Citibank FSB N.A. - Citigroup
Identity theft took almost $14,000, bank nearly accused me

Based on my experience, New York City's biggest banks are the worst in the whole country and quite possibly the world. Chiefly I have in mind Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. Both hold medium-sized accounts of mine, more than $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, and I am going to close them just as soon as I can.

Years ago, while I was still working, thieves stole my identity thanks to Citibank's flimsy and inadequate security. To use their online banking, you needed an ATM/debit card, or else a credit card from Citi plus a PIN, and then you had to enter that PIN on the web to open an online profile. Somehow, either through their network or through my computer, hackers got hold of my name, address and PIN. They phoned Citi customer service impersonating me, claimed the card was lost, got my address changed, and had a new card shipped to them. I never used a debit or ATM card and had no wish for a Citibank card of any sort, least of all with their steep interest rates. I accepted one only because online banking depended on it.

The criminals visited Citibank branches in Southern California, though I am in the Bay Area. With no driver's license, they simply swiped the card at the teller window, entered the PIN, and that served as identification. They took out close to $14,000 before Citibank's own so-called safety department blocked the account over suspicious activity. When I noticed the missing funds, and the safety department had also reached out to me, I asked to be reimbursed for the fraud. They practically accused me of removing the funds myself and of attempting fraud through my claim.

Federal law, as well as their own rules, made the account FDIC-insured and required the customer to be repaid inside 30 days. It was roughly two months before their investigation wrapped up and I got my money back, and throughout it I had huge amounts of work, calls, letters and stress, and later ill health. Closing the account at that point would have been right. Instead, I let it go, swayed by the apologetic reply from Citibank executives and the federal authorities once I contacted them. That was a major error.

Since that time, trouble has followed trouble, and I will skip the details here. Citibank's customer service, including the outsourced part, is as bad as any I have met at a company. My dealings with Chase are a different story, and just as dismal. These banks followed the same practices as the rest of the Wall Street insiders, needed a taxpayer rescue, and were then rewarded with institutions that had not been rescued, since they were not too large to collapse, acquired for next to nothing. Washington Mutual, the finest bank I ever used, going to Chase N.A. is an example. The simple fact is that large banks grow larger, get more bureaucratic, and think less about customers and more about earnings. Shut your accounts, or avoid opening new ones. I had no accounts at either of these until they absorbed the banks I originally chose and liked, and made them far worse. Take my advice and go with a small bank or credit union.

Company: Citibank FSB N.A. - Citigroup
Country: USA
State: New York
City: New York
Address: 153 E. 53rd Street
Phone: 6464971990
Site: citi.com

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