Consumer complaint received 2026-05-25 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: MI

Complaint narrative:
1. OVERVIEW OF THE INCIDENT I am filing this formal complaint against Citizens Bank regarding a total, unannounced system failure that completely severed my access to my funds, compounded by negligent and demonstrably false information provided by their customer support team. Despite being a loyal customer for 14 years, I have been left completely locked out of my money during an emergency, and the issue remains unresolved. 2. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS AND SYSTEM GLITCH The incident began Sunday night XX/XX/XXXX. While managing active XXXX workflow deployments for a software project, I urgently needed to purchase software credits ( XXXX via the XXXX XXXX ). My transactions were repeatedly declined. Simultaneously, I needed to send emergency funds to my mother, attempting to use both XXXX ( linked to my debit card ) and XXXX ( linked directly to my checking account routing number ). Both methods failed completely. When I logged into the Citizens Bank mobile app and the desktop online portal to investigate, I was met with systemic errors. Navigating to the " Manage Cards '' section returned explicit errors stating " We couldn't load your debit card information, '' and in some instances, falsely stated that I possessed no debit cards at all. This points to a severe backend detachment on the bank 's end, severing my identity from my accounts. 3. AUTOMATED SECURITY LOCK AND ATM FAILURE Because the bank 's own servers could not verify my card during my initial online transaction attempts, it caused a rapid string of hard merchant declines. I then traveled to a physical Citizens Bank ATM in XXXXXXXX XXXX I was able to execute exactly one initial cash withdrawal. However, when I attempted a subsequent withdrawal, the bank 's automated security algorithmshaving penalized me for the preceding systemic online failureslocked my account entirely. At XXXXXXXX XXXX the terminal printed a receipt explicitly stating : " XXXX # XXXX | EXCESSIVE DENIALS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION. '' 4. DOCUMENTED EXHAUSTION OF SUPPORT CHANNELS AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES I possess a timestamped web browsing history and phone logs proving my frantic, good-faith efforts to resolve this emergency : - Digital XXXX XXXX : Between XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, my web logs show desperate navigation through the broken Citizens Bank portal , checking " Fraud Protection, '' " Account Services, '' and " Manage Cards. '' The logs also reveal my urgent search engine queries, including " are there any phone numbers to call for citizens bank that are open XXXX '' and " what is the trick to speak to someone at citizens bank for an emergency afterhours. '' - Call 1 : After eight separate attempts to contact official support lines between XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, I reached a representative and explicitly stated this was an emergency. They placed me on hold, only to return and state that absolutely " nobody was available that could help me. '' - Call 2 : I spoke to a second representative who provided a bold-faced lie to dismiss me. I was told repeatedly that Citizens Bank automatically freezes all debit cards and disables mobile banking every single Sunday between midnight and XXXX XXXX. I know for a fact this is false. 5. REQUESTED RESOLUTION As of this filing, the situation is completely unresolved. I still can not access my money, and my mother still does not have the emergency funds she needs. Citizens Bank 's cascading technological failures and deceptive support practices represent a severe breach of consumer trust. I demand the following permanent resolutionsno temporary workarounds or band-aids : - Immediate Account Restoration : Full and immediate restoration of my debit card, mobile app, and online banking access, with all erroneous security flags permanently cleared. - Formal Explanation : A formal, written explanation from the bank detailing the root cause of the backend detachment, and accountability for the false policy information provided by their staff. - Financial Compensation : A goodwill financial credit applied to my account to compensate for the severe distress, the absolute failure of their support channels, and the tangible inconvenience of being blocked from sending emergency family funds.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation