Consumer complaint received 2023-11-03
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Can't close your account
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION (FL)

This complaint is a continuation of the following complaints that have been closed without resolution : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I personally appeared at Fifth Third Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Florida to close my accounts XXXX I met with a banker that handled the transaction. The accounts were closed and funds were disbursed to me by Cashiers Check. The reason cited for closing the accounts was an inability to access the accounts online and having to appear in person at the branch was inconvenient. Two previous attempts to gain online access took an inordinate amount of time and required working with IT. In an attempt to retain my business, I was offered a higher interest rate, but declined, stating that an inability to access my accounts online was both an imperative and a deal breaker ; Fifth Third Bank had been given sufficient time to resolve the issue, to no avail. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX, unbeknownst to me, a transfer was initiated in the amount of {$150.00} from my XXXX XXXX account to be deposited into a CLOSED Fifth Third Bank account. Repeated phone calls over the course of several days resulted in several managers at Fifth Third Bank vehemently denying that they had initiated the transfer, cited the fact that the account had been closed and that they would not have initiated a transfer to an account that a customer had closed. They claimed that the transfer had been initiated by XXXX XXXX, and that perhaps they were unaware that the account had been closed. At the same time, XXXX XXXX denied initiating the transfer. Fortunately, the mystery was solved with the discovery of an email in my spam folder that identified Fifth Third Bank as the initiator of the transfer. 

I contacted XXXX XXXX Bank seeking advice on how to prevent FUTURE transfer to this closed account and they advised me to place a stop payment on the account, preventing Fifth Third Bank from unauthorized transfers. I followed their advice and placed the stop payment on the XXXX XXXX account. This was done AFTER the transfer had been made, not BEFORE, and this is where Fifth Third Bank conflates the facts. 

Fifth Third Bank claims that no transfer took place due to the stop payment placed on my XXXX XXXX account. However, I would not have placed a stop payment on the XXXX XXXX account without having experienced this chain of events that lead me to this pont as there would be no reason to do so. 

It was discovered that Fifth Third Bank REOPENED this closed account to initiate an unauthorized transfer from XXXX XXXX. Additionally, Fifth Third Bank has refused to CLOSE this account allowing it to accrue exorbitant overdraft fees in the amount of {$87.00} while demanding payment of {$150.00} for the transfer they claim they did not receive and for which they have failed to submit evidence of funds having been returned. 

This issue has not been resolved. Fifth Third Bank simply continues to reiterate the same inaccuracies without providing any documentation to support their claim.