Consumer complaint received 2016-02-10
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
This complaint is in reference to perceived unfair, inconsistent and poorly explained " HOLDS '' on deposited funds into an ordinary business checking account at Regions Bank ( Regions Financial Corporation ) in XXXX, North Carolina. For several years, I have experienced inconsistent treatment regarding " HOLDS '' on deposits into a corporate checking account. On some occasions Regions Bank ( heretofore referred to as the " bank '' ) would make deposited funds available on the next business day, while on other occasions they placed a " HOLD '' on the funds. Mind you, the deposits to which I refer are checks payable to my corporation from the very same, reputable issuer ( client ) and drawn on an equally reputable local bank. 

Most recently ( XXXX XXXX, 2016 ) I made a deposit into my business checking account and was informed there would be a 7-day hold on the funds. After hearing from an officer of the bank via e-mail I learned that she had reviewed the case and stood by the hold for reasons that she described as an unusually large deposit into an account that averaged smaller deposit amounts. She represented this to me in vague terms, only citing my average balance and my average deposit amount, with the implication that those numbers were sufficiently low to flag this deposit for an extended hold. I was not provided with details regarding their hold policy nor has the bank made me aware of relevant calculi that would flag such a hold, leaving me, as a consumer, unclear and suspicious about their business practices. 

Further, I 've requested information from the bank regarding the status of the funds they are holding, more specifically, if those funds had indeed become assets of the bank during the hold period. They have not responded to these reasonable consumer requests nor have they responded to my question as to whether the my funds on hold were collecting interest for their institution. 

Regarding this specific deposit hold, the bank officer produced a document that was purportedly given to my wife when she made the deposit. This document stipulated that there would be a 7-business day hold on all but {$200.00}. 

Firstly, my wife never received said document and secondly, according to the bank 's own document, I 'm owed immediately ( at a minimum ) {$200.00}. As of this writing, a full two business days later, I have yet to receive the {$200.00} credited into my account. This simple fact alone indicates a lack of good-faith from the bank, and in my mind they are ( again, at a minimum ) illegally holding {$200.00}. 

I 've tried repeatedly to work with the bank in good-faith, asking them to perform normal due-diligence by contacting the issuing bank to verify the funds, then release them to me in total. The bank has offered nothing but vague explanations and utter dismissal and intransigence in dealing with me on this matter. Meanwhile, I 'm now overdrawn on my accounts, paying significant overdraft fees on a daily basis, until they release the hold on my money. 

I do hope their intransigence in this matter is n't relative to the fact that, while they hold my money, they stand to impose and collect significant overdraft fees. Again, this notion goes to my cause for concern regarding their ethics and vague business practices. 

I hope that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can assist in ameliorating what I consider to be unfair and unethical banking practices, of which I consider myself a victim. 

You have my explicit permission to publish the above description so that other consumers may become aware of Region Financial Corporation 's business practices as they relate to their customers.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief