Consumer complaint received 2026-05-06 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to make a sincere complaint about a deposit that was made to my husband and Is joint checking account with Citibank on XX/XX/year>. We deposited our IRS refund check in the amount of {$11000.00}. We deposited this at the after hours teller and saw the transaction reflected in our online account immediately. However, after over a week of the check not clearing, we became concerned. My husband called Citibank customer service and was told to wait a few more business days. A few more business days later when it still did not clear, my husband went in person to the branch. The branch XXXX found that the check had not been properly endorsed in that it turns out that both my husband and I needed to endorse it since it was in both our names and only XXXX of us had endorsed it. We were told that the check was being mailed back to us and all we needed to do was bring it back to the bank properly endorsed. We were told this could take up to XXXX business days. XXXX business days later when the check still did not arrive, we went back to the bank. The branch XXXX did their best, but could not figure out what had happened to the check. She submitted an investigation to find out what happened to the check and we were told that in XXXX more business days we would be given a provisional credit for the amount of the check if it still was not found. Several days later we received a letter from Citibank saying that we were going to receive the provisional credit for {$11000.00} ( supposedly the extra {$50.00} were to cover fees that weve incurred ), while they completed their investigation. We were told that we could freely use these funds in the meantime. As you might XXXX, we had already been waiting with anticipation for our IRS refund check and already quite a bit of time had passed. We needed this money to pay credit card bills that already have extremely high interest rates, XXXX of those credit cards is a Citibank credit card. So we paid our bills with a large part of this credited amount, thinking that we would receive a resolution very soon with our check. However, yesterday on XX/XX/year>, we received a letter from Citibank saying that they had included concluded their investigation and determined that the check had already been sent to us and they were removing the provisional credit. We checked our bank account and sure enough, our bank account- for the first time ever - was in the negative for over {$4000.00}. The letter said the credit would be removed in XXXX business days however, they did not wait XXXX business days, it has already been removed. And of course, we still do not have our check. And in the meantime, we have automated bill payments to our checking account that we are not sure how we can handle, in addition to credit card payments. My husband was quite upset and called Citibank customer service. They were less than no help. All they did is tell my husband that he should ask the IRS for a new check. They could not give him any information as to when the check was actually sent out. They were also quite rude and hung up on him. As you can imagine, if we had known from the beginning that they did not have the check at all, we would have just asked the IRS to give us a replacement check in the first place. But by now quite a lot of of time has passed, and we are concerned that the check may have been used fraudulently by someone within the banking system. My husband again went in person to the branch and the branch XXXX tried their best to help, but she said that she had very limited options. She again started an investigation and we were again told that we must wait a few more business days for a response. As you can imagine, in the meantime, we are in a terrible situation. We used funds that should be ours to pay very high credit card bills with high interest. We are now over {$4000.00} in the negative, without any idea as to when we will receive a resolution. My husband and I both work full-time, but we make modest salaries and we can not afford to make up for the shortfall in the meantime. We also have a young child with special needs and tons of expenses for her care. Furthermore, we have already spent so much time making phone calls back-and-forth to Citibank as well as taking time off from work to go in person to the branch. Not to mention, over a month where we were not able to pay a significant amount for our credit card debt and thus incurring even more interest fees. And we still do not know what has happened to our check. I have since called the IRS to ask for a replacement in the hopes that it already hasnt been deposited fraudulently however, despite multiple calls, I was unable to speak to a representative to find out the status. Through their automated system, I was told that I will be mailed a copy of form XXXX. Assuming that the check has not already been fraudulently deposited, as you may know, a replacement check could take quite a while to arrive. We are asking for Citibank to take responsibility for the whereabouts of this check, to again give us the provisional amount until we can receive a replacement check, whenever that might be. In addition, we want to be compensated for the time, extreme stress and high interest fees that we have incurred because of their negligence. I thank you sincerely for your attention to 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 explanation