Consumer complaint received 2024-12-18
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Funds not received from closed account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (CA)

I opened a checking account with Citibank about two months ago, and deposited a cashier 's check that is under my name from XXXX bank. Ever since the opening, I have been normally depositing and withdrawing funds from this account and even used my debit card for everyday purchases. Considering I have never done any business with Citibank, I was hoping that they would be my new primary bank to do business with. Little did I know, after a few more ACH transfers and check deposits from my employers, Citibank decided to block my account and prohibited me from accessing the account by any means. By this time, I had no idea of exactly how much I had in my account and why my account was frozen. I then called the general customer support, which routed me elsewhere going back-and-forth and eventually to the fraud department. When I spoke to the fraud department for the first time, the representative refused to give the reason for the freeze, let alone didn't even give me a chance to explain my situation and simply hung up. After calling the same department about nine times, I decided to take a day-off from work and stopped by the branch myself only to be told that this seems to be Citibank 's regular practice to lock people out of their accounts and money. The branch manager told me that there is nothing they can do and I'll have to wait 30-60 days for account closure and additional 40-65 days for the check to be generated. I couldn't wait this long as I have around {$5600.00} in this account, and was planning to use this as a security deposit for my new apartment. What I can not fathom is that Citibank doesn't have the intention to unfreeze my account, yet didn't even close my account immediately and just held onto the money. I was then told realistically it will probably take around 90 days for me to receive the funds. They had no good reason or proof that my account involved fraud, yet flagged my account. It seems very astounding when every single one of the Citibank fraud department reps I spoke to gave me different information. One said, my account is yet to be closed, and one said my account closed on XX/XX/XXXX, when another said that he can't disclose any personal information even after I verified my identity. The most recent fraud rep I spoke to on XX/XX/XXXX, told me that I had to verify every single deposit that I made in the account, then he will release the funds. It is a joke when they don't even give me access to the account nor send me the physical statements and ask me to verify the transactions in the account. Considering the absurdity, I believe that Citibank malpractices to nonchalantly " block '' consumers ' accounts for no reason and doesn't immediately close it to circulate and use people 's ' funds. Please inspect Citibank for their misconduct and stop the company from illegally taking peoples ' money. I also have phone recordings to support my claim and below is my account details : Citibank fraud department : XXXX ext. # XXXX Name : XXXX XXXX Account number : XXXX DOB : XX/XX/XXXX