Consumer complaint received 2016-09-13
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: RI
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Other bank product/service
Issue: Making/receiving payments, sending money

Complaint:
The purpose of this correspondence is to lodge a formal complaint against Citizens Bank, N.A. I believe Citizens is condoning fraud and has refused to assist me in the return of funds deposited into an unknown account resulting from a XXXX XXXX transaction. XXXX is a service provided by Citizens that allows for the transfer of funds from XXXX bank account to another by using an email address, mobile, or bank account number. 

On XXXX XXXX, I used this service to transfer funds to a friend using her mobile number. Surprisingly, the funds were never deposited into her account. Upon further investigation, we XXXX learned from XXXX XXXX that the funds were deposited into a XXXX XXXX account. I believe the error occurred because, according to XXXX XXXX, phone numbers are verified every two years. My friend has had her current mobile number for 1.5 years. We think the funds may have been deposited into the account of the person who previously had her mobile number which had a routing number associated with XXXX XXXX. Whatever happened, I do n't know but I 'm out {$200.00}. Further, it should not be left up to me alone to figure out. XXXX would think my bank would investigate and assist me in sorting the matter - NOT!! 

XXXX XXXX suggested that I file a claim with Citizens Bank to have to the money returned to my account. I also spoke with customer service at XXXX XXXX who also suggested the same. Upon contacting Citizens and speaking to numerous customer service representatives via telephone, I was told by Citizens that I had to work directly with XXXX XXXX to resolve this matter and Citizens gave me the XXXX number for customer service. I found this counsel beyond insane as I have no authority to ask XXXX XXXX to do anything on my behalf ( especially since I am not a customer of XXXX XXXX ) nor do I have any understanding of the inner-workings of the banking industry to understand how to resolve this matter. When I contacted XXXX XXXX again, even they though it totally absurd and unprofessional that Citizens would have me call their bank for assistance! My friend also went to a XXXX XXXX branch and spoke to a customer service representative. Again, the advice was to have Citizens Bank file a claim. 

After speaking to numerous customer services representatives via telephone at Citizens to no avail, I went to my local branch on XXXX XXXX in XXXX seeking resolution. At the branch location, I spoke with XXXX XXXX, Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager. XXXX XXXX told me she would look into the matter and follow-up. About one week later, XXXX XXXX called me and explained that I needed to call XXXX XXXX to resolve the issue. Again, I explained to XXXX XXXX that XXXX XXXX made it very clear that they would not address the matter until XXXX Bank filed a claim. Since that conversation, I 've left several messages for XXXX XXXX as well as followed-up with an email. To date, I 've not been given the courtesy of a return phone call nor any follow-up correspondence. It is apparent that XXXX refuses to assist me in resolving this matter and seems not to have a basic protocol in place to deal with this type of issue. Basically, it 's been swept under a rug! XXXX is condoning fraud, their indifference is offensive, {$200.00} of my money was deposited into an authorized account, and all of this is unacceptable! 

I am hoping CFPB can assist in resolving this matter before I explore my legal options.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation