Consumer complaint received 2026-02-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
In XXXX of XXXX, Citibank closed my account because of " excess returned payments. '' However, the unauthorized stop payments or the stop payment put on my bank account in error caused Capiton One to return my payments Unbeknownst to me, someone put a " Stop Payment '' against Citibank on XXXX of my checking accounts in XX/XX/XXXX. I did not request a stop payment on my checking account. My credit card balance was XXXX, as I paid my balance in full by the end of the month. I had been doing that for by past XXXX months or so. In XXXX, I made approximately {$3200.00} in charges on my credit card. On about XX/XX/XXXX, I made payment of about {$2300.00} from the checking account I have used for about XXXX XXXX years with Citibank. I used the Citibank platform to make the payment ( which would be taken from my Capital One account ). Several days later, I check my accounts to verify that the payment cleared, but Citibank said the payment " was returned. '' I checked my bank account and there was indeed enough money for the payment to clear, so I was confused. 

I called Citibank first and they just said my bank retuned the payment. When I called my Capital One, they said, " they had not record of a payment request coming from Citibank whatsoever. '' I was confused because I knew I had made the payment and took a screen shot. Not understanding what the problem was, I tested the bill payment platform on Citibank, with a {$5.00} payment, to see if that went through. 

After several calls to each bank, I finally discovered around XX/XX/XXXX, that there was a " Stop Payment '' against Citibank. I told Capital One to remove the stop payment and told them that I never requested a stop payment in the first place. My bank also returned the {$5.00} test payment I made. Capital One assured me that they had removed the stop payment. However, just to be sure, I attempted another {$5.00} payment using the Citibank platform and Capital One returned that payment as well, after they repeatedly told me they had removed the stop payment from my account. 
I decided that I could use the Capital One bill pay platform to pay Citibank. I made a payment from that same checking account to Citibank for the same amount as my first payment and that payment cleared. I once again called Capital One and told them that my test payments did not clear and I escalated the issue to a manager. That manager assured me that the problem had been corrected. He/she apologized and I incorrectly assumed that because my second payment to Citibank cleared XXXX they I would no longer have an issue. Therefore, I went back to the Citibank platform to make a {$900.00} payment, which would pay my balance in full before the billing cycle ended. Unfortunately, Capital One still had a stop payment of my account and it returned the {$900.00} payment I made using the Citibank platform. 
I immediately used the Capital One bill pay option to resend the {$900.00} payment, which Citibank received on approximate XX/XX/XXXX. Both payments I made using the Capital One bill pay option cleared. However, Citibank closed my credit card account that I has since XXXX on XXXX first, even though I had paid my account in full before the end of the billing cycle. The reason on the letter, was they in the past XXXX months, I had to XXXX returned payments. 
I recently spoke to a Citibank representative in XX/XX/XXXX and ask them how many returned payments did I have in XXXX months and in what months? He told me that I had XXXX, XXXX in XXXX of XXXX ( I forgot to deposit money into my checking account before I made the payment ), and the last XXXX were in XX/XX/XXXX. I explained to him that I was not responsible for those. I was unaware of any stop payment initially, but when I discovered the issue, I tried to rectify the problem with my bank, and they bank assured me it corrected the stop payment which it had not. I explain to him that the payments were not returned because of NSF and I subsequent made sure to pay off my balance prior to the billing cycle ending, but Citibank refused to reopen my account and denied my application to open another one. 
I could understand if my payment was late or I never correct the problem before the end of the month. In my case, I was monitoring my accounts and made sure to pay my bill on time and in full. Citibank closing my account hurt my credit score. While I was talking to the representative in XX/XX/XXXX, he mentioned that I also has a late payment in the last XXXX months. I dont believe that is correct information. No late payments appear on my credit report. Further, as I previously stated. I did make a mistake and had a payment returned I XXXX of XXXX, but I made sure to make another payment in full prior to the end of the billing cycle. People make mistakes. I did in XXXX of XXXX, but I fixed it. The issues that happened in XX/XX/XXXX had nothing to do with something I had control over or did myself. However, I corrected the issue prior to the ending of the billing cycle. What more should a creditor expect from a borrow. At the endif of the day, Citibank was not out any money. 
I believe Citibank stating it closed my account for excessive returned payments in pretext. The reason I believe it closed my account is because I made a complaint to the FTC regarding a {$2000.00} charge made on my Citibank card. I disputed the charge, but Citibank bank first did not conduct a reasonable investigation. Then after dropping the ball of the investigation, Citibank said it could not return the money because it had been too long. The issues were simple ; I pay for something. With the card, and the merchant never made or sent the item to me and Citibank refuse to get the money back. I made a payment for an item, but it was neither produced nor delivered to me. Because I paid early, I made the payment long before the XXXX limit of disputing a charge, but it was for retainers that I would not need until the end of my treatment and I never received them. 
Nevertheless, I believe that Citibank should have never closed my account. Further, both banks should have initiated an investigation when I told them both I it was not me that put the stop payment on my account in the first place. I explained all of this to Citibank and it refused to do anything about this matter.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief