Consumer complaint received 2025-07-12 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/25 I opened a savings account and a checking account online at Citi.com. I already had a credit card with them and already had a login and password. After creating the accounts I transferred {$100.00} into each using my XXXX debit card. Both transactions seemed to go through and showed balances in the accounts although they were not " available '' yet. I understood that and it was not a problem. 

On XX/XX/25 I went to my credit union to close out my accounts with them as I had just retired and they were no longer convenient for me. Originally they were XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and were later merged into XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. This month they re-branded themselves as " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '', but the account numbers and routing numbers remained the same. 

On XX/XX/25, I closed my share and draft accounts and was given a " Official Check/Money Order '' ( says that on the top of the check ) for the balances of my closed accounts ( combined ). I signed the check and used the Citi app mobile deposit to deposit the check in my new Citi Bank savings account. I received an email saying that the deposit had been accepted, but needed to complete processing before it would be available. I was fine with that. 

On XX/XX/25 I received an email : -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Your Citi account ( s ) will automatically close within 60 days Hi, XXXX. We periodically review customer accounts and assess account activity. Based on a recent review of your Citi ( R ) Accelerate Savings account, we found that you have violated the terms of your account per the client manual. 

As a result, your Citi ( R ) Accelerate Savings account and any other Citi accounts you have will be closed within 60 days of the date of this communication. All of your accounts are now restricted from receiving deposits or credits, effective immediately. 

With your account closing, please remember to :..... 
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Being cautious of scams, I went online to Citi.com and tried to log into my account. The result was this message in red : " Your information doesn't match our records. Try again, or reset your password. '' I have never had any problems logging in before and my password was saved on my machine. I tried my mobile app on my phone... same result. 

The email provided a phone number, but I am cautious of scams, so I went to Citi.com and got the number from the Contact Us page. I called them at XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/25. I talked first with an account department person who told me that he could see that my account was blocked. I was locked out of the online access for security reasons. So, he transferred my call to the Security department. After trying to talk to the woman who had so much background noise and a very loud bird, I convinced her that I could not hear her. She made adjustments so I could hear her. Both she and the first person I talked to had thick XXXX accents, but once the line was cleared, I could understand them. 

I told the woman how I had opened the accounts and how I had deposited the check from my credit union. I gave her all the details including the amount of the check from the credit union. She said the security issue was related to the check and she put me on hold to try to contact the credit union. She said they were not opened yet and I would have to call Citi back when the credit union was opened. 

So, I waited until XXXX and called the same number again. This time the account department person told me what I already read in the email... verbatim. I tried to get him to stop talking and listen to me, but he didn't stop until I started crying and begging him to listen to me. He said he could give me the number for the Security department, but I begged him to just transfer me like they had done earlier that morning so I wouldn't have to wait on hold. I was transferred to a woman who started to tell me the same thing the man had, but her accent was harder to understand and the line wasn't stable and I was afraid the call would be dropped. Again, she wouldn't listen to me until I started crying again. Then she said she'd transfer me to the security department. ( Apparently, she wasn't in the security department after all ). Then I got another XXXX woman, but who spoke very clear XXXX. I explained everything again, and she insisted that the accounts were already being closed. I asked why and she would not tell me. She said I would get a letter in the mail. 

I asked if the check had already been processed or was not even started. If not started, I could just deposit the check in another bank locally. She said she would try to contact " Federal Credit Union '' and put me on hold. At this point I realized that none of the people I talked to had any clue what a federal credit union was. The first guy had asked for clarification on the check on my credit card and I had corrected him to say it was on a federal credit union. He said " Oh. OK '' so I explained what a credit union was. Later I explained the same thing to the woman in the security department. 

After trying to get clarification for 45 minutes and trying to convince them that when the check cleared everything would be clearly valid, she still insisted that my accounts would be closed and the balances would be sent to me in 60 business days. 

Since the credit union official check is only valid for 90 days, 60 business days ( 12 weeks ) would be too long to wait and see if it cleared, I contacted the credit union via secure message today. I am waiting for their response as to whether the check has been processed or not. 

I can not believe that any reasonable bank would be so unwilling to work with a customer.

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