Consumer complaint received 2025-10-18 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem making or receiving payments
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: MA

Complaint narrative:
For the last several years I have used the " bill pay '' feature at Citizens for my mortgage payments to be sent to XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) in the amount of {$5000.00}. This has been through the ACH/electronic payment method. 

I authorized Citizens to send an ACH on or about the XXXX of each month for this payment, which is in alignment with direct deposits coming from my employer. 

Citizens recently changed their " bill pay '' service provider from XXXX, and within that transition my mortgage payment to XXXX was changed, without my authorization, to : XXXX physical check delivery as opposed to the aforementioned ACH, and -delivery on XX/XX/year> as opposed to the aforementioned XXXX of the month The unauthorized physical check sent out on XX/XX/XXXX was originally presented to Citizens on XX/XX/XXXX, which of course is prior to the other unauthorized date/time delivery instruction of the XXXX of the month, and as a result was returned due to lack of enough funds in the account. That unauthorized physical check was re-presented to Citizens on XX/XX/XXXX ( next day ) and by coincidence a deposit had funded the account that day, and therefore the {$5000.00} check cleared. 

Because of this unusual activity, all of which was unauthorized, I decided to check with XXXX to ensure the account was in good order. XXXX had not received any payment. 

At this point I called Citizens and spoke with at least XXXX individuals who were not helpful. The customer service representatives did not seem to have a basic understanding of banking operations. I have since spoken with at least another XXXX representatives and there were very few individuals that have been remotely helpful or have even been patient enough to listen to me. I have, to date, spent at least XXXX hours of my time speaking to and waiting on hold with Citizens. 

Because I did not get any clear answers from Citizens as to why my mortgage company was not in receipt of the now cleared {$5000.00} from my Citizens account, I had to do the research myself. I have personally been in banking for over 25 years, serving mainly in senior compliance roles for large national banks ( including Citizens ), so I have an understanding of banking. 

As I began this research it came to my attention that the aforementioned unauthorized physical check was delivered to an incorrect address for XXXX. My understanding is that within the XXXX transition, XXXX provided Citizens with original addresses of payees as opposed to updated addresses, which calls into question the change management and third party oversight practices at Citizens. 

As a result of this mismanaged " bill pay '' provider transition the address for XXXX on my account was incorrect. This probably should have gone through some type of quality assurance check prior to the implementation. Because the address was incorrect my ( unauthorized ) physical check was sent to, what I can gather, an XXXX XXXX XXXX ( the phone company ) check processing physical address. 

That check was then endorsed by XXXXXXXX XXXX  XXXX ( see attachment ), presented ( twice ) to Citizens, and paid by Citizens. Citizens paid XXXX XXXX XXXX my {$5000.00} on XX/XX/year>, which is as of this writing 24 days ago. 

In the interest of clarity : -Citizens sent a physical check when I authorized an ACH -Citizens sent the unauthorized physical check 9 days before authorized -Citizens sent the early, unauthorized physical check to an incorrect address ( that was incorrect due to lack of XXXX in transition of " XXXX XXXX '' providers ) -Citizens cleared the check endorsed by a different party ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) -I have been without my {$5000.00} for 24 days ( if not for savings I would be late on my mortgage payment ) Every time I call Citizens it seems like I have to start this narrative from the beginning. I have filed multiple claims, each I am told takes XXXX business days to complete. Many of those claims has been closed without even the courtesy of someone calling me. 

As noted above I have many years of experience in this industry so I have really tried to be understanding and patient with the process. But I have grown extremely impatient now and I have no alternative than to file this complaint. 

The remedy here is simple. Please deposit the {$5000.00} back into my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief