Consumer complaint received 2025-12-16 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
SUMMARY : This complaint is NOT about charges or distribution of funds, or about performance of Customer Service personnel, who were limited by management actions & policies beyond their authority. The complaint is about the bank deleting from my account record items related to an error the bank acknowledged verbally. Items appearing in my online account transaction record one day were deleted by the bank the next day, but remained visible to Customer Service ; then 2 hours later they were also no longer visible to Customer Service.

1 ) I object to the bank deleting entries from my account record in an apparent attempt to cover up documentation of their error. I'm not complaining about the fund allocation error, which the bank corrected promptly, but about the bank 's attempt to hide it from a customer and financial regulation authorities. 
2 ) I question whether it's even legal for a financial institution to alter customer account records in this manner. 

- XX/XX/XXXX Saturday night logged on to Citibank ( CB ) a/c XXXX to make {$92.00} XXXX payt to my daughter ; saw that a/c had an unexpected overdraft of over {$1200.00}, though I hadnt incurred sufficient debits to cause it - thought it best to wait until weekday bsns hrs to resolve - CB has my email & an automated notification system with which they notify me within minutes of every online bill payment I make clearly the system functions but sent me no notification of the overdraft that appeared on my account ; - in order to make the XXXX payt, I transferred {$3000.00} from overdraft protection a/c. 
- XX/XX/XXXX Mon occupied with appointments during day, couldnt call Mon night - logged into CB a/c above to examine record more closely - saw in my online transactions list that CB had entered a {$3200.00} online bill pay't twice ( voided duplicate check from payee attached ), on both XXXX & XXXX, creating the overdraft - then, after Id made the {$3000.00} overdraft protection transfer, CB had credited back the duplicate payment, correcting the a/c balance ; the {$3000.00} overdraft protection transfer had been unnecessary - I was concerned that though CB was aware of this error , theyd made no attempt to contact me about it- again I thought it best to call during business hrs XX/XX/XXXX - logged into above a/c to have specific info to give Cust Svc- the duplicate {$3200.00} debit & subsequent credit I'd seen the previous day were gone from transaction listing - XXXXXXXX XXXX  called Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX, spoke to XXXX about deleted transactions he saw in his internal record the transaction listings that had been deleted from the record I accessed on my account logon ( attached ) apparently he had access to more information about my account than I, the customer ; he acknowledged that Citi had made the duplicate debit, the credit correction, AND had deleted those 2 transactions from the record I could see ; he was unable to provide justification for this action he had no record of Citi trying to contact me about this - XXXX XXXX XXXXollow up call to Customer Svc - at this point the agent I spoke with couldn't see in her internal account info the items the previous agent had seen ; in the past 2 hours they'd apparently been deleted even from internal records accessible to Customer Service; asked for supervisor spoke to XXXX XXXX IXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX re above situation AND {$4.00} interest I'd been charged for the unnecessary {$3000.00} overdraft protection transfer - said XXXX XXXX about XXXX not notifying me of their error, XXXX, or correction ; I want : XXXX ) the listings of the erroneous double payment, overdraft it created, & the credit correcting it restored to my a/c record AND included in my statement when issued ; XXXX ) a letter from XXXX, by email & post, acknowledging the error XXXX correction ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) ; XXXX ) a refund of the {$4.00} interest Ive been charged for the unnecessary {$3000.00} overdraft protection transfer ; XXXX said : the {$3000.00} Ckg+ balance has been cleared from overdraft protection a/c & credited back to my ckg a/c ( I confirm this amount has been credited ) ; & I will receive a letter acknowledging the erroneous double pay't & correction ( have NOT received such a letter ) ; shes not sure if the transaction items will be restored to my a/c listings or if theyll appear on my statement, but my request has been recorded & passed along to upper management XXXX XXXX rcvd letter by email ( attached ) BUT its a generic form letter stating that investigation is completed ; no details with CB acknowledging error in double charge or credit correction XXXX spoke to XXXX, Supervisor, Client Relations ID XXXX - she said a letter specifying details of CB error & correction will be sent by email w/in 24-48 hrs, AND by postal mail w/in 5-7 bsns days XXXX XXXX said a/c record including erroneous duplicate transaction & correction will be restored to online transaction list & will appear in next stmt. 
As of this complaint XX/XX/XXXX the items have not been restored to my online record ; clearly CB is able to make such alterations quickly, based on their deleting the items from my online record overnight & later deleting the items from Customer Service access within 2 hours - Based on their efforts to hide this information, I dont trust Citibank will restore the deleted transaction records & am submitting this complaint to create a written record & ensure that they do restore the deleted records - I cant include supporting documentation of the listing I viewed on XX/XX/XXXX indicating the duplicate payment & reversal because at the time I had no way of knowing Citibank would delete that supporting documentation QUESTIONS TO CFPB : 1 ) Is it legal for a financial institution to delete from a customer 's account record transactions the institution acknowledges occurred, particularly when those transactions are evidence of an error the institution acknowledges it made?

2 ) If so, will CFPB be taking legal action against Citibank for these actions? 
3 ) Do I have grounds for a criminal or civil legal claim against Citibank for these actions?

This complaint has been previously submitted to NYS Dept of Financial Services. They advised they don't have jurisdiction & suggested registering with CFPB : Consumer Complaint Case : XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Date Submitted : XX/XX/XXXX

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