Summary: Citizen's Bank manipulates your "Available Funds" so that they can charge you "Insufficient Funds Fees" even if all funds are available when the payments post. This is based on Citizen's Bank's policy of debiting (or in their terms, "holding") authorized funds before the payment actually posts.instructions from somewhere above the customer service department strictly prohibit their employees from returning these fees, even at the expense of customer loyalty. I can only assume that this what they mean when they say Citizen's: a different kind of bank.
What follows is a copy of my letter to the MA Attorney General, Division of Banks, Customer Assistance Unit.
To whom it may concern,
I am writing in response to what I can only imagine is abhorrent behavior by one Citizen's Bank. This institution has adopted policies which manipulate an individual's Available Balance by holding funds on behalf of a merchant after authorization. This leads to Insufficient Funds Fees which are distinguished from Overdraft Fees because at no point does the account in question actually drop into the negative. The bank adds further insult to this debit by apologizing that Citizen's Bank can only refund fees collected in the event of a bank error.
These policies came to my attention on 21 January when I was checking my account balance online. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day had just passed on the 18th, so the weekend's activity posted to the bank on the 19th. Figure 1 reflects the following: A deposit of $150.00, two credits for $5.30 and $4.59 respectively, and four purchases totaling $182.36. The beginning balance of $58.71 rose to $218.60 and fell again to $36.24. The following day (20 January) a direct deposit for $254.00 posted, followed by an Insufficient Funds Fee for $117.00, and a debit purchase of $60.81. It is important to note the order in which these transactions posted: deposit, fee, debit. This is reflected in Figure 2.
The problem arises surrounding the debit purchase of $60.81. This was not a point-of-sale, PIN transaction. I used the VISA option on my card to authorize these funds.in my previous experience with this type of debit, the funds in question stay in the account until the merchant (in this case Stop and Shop) collects them. However, Citizen's Bank has instituted a new policy: when you authorize funds for debit, Citizen's Bank shadow-posts the charges to your account by putting them in a status they call on hold. On hold appears to be a gray-area defined only by Citizen's Bank these funds are neither in the merchant's possession nor in my checking account. I believe this to be an act of deception that borders on criminal fraud. I had authorized Stop and Shop to debit $60.81 from my account something they did not even attempt to do until 20 January notably after both the deposit to cover the transaction and the fees for these supposedly Insufficient Funds had posted and instead this money had been captured by Citizen's Bank. To aggravate the situation, the eNotice of Insufficient Funds reads that because $60.81 was a pending authorization, the last three debits of 19 January (which total $33.04) were made to an account with Insufficient Funds. For this Citizen's Bank assessed three separate charges of $39.00, totaling $117.00.
In reality, which I feel must be preserved and distinguished from the environment Citizen's Bank is operating in, this $60.81 debit did not occur until 20 January. The proper order of events is in fact reflected on Citizen's Bank's own online service, as displayed in Figure 3. These are not manipulated images, they are screenshots of the page as loaded 22 January. I imagine this information can be loaded, just as it has been displayed here, in perpetuity since there has been no change since 20 January.
On 21 January while attempting to claim my $117.00 which, as far as I'm concerned, Citizen's Bank has stolen from me I offered Citizen's the following ultimatum: return my money, or lose me as a customer. Considering the fact that I funnel my entire income through this bank over the course of the year, I would assume that they would rather keep a customer than his money. My assumption, it turns out, was false. They refused to refund my $117.00 over the course of two courteous phone calls and one trip to the bank in person. Upon the last visit, I withdrew all available funds from the bank, leaving only what remained to cover current pending charges. Since 21 January the bank has assessed two more Insufficient Funds Fees for funds which, by all measure, have been in their possession across my checking and savings accounts, which are supposed to be linked with overdraft protection. Once these fees are available for viewing online they will as well be forwarded to your office with another copy of this letter.
In conclusion, $117.00 was removed from my checking account by Citizen's Bank under false pretenses. Further fees totaling $78.00 are currently pending, also to be removed from my account under false pretenses. These fees are assessed based on Citizen's Bank's policy of debiting authorized funds before the payment actually posts.instructions from somewhere above the customer service department strictly prohibit their employees from returning these fees, even at the expense of customer loyalty. I can only assume that this what they mean when they say Citizen's: a different kind of bank.
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