Consumer complaint received 2023-05-02
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Closing an account — Funds not received from closed account
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE (CA)

My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX, I am XXXX  years, and my wife, XXXX XXXX XXXX, who is XXXX XXXX XXXX, are both fully retired and XXXX. We are both XXXX  and can not stand up or walk without the help of an aide. To get anywhere, it would require us to order a paratransit as an aide to come along with us. 

On XX/XX/2023, my wife and I with the help of our daughter, XXXX helped open a savings account with Barclays Bank. One of the features we liked about Barclays was their mobile deposit feature since we are both XXXX. We deposited my XXXX Check for {$1800.00} and two other cashiers checks for {$88.00} and {$680.00} exclusively. All the deposits were accepted and cleared but we were told that the funds would not be available until the XXXX of XX/XX/2023. We found this very unusual because normally a government check and a cashiers check from another major bank have guarantees on them. But we waited patiently. They did not offer an ATM nor Debit card for their savings account to give us access to our funds. The only option they provided was to link our account with an external bank account. Unfortunately, we did not have another bank to link to. We did have a XXXX account, which has worked for us tremendously. Barclays required a routing number and an account number from XXXX. We have a debit card with XXXX which was very convenient for us. Most banks would prefer using your debit card for payments and transfers. Again, Barclays Bank did not have that option. We only knew the account number of our XXXX XXXX account, but not the routing number. Our daughter looked it up on the internet and discovered that our XXXX XXXX was serviced by XXXX XXXX. We provided our daughter 's routing number and forwarded it to Barclays Bank along with our XXXX account. Thereafter, we were told by Barclay that it would take 3 to 5 business days to verify the external account. We were livid! It takes XXXX less than a day to verify bank accounts. So, we patiently waited again. The following day we received an email from Barclays stating that they could not verify the account and would require a bank statement of the account. We contacted XXXX, which provided us with a Savings Statement from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/2023, and forwarded it to Barclays. A couple of days later, again we received an email from Barclays stating that they require a bank statement from XXXX XXXX  and not XXXX. We never said we had an account with XXXX XXXX! Barclays insisted on a bank statement from XXXX XXXX  after we stated that we do not have access to such an account but only through XXXX. These went on for days. Since we could not provide a XXXX XXXX  statement, they escalated our predicament to fraud and required us to provide a copy of our drivers license and social security card. We did as instructed. We kept calling to verify receipt of our documents. A couple of days later, not bothering to return our phone calls, we instead receive an email stating that our account has been suspended until further notice. We contacted a XXXX Manager and asked if we could do a three-way call with Barclays to verify our account, but Barclays refused to accept the call. We tried to call again and the receptionist that answered the call stated that our account would be closed, and the funds would be sent back to the original issuer! This act is a total violation of our rights as a consumer and as a bank customer in violation of compliance with the terms and conditions of our agreement which requires them to have full disclosure of the status of our account upon request and refusing to communicate with us upon contact and never replied back to our calls or email and refusing to release our funds.