Consumer complaint received 2016-09-23
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management — 
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION (GA)

I have been banking with Regions for several years. I feel I was a victim of a very unfair and unprofessional practice that I want to bring to your attention. I shared my concerns with Regions and even escalated to Regions management, but I still and not satisfied with their response. I am facing a possible foreclosure and keeping track of my finances is very critical for me right now. I opened a second checking account with Regions a few months ago to help keep my bill money separate from my spending money because I was having trouble with overdrafts. For a variety of reasons, my main checking account was recently overdrawn but I had a few dollars in my savings account which has overdraft protection. Funds were pulled from my savings to try to cover the negative balance, but they were not sufficient enough to bring the account to the positive. So in order to keep my next pay check from being depleted trying to cover the overdraft, I deposited it into my XXXX checking account. I thought it would be safe there so I could access it when needed to pay my bills. Mind you I have 60 days to resolve the matter with my account and bring it positive before it is closed out. The problem is that Regions has a policy, called " sweeping '' where they will pull monies from any accounts linked to my name to help cover the negative balance. So on XXXX/XXXX/16 they deducted {$380.00} from my account without my knowledge. I was continuing to use my debit card for a few days thinking I had money in my account. After my card was declined on a transaction, I looked at my online transaction history to see what happened. I was confused until I saw a strange deduction from my XXXX account that went to my XXXX account. I then sent an email to the bank asking them to explain what happened and why they did it. They explained that their policy allows them to sweep all linked accounts after 15 days to try to recover funds. I do n't have a problem with such a policy, but it was new knowledge to me. I had another account with Regions a few years ago that closed and at no time did they " sweep '' my main account to help cover it. So I was not aware of that practice. I found out after I contacted customer support AND a few days later when they mailed me a letter stating they withdrew the funds. My problem is that in all fairness and respect, I should have been contacted prior to them withdrawing the funds so I would know what to expect. Taking money without my knowledge, to me is wrong. Again, having had several cards and accounts with Regions I admittedly always do n't read the super small print on the brochures when the cards arrive in the mail. But again, my trust and knowledge was formed from my years of service with them and the fact this has never happened before. How much more effort would it take to notify a consumer BEFORE such drastic actions as opposed to AFTER. Now both of my accounts are overdrawn. The amount the deducted did not even bring the account current. It simply overdrew them both. On top of that, the charges I continued to make with my card, caused overdrafts too. And what I think is fair, is they they credit me the cost of the overdrafts because I did not knowingly and willingly make transactions against a negative balance. The negative balance from my XXXX account was created when they took out the money. What I would like is for their process to be challenged so that the consumer has fair and advanced notice/warning of what is expected to happen. I feel they do n't respect me or my concerns. If I had several thousand in the bank I would not have even noticed it. But I do n't have that kind of money. And I am facing foreclosure and other pressing issues, and every dollar is important to me right now. I just want to be heard and respected. And I hope you can challenge them on this practice.