Consumer complaint received 2023-11-22
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (NY)

Im writing to file a formal complaint against Citizen Access Online savings bank. They have been holding my money hostage since XX/XX/XXXX through no fault of my own, and to date has not been released it to me.

Below I will detail the events that have taken place to the best of my ability. Much of this is from memory, cross referenced with notices from Citizens and my own phone call records. Throughout this entire ordeal they have refused to give me anyones e-mail address or phone number to contact them, and I have had to go through their general customer service number anytime I needed to speak to someone, and their customer service supervisors have mostly only been available to call me back. They do record all of their phone conversations though, so Citizens does have a record of everything that was said in these phone calls which I will detail to the best of my ability here.

I received a check in the amount of XXXX from a settlement awarded to me through the NYS Division of Human Rights, from an insurance company. Anticipating the checks arrival I opened a new saving account with Citizens Access due to their high interest rates. Citizens Access is the online only division of Citizens Bank, and as such, once I received the check, I deposited it on XX/XX/XXXX on the mobile app, the only way available to me. That same day I received a notice from the bank, all of my communications were set to electronic only, so these showed up instantly on the app. This was a notice of delayed funds availability, notifying me that the funds would be available on XX/XX/XXXX. This is the day I made my first phone call to them on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX and lasted for 5 minutes. I believe during this call I was told by a customer service rep. that it was just a large amount of money, so they placed an extra hold on it.

The next day I received 2 notices concurrently, the first saying that they were extending the hold on my check till XX/XX/XXXX due to some check information is inconsistent with other check information. This was also the reason given on all the other extended hold notifications that would come in the future, so I dont repeat over and over again. The next notice, which arrived at the same time, was informing me that my account had been frozen, and all account services and related agreements were terminated when the freeze was place on my account. So I once again called them to find out what was going on. I called at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and the call lasted for 6 mins. This phone call I was told by a customer service rep. that there was a problem with the check and I had to contact the issuer of the check to find out what was wrong. They refused to give me any more information than that, but also said that my account wasnt frozen or closed at that time. So I called the lawyer who represented me from the NYS Division of Human right and told him what they said and he reached out to the lawyer from the insurance company. At this time I believe it took a few days for him to get back to me, due to the holidays, but when he did I was told theres nothing wrong with the check and the insurance company said the check is good.

I called Citizens access back again on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX for 9 minutes to reiterate what I had been told by the lawyer and at this time I had asked to speak to a supervisor because the regular customer service reps refused to give me any information what so ever, I was told one would call me back when they were available. The next two phone calls in my record were an incoming call from Citizens access on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX which lasted for 4 mins and an outgoing call to Citizens from me on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX which lasted for 22 mins. These are the from the same conversation, the supervisor had called me but we got disconnected so I had to call him back and go through the general customer service line again. Its during this call that I believe the supervisor told me that my deposit looked suspicious, and they were rejecting my check and choosing not to do business with me. When I asked what was wrong with the check, I was again given the line that Id have to speak to the issuer of the check, so I once again did that.

So I called the NYS DHR lawyer again to relay the information I was given and he contacted the insurance companys lawyer to relay to him and the company. When the NYS DHR lawyer got back to me that day, he told me the insurance company again said the check was fine, and if the bank was rejecting it because my deposit in a brand new account looked suspicious, I should deposit it in my regular bank account. They also said they had never had anything like this happen and found it highly unusual.
So on XX/XX/XXXX I call Citizens Access again, Im speaking to the same supervisor I had before and I tell him what I was told by the lawyers. I said, The insurance company and the lawyer told me that if you are rejecting the check, than I should be free to deposit it in another account then. So I want to make sure before I do that, I want to double check and make sure you did not cash this check, and that you are rejecting it. I was told by the customer service supervisor that yes, we are rejecting the check, it has not been cashed and I am free to deposit it in another account. In fact maybe youll have better luck depositing it in an established account. So being that the insurance companys lawyer told me to do that, and it was cleared and given the ok by the supervisor at Citizens, I did that. I attempted to deposit the check in my existing checking account with another bank, XXXX.

The check was almost immediately rejected from my normal bank as well. And when I called them to ask why, I was given the same answer you have to speak to the issuer of the check. So I called my lawyer, who called their lawyer and everyone abound was dumbfounded. Nobody had any idea what was going on. The insurance company lawyer did say one thing, we can issue you a new check and you can try that, we just need you to return the one you have and we have to make sure this one hasnt been cashed. It turns out when the insurance company lawyer reached out to their finance department, they said that the check had in fact been cashed and they were unable to issue me a new one due to this. So now Im flabbergasted, and I can still see the check in my account pending.

On XX/XX/XXXX I receive two more notices from Citizens, one telling me again my account had been frozen and terminated on the XXXX and the other telling me the hold on the check had been extended to XX/XX/XXXX. So is the account frozen and closed or is it still open and the check has a hold on it? I place several calls to Citizens that day and the next day, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, 6 in total. I dont remember each conversation individually but the gist of the important conversation goes like this. Out of the 6 calls, I believe I spoke to the supervisor twice, the first call and the last call. Basically during one of these calls he tells me that, YES, we did actually in fact cash that check even though I originally told you we were rejecting it. And no, you wont be getting that money. He tells me that when the hold in XXXX  is lifted, that they will send the funds back to the issuer of the check, and no matter what, I will not be getting it from them, and they wont give me any more information on the matter or why.

So I go back to the lawyers and tell them. And Im basically told that if/when they lift the hold on the check and if the insurance company does in fact receive the money, then and only then will they issue me another check. Because as far as they are concerned they have fulfilled their obligation to pay me, and the check has been cashed.
I dont contact the lawyers or the bank again until XX/XX/XXXX, by which time the hold should have been lifted. By this time the bank has removed my access to view my account, so I cant even see if they money is still there or not. So on this day I called again, the call lasted for 30 minutes. Im told the hold has been extended and that they sent me a notice about it already in the mail. I tell them I received no such notice. They tell me the hold has been extended again until XX/XX/XXXX. Thats another 5 months. So I reiterate that Im not receiving these notices in the mail, and they swear up and down that they have in fact been mailing them to me, so I tell them to send me 3 copies of the last notice, I want to make sure I get it. It never arrives.

The next call I make to them is onXX/XX/XXXX and I believe this call was about not receiving any of the communications they had been sending anymore. I finally get a hold of a customer service agent who understands whats happening when I tell her I no longer have access to the account, and that my preferences were originally set to digital only, so even though they think they are mailing them to me, they are in fact not, and they are going to an account I can no longer access. This agent tells me she is going to try and figure it out and change my preferences so I will receive them in the mail.

On XX/XX/XXXX I receive a phone call from Citizens. Its a customer service supervisor telling me that they have granted me access to view the account again so I can read the communications theyve been sending me. But the account is restricted, so I cant deposit, withdraw or move any money. I say ok, thanks.

On XX/XX/XXXX I call Citizens as the hold on the check should have been lifted, and when I look at the account in the app, it does in fact look like the check finally cleared. So I want to clarify this. And Im told that it did in fact clear, but the account is still restricted and I cant move or do anything with the money. So essentially, it made no difference that the check cleared; I still cant access the money.

Over the next two months I place and receive 5 more calls to Citizens on two on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. All of these phone calls are related to trying to get Citizens to unrestrict the account so I can access and use my money. I am rebuffed at every call and told they are working on it. The last call I had on XX/XX/XXXX I actually talked to a different supervisor and I tell her this entire tale Ive laid out before you. I tell her everything, about the other supervisor lying to me and that all of it is backed up by their own recording system, and that will prove me right. She tells me she is going to see what she can do and they will call me back when the restriction is lifted and this is resolved. It now over two months later and I havent heard a word from them.

Theyve had my money for almost a year now. I need this money, it was awarded to me because of my XX/XX/XXXX. And Im suffering without it and my life is made more difficult. I had planned on using it to put a down payment on a house so I could stop living in an apartment, which is difficult for me. And theyve been holding it hostage for almost an entire year, completely due to their own negligence and mistakes. Yet Im the one that suffering the consequences.

A couple things Id like to add to all this. Throughout all these phone calls, their customer service staff and supervisors had mentioned their fraud department. I was told numerous times their fraud department was investigating or that they had finished their investigation etc. One thing I know for a fact, throughout this whole thing Citizens Bank never contacted my lawyer, the insurance companys lawyer, the insurance company or their bank, and I know they had their contact info; I gave them my lawyers at least. I know this because it was discussed among myself and the lawyers. Citizens Access never did their due diligence investigating anything concerning this check.

The other thing is, and this is very important, that at some point during one of these phone calls and I cant recall which one, one of the regular customer service reps let it slip that the reason for all these extended holds, and the restricted account was because I tried to deposit the check in another account after I had already deposited it with them. Until this point, no one at Citizens would give me a reason to why all this was happening. Now I at least knew. So all of this has happened because in the beginning I was told the check was being rejected, and when I was advised to deposit it in another account, I called that same supervisor back to make absolutely sure that was ok. And he told me exactly that yes, we are rejecting the check and you are free to try and deposit it in another account. So he either lied to me, or was wrong, but either way I was told that this action was acceptable by Citizens themselves.

As I said above, the customer service supervisor refused to give me an email address or direct line to call so I could get through to him to discuss this very frustrating drawn out thing. And because of that, I have none of this in writing from them. But as I also said, they do record all their phone calls, and everything I just said can be found on their own recordings, but I obviously dont have access to them. So hopefully you do.

Ive included copies of my phone records; the black dots denote phone calls to and from Citizens Access customer service. Ive also attached copes of the notices they sent me.