing me the benefit of the advertised XXXX mile bonus mile reward, the availability of which was confirmed in my account opening letter. Additionally, Citi must provide an alternate means of verifying identification outside of a text message, as that is a cost to consumers ( you can incur a charge for each received text ) which is not disclosed in the account terms and conditions.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation