Consumer complaint received 2025-12-29 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I electronically sent myself XXXX from another account to my personal CitiBank checking account on XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. I needed to sent an electronic wire transfer before XX/XX/year> and CitiBank was my only account with the ability to do such a transaction online. CitiBank typically takes one to two business days to process the request. I have been banking with them for several years, and this was never an issue before. While the electronic transfer is processing, the amount appears as " pending. '' I have no problem with waiting for the transaction to be corroborated and legally completed. Once the funds change from " pending '' to " posted '' the transaction has been completed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX appeared as " Posted '' to my CitiBank account. It seemed I had the money available on my CitiBank account since XX/XX/XXXX, which is typically what I would expect. On XX/XX/XXXX, I could see online that the money had already cleared and the transaction appeared as " Completed '' as of XX/XX/year>. The transaction was also listed in the " Posted '' category and credited to my running balance on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I wanted to do the wire transfer, but I could not complete it because the bank did not want to release the {$50000.00}, even though the transaction was posted AND it appeared as completed as of XX/XX/year>. 

I called CitiBank 's customer service and ask for a reason for the hold. They told me they were holding it for another business day and that it would be available the next business day. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I waited on the line until XXXX, who said he was an Account Manager at CitiBank, answer the phone. I asked again why they were holding my XXXX when the transaction appeared as " Completed. '' I told him it was me who did the transaction and I had evidence the money was available and everything was legitimate. I said there was nothing fraudulent or otherwise suspicious about this transaction. They told me they had to hold the money for another day and there was nothing I could say or do to avoid the hold. He confirmed they do this hold on everyone. I asked, though, whether they would hold the money even when the transaction appeared as Completed and Posted. He said " YES. '' I said I have never experienced that in the past, and usually the money is on hold while it is " pending '' and the transaction HAS NOT been completed. I asked again whether there was any legitimate reason or anything to investigate. He said no. I then told him that this was illegal, and that he did not have any reason to hold my money once the transaction was completed. He then insisted the transaction was not Completed, which is not true as the evidence below shows ( I am attaching a print out of the online status that shows it was completed on XX/XX/XXXX. ) I also asked whether there were other debits or pending transactions that would require the bank to hold the money because they would exceed the {$50000.00} and cause an overdraft? They said No. I asked whether there were any pending debits that would cause the account to overdraft, and they said NO. I asked for the pending debits, and confirmed all pending debits were available online. The total of pending debits were less than XXXX. 

I was unable to do the wire transfer, and I will incur in fees and delays because CITI BANK without any reason or justification, did not allow me to withdraw ( or wire ) the money that was already listed as " posted '' in my bank account and that was rightfully mine. It is unfair that the Citibank withholds money for no reason just because no one will dare do anything about it. One day, seems a short time, but in reality they have had that money and being able to invest it since XX/XX/XXXX. It is the little things that go unnoticed and they confirmed during my phone call that they do this same practice with every single American citizen and holds money even though there is no reason to believe fraud or suspicious activity has transpired.

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