Consumer complaint received 2017-09-13
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NJ)

On XX/XX/XXXX I opened a new citi checking account. The account was opened under promotion XXXX. 
The terms of the promotion are : 1. Open a new Regular Checking account in the Citibank account package by XX/XX/XXXX. 
2. Within 30 days after account opening, make a minimum deposit of {$15000.00} or more into your new Checking or new or existing Savings Plus account or Citi Savings account.

3. A minimum balance of {$15000.00} is required to be maintained in the Checking account or existing Citibank Savings Plus Account or Citi Savings account for 60 days from the date of deposit is made. 
4. In addition, initiate one qualifying direct deposit must post to the new checking account each month for 2 consecutive calendar months after opening the new checking account. Citi Savings account. 

Once the terms are met, I would receive a {$300.00} bonus. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email with the attached letter requesting documentation proving my address. We had just moved to a new home at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. The letter asked for A copy of your most recent utility bill showing your name and current home address. We had not yet received any utility bills and I was unable to provide the information immediately. I did provide a copy of our mortgage statement but was told that was insufficient. Furthermore, my name was not on our electric bill, only my spouses name. I had to speak to someone to get confirmation that providing that bill along with bank statements or credit card statements would be sufficient proof. 
I sent in the information that week. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email that my used ID was established. I proceeded to immediately initiate a trial deposit and on XX/XX/XXXX my linked XXXX XXXX account was approved. I then initiated a transfer of {$15000.00} into my account. Due to Citis slow processing the funds arrived on XX/XX/XXXX, however the funds were in fact deducted from my XXXX account ( see attached XXXX statement ) on XX/XX/XXXX. This means that while they may have not been available in my account until XX/XX/XXXX, Citi had the funds in hand on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received and email stating I would not get the {$300.00} bonus as The required deposit balances were not met. 

I contacted citi on XX/XX/XXXX and on XX/XX/XXXX to argue that I should get the bonus as I was unable to deposit the funds right away due to citi requiring address verification. It took almost 4 weeks for the process to complete. As such I had no access to the account and there was no way to initiate any deposit. They did not give me an account number or a debit card that would activate until they completed verification. As such, the 30 days should start from when the address verification was completed. At the very least, it should start from the date I received the email ( XX/XX/XXXX ) or even the date of the pdf in the email ( XX/XX/XXXX ), both of which would result in the deposit completing on the 30th day ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 
The response from citi ( attached ) stated : Unfortunately, your account does not qualify for this promotion because the required deposit and direct deposit were not made within the stated timeframe '' This was the identical response i received both times i called. The response appears generic and automatically generated. It does not appear anyone actually did more than superficial research into my request. 

Furthermore, I initiated and had all funds transferred out of my external account by day 27 from account opening ( XX/XX/XXXX ). Every other bank transfers funds within 2 business days. Requesting the transfer on XX/XX/XXXX would result in funds availability by XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. There is no reason the transfer took so long, nor should I be penalized for citis slow processes.