Consumer complaint received 2020-07-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX My history with CitiBank dates back to one of the first lines of credit that I opened in college and has extended nearly twenty years. At present, there is one current account with Citi, which is the subject of this e-mail. 

From the beginning of our interactions with Citi on this account, we have received erratic confirmation e-mails ( if any ) and poor reporting on payments made to this account. During the course of XXXX, we made thirteen payments of a total of {$2000.00}. Because of payment processing problems on Citis end ( Citis systems failed to process payments we authorized through Citis website ), and time delayed timeline to notify us of those missed payments, those payments were sometimes placed at odd times. The longest time between those payments was 55 days. Corrective action and payments were made and reauthorized immediately each time we were notified that authorized payments were not reflected on our account. 

There were at least three periods where payments were authorized and not removed from our account that have been documented : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. During this period, Citi did not send any notifications except mail on normal billing cycles to confirm payments, which often lagged. Because of the extreme lag on Citi statements, it would sometimes not become apparent that payments had not been credited to our account, despite our authorization, for two billing periods. 

- We caught the payment not going through in XXXX and reauthorized a payment on XXXX XXXX. 
- The XXXX payment was authorized, but did not go through, so two payments were made in XX/XX/XXXX. 
- Our XXXX payment was scheduled, but was removed earlier than authorized on XX/XX/XXXX and so two payments were applied to XXXX rather than one in XXXX and one in XXXX. 
- Our XXXX payment was authorized, but it did not show up that it had not been removed until XXXX, when two catch-up payments were made ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ). A third payment was made in XXXX, and after speaking with a Citi representative, who enrolled us in autopay and gave us a {$10.00} credit for the repeated problems with Citis payment processing software. 
- At no time was any payment processed by Citi rejected by our bank, and at no time did we have insufficient funds to cover the payments authorized and made through XXXX website. 

A summary : - All payments significantly exceeded minimum payments required. 
- The longest period without a payment was 55 days. That lag in payment stemmed directly from notification delays on Citis end. 
- In XXXX, CitiBank employees credited our account additional and apologized for the inconvenience, acknowledging multiple problems with XXXX payment systems. 

At this point, we believed that the problem was behind us and the auto payment feature would ensure that no additional problems would occur ; however, - In XXXX, Citi reported to credit reporting agencies, in error, that we were 60 days delinquent in our accounts in XXXX and XXXX, which was actually impossible. 
- Citi reduced the credit line on the account from {$9100.00} to {$5600.00}. 
- The impact on my FICO score from the erroneous reporting was significant, ultimately dropping my credit score to XXXX, a fact that we did not find out until well into XXXX. 
- The continued denial of any CitiBank problems and the banks refusal to remove the erroneous report, continue to harm credit scores it was dropped 55 points today after CitiBank again denied any wrong-doing. 

Since finding this error during a normal credit check, we have had more than 10 conversations with Citi employees in XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX of XXXX, and written two letters in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX. Through each of these phone conversations, including extended phone conversations on XX/XX/XXXX ( with XXXX ) and XX/XX/XXXX ( with XXXX ), we were assured that Citis payment and auto payment systems had significant problems through XXXX and that Citi knew of its multiple problems and would correct the errors in credit reporting. Further, it was confirmed that all notifications on payment-related issues had been disabled by Citi without warning or notification. 

Citis customer service team repeatedly acknowledged problems with CitiBanks payment processing systems and consistently assured us that the erroneous report would be removed from my credit report. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX suggested that I call back in a few days, when she expected that Citi would be resolve the problem by correcting the erroneous credit reporting information by showing no delinquent payments related to our account since it opened. Each conversation was cordial and efficient, assuring us that the situation was an error and would be resolved. 

Following the XX/XX/XXXX call, I had additionally reported through XXXX  that the credit report of being 60 days delinquent was made in error, and that, according to Citis own records, our accounts were not late due to Citis own system errors. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed a call received by someone identifying herself as XXXX, who refused to speak with me, saying all future communications on the account would need to be in writing something we had never been told previously. I requested to be put in touch with a supervisor, which she refused before hanging up on me. When I called back, I spoke with a representative named XXXX, who promptly put me through to a supervisor, XXXX. XXXX put me on hold for 40 minutes before being disconnected without speaking with him beyond a curt Hello. Finally on XX/XX/XXXX, I called back and spoke with a representative named XXXX, who stated that all communication must happen in writing, prompting this letter. 

Following that conversation, we wrote a letter, as instructed, outlining this situation. Nearly a month later, we received a letter stating that they needed more information, which we provided in a timely manner, before sending a letter on XX/XX/XXXX indicating that CitiBank is again refusing to make corrections and now refuses to acknowledge any errors. 

At this point, my wife and I have invested more than 12 hours in attempting to resolve issues that stem from CitiBanks systematic payment processing errors and a lack of timely notification when errors did occur, directly causing payment delays. Despite Citis errors, we worked quickly to correct errors and make payments as soon as we were notified. Those delays never exceeded 55 days, despite having to sometimes wait two written billing cycles before finding CitiBanks errors. 

Payments were authorized on our end each month in a timely manner through Citis systems that exceeded minimum payments. 

The on-going credit reporting error continues to cause significant harm.

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 explanation