Consumer complaint received 2015-09-03
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I am writing to complain about ineffective and deceptive banking services provided by Citibank : Citibank enrolled me in Checking Plus, a deceptive and predatory product ; provided me inadequate assistance when I indicated concern about my account ; provided me notices in a language I do not understand ; and failed to investigate fraud I suspected occurred on my account. 
In or around XX/XX/XXXX I noticed on my statement that I was enrolled in a product called Checking Plus ( " CP '' ) and that it appeared I had taken out a {$3200.00} loan. I did not recall consenting to the opening of the CP account, so I went to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, my local Citibank, to inquire about CP. The branch employee told me that CP was merely a loan offer. I understood CP to be a conventional loan, and I thought I would have to request money at a branch to utilize CP. The bank employee did not explain that Citibank would automatically transfer money to my checking account if I had a negative balance, or that I would be charged fees and interest without prior notice from Citibank. 
I told the representative that I only spoke XXXX, and I plainly brought in a statement in English. Citibank did not offer to provide XXXX notices at this time. During the next three years, I continued to reach out in XXXX about problems with my accounts and request statements in XXXX -- both via phone and at my local branch -- but I was never offered XXXX statements or notices. The bank 's failure to provide information in XXXX has made it impossible to fully understand my accounts or address my concerns with the bank. 
During the next two years, I continued to bank as I had in the past. But because I was misinformed about how CP worked, I accumulated at least {$260.00} in fees and {$3400.00} in debt-at least {$630.00} of this amount in interest. Because my paycheck is deposited on Fridays, on Saturdays I would check my balance and then withdraw funds from my checking account for the upcoming week at my local branch ATM. I would never withdraw more than the displayed balance. With legal help, I recently learned that an automatic {$50.00} transfer to my saving account processed on Monday morning would overdraw my checking account. Instead of notifying me of the negative balance, Citibank automatically borrowed {$100.00} from the CP account at a 18.25 % interest rate and charged a {$10.00} fee. 
Each month I reviewed my statement to ensure my account balances looked correct. Because the fees and loan payments often neared the amount lent from CP to my checking account, I did not realize that I was borrowing money. But between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with Citibank representatives multiple times about the CP account because I was concerned after reviewing my statements. I was assured multiple times that CP was merely money that was available for me to use, even though all along I was actively borrowing money. Nobody explained that Citibank had already transferred money to my checking account, charged me fees, or made automatic payments from my checking account. I also brought up suspected fraud on my accounts but Citibank did not look into the fraud at any point in time. 
I realized that I was in substantial debt because of CP XX/XX/XXXX after I went to withdraw money and my checking balance was much lower than expected because of automatic payments to the maxed out CP account. I again brought up this issue with Citibank representatives : even after speaking to representatives in Spanish, I received written replies in English, which I could not understand. I am now in collections on this account, and continue to receive notices in English. 
Citibank failed to explain this product to me or address my concerns, and has made it impossible for me to effectively bank by communicating with me in English. Because of Citibank 's CP product, I accumulated significant debt, fees, and interest without my consent.

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