Consumer complaint received 2018-12-15
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I had signed up for a Citibank promotional offer in XX/XX/2018. The promotional offer was to earn {$400.00} for opening a new checking and savings account and complete qualifying activities. The qualifying activities listed on the promotion included depositing {$15000.00} into the new checking or savings account and maintaining that balance for 60 consecutive calendar days. According to the promotional text, that was all I needed to do. I deposited {$15000.00} into the account within 10 days of opening the account and held the funds in the savings account for 60 consecutive calendar days. In XX/XX/2018, two months after opening the account, I was expecting to receive the {$400.00} bonus. I called Customer Service and was surprised to hear that I would need to wait another 60 days before receiving the bonus. I then lowered by balance in the savings account to {$10000.00}, the minimum amount required by the bank to avoid a monthly fee. All throughout this time, my checking account was open but did not have a balance. In XX/XX/2018, I received an email notifying me that I had met all qualifying activities and would earn {$400.00}. However, when I logged into my online account, I noticed my checking account had been closed automatically by the bank. I called customer service to inquire and learned my checking account was closed due to XXXX balance after 90 consecutive days. As a result, I would not qualify to earn the {$400.00} sign up bonus because both checking and savings account needed to be open at the time of their bonus deposit. I feel this promotional offer was deceptive marketing by Citibank. At no time was I ever informed I would need to maintain a balance in my checking account. The Customer Service representative even said I would have qualified to get the bonus if I left {$1.00} in my checking account. The promotional text does not specify which account to leave the money in, so I left it in the savings account due to potential interest. I tried to explain my situation to Citibank but to no avail. The customer service representative said she would note my story down as feedback for future promotions but offered nothing else. As a result, I closed my savings account and did not receive any bonus even though at this point I have left my money with them for 4 months. I could have been better off not opening the accounts in the first place and leaving these funds in a high yield savings account elsewhere earning 2 %. I have had bank accounts elsewhere and have never seen them being closed automatically for XXXX balance. This was a deceptive tactic by Citi so that some consumers who signed up for the promotion would " drop-out '' of their program by purposely closing their accounts after 90 days. I would like Citi to clarify their promotional offers to future consumers so they do not have the same experience as I did.

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