Consumer complaint received 2017-02-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: IL
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I opened a checking account in XX/XX/XXXX with Citibank because the account offered a {$400.00} bonus if certain terms were met. Citibank made requests to me at that time to obtain pieces of information including a copy of my driver 's license. I provided all required documentation & funding information prior to the XX/XX/XXXX deadline that Citibank relayed to me. 
The main issue stemmed from Citibank indicating it did n't receive a copy of my license, which I made several attempts to provide. I originally mailed a copy on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank ( because I knew that I needed to still fund the account to meet the terms of the bonus ; however, the account had still not showed setup when I checked online, which is how I had planned to fund the account ), & they indicated they did n't receive the copy of my license I had mailed. I expressed my concerns of providing another copy due to the fact that Citibank would likely not receive the documentation by the XX/XX/XXXX deadline. After speaking with a supervisor, he agreed to overnight me an envelope so that I could overnight a copy of my license back & meet the deadline ( the other option was via fax, but I did n't initially have a way of doing that ). 
Soon after, I figured that I could fax a copy of my license from the XXXX, so I called Citibank back to obtain their fax number. Immediately after, XXXX faxed my license three different times to Citibank to ensure it was legible. While still at XXXX I called Citibank back to verify they received the fax & that it was legible. Citibank indicated they could not verify receiving the fax for 24 hours. 
After realizing I would no longer be able to fund my account online due to the XX/XX/XXXX deadline, I moved money ( {$15000.00} ) from my XXXX Account to my XXXX Account ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). This was done because as indicated by Citibank 's Welcome Packet in order to fund the account by telephone it must come from an existing checking account. On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank to provide them with my account information. At this time I also made attempts to verify that my fax was received ; however, no confident validation was received. Given this, I decided to overnight another copy of my driver 's license to be on the safe side. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank to verify that my account was fully activated and still eligible to receive the {$400.00} bonus. After speaking with a supervisor, he indicated the account had been closed for incompleteness ( on this day-XX/XX/XXXX-due to not receiving a copy of my driver 's license ). After explaining what had happened, he tracked down the copy that had been overnighted & saw that it was received on XX/XX/XXXX. The supervisor reopened the account & indicated that all information had been received. He also confirmed that I was still eligible for the bonus. 
After waiting 120 days per the terms of the {$400.00} bonus, I called Citibank to see why the bonus had not been added to my account. They indicated my deposit had not shown in the account until XX/XX/XXXX, which missed the XX/XX/XXXX deadline. I explained the error the bank had made at account opening & so an investigation was started on XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a supervisor over concerns of leaving {$15000.00} in an account making almost no interest. She indicated the account could be closed & that the bonus could be paid via check after the investigation was complete. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called to close the account. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a response to the investigation dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating the account had been closed on XX/XX/XXXX & was no longer eligible for the bonus. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a complaint. A supervisor ultimately requested the fax transmission verification report from XX/XX/XXXX. I faxed it to Citibank. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a response. It said my request was denied due to the funding date. 
In all, the bank 's practices are deceptive & I have been financially harmed.

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