Consumer complaint received 2022-09-20
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem making or receiving payments
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE (CO)

Huntington Bank has embarked on a pattern of withholding access to my funds under different circumstances because of " suspected fraudulent activities '' even though I have contacted them several times by phone and have been reassured by representatives that problems with suspended debit cards, bank-to-bank transfers, and bill payments will no longer be a problem because all suspected fraudulent activities were, in fact, my regular use of my own funds.. 

It started when Huntington 's fraud department called me to inquire about a {$5.00} purchase at a gas station. I had bought gas at the pump then gone inside to buy a bottle of water and some gum. I had forgotten about the in-store purchase, so I told the Huntington Bank representative that I didn't recall making the purchase. Then they suspended my debit card. When I realized a few days later that I couldn't use my card, I contacted them and they reinstated my access to my card. A couple of days later, I transferred {$5000.00} through their " Bank-to-Bank Transfer '' services to my personal account at another banking institution. Huntington withdrew the {$5000.00} from my account and then waited until the end of the following day ( after close of business ) to notify me that they suspected fraud and had cancelled the transfer and would be returning my {$5000.00} by 3 business days ( I have been deprived of {$5000.00} now for 4 calendar days because I scheduled the transfer Wednesday, Huntington withdrew the funds early Friday morning without transfer, and cancelled the transfer without reversal 7 hours later ). The only online record I have of the cancelled transfer is from Huntington Bank 's email notifications- nowhere in my online account does the interim disposition of my {$5000.00} display. The transfer transaction is not shown in transfers history, perhaps because Huntington also suspended my Bank-to-Bank privileges. Next, and because I needed get some of my Huntington Bank funds into my account with another bank, I decided to do it through Huntington 's " Bill Pay '' facility. Electronically " paying '' the payee known as me at my other bank 's account from funds held in my Huntington Bank account. I scheduled those electronic payments for ( this ) Monday morning, but now Huntington has once again " delayed '' them because of suspected fraud activity. 

This comes on the heels of a telephone conversation I had with a Huntington representative early this morning where I was ensured that all of my online banking services were unrestricted. Of course, Huntington 's system did not notify me that my scheduled payments had been delayed due to suspected fraudulent activities until after the close of business some 6 hours later - thus preventing my access to my own money for yet another day. 

This complaint is about Huntington Bank 's cavalier use of my funds through the obvious disconnect between its heavy-handed fraud detection unit and those customer service representatives making statements about the availability of services and funds to a long time and soon-to-be-former customer ( me ). Someone should look into why all Huntington email notifications to customers regarding scheduled transaction cancellations/delays seem to happen after business hours when it is too late to speak with a customer service representative. It literally adds another day 's use of customer funds by Huntington 's treasury while depriving those customers timely access to their very own funds. The fact that the cancellation of a {$5000.00} transfer of customer funds can literally disappear from a customer 's account online - even as a pending credit - is something that should be investigated by Huntington 's online banking website designer who has obviously failed Accounting 101, or perhaps a bank examiner who is perplexed by how a cancelled {$5000.00} Bank-to-Bank transfer can be be withdrawn from a customer 's account - and remain gone for days - without being reflected anywhere else in the customer 's online records ( including transfers and cancelled transfers ).