Citizen’s Bank Overdraft Fee Scam

Nine years ago, I signed up for a checking account at Citizens Bank in Flint, MI. Since then, I have been a happy customer… until now. If you are looking for a bank to do business with DO NOT CHOOSE Citizens Bank. The trouble isn’t worth it, and there are MUCH better banks out there.

Here is what happened to me:

Monday morning I had 200 dollars in my checking account.

On Tuesday I used my Visa check card 3 times:
– Once in the morning for a 4 dollar purchase at a coffee shop
– Once later in the afternoon for gas.. a 21 dollar purchase
– Once for lunch: 10 dollars
– Once in the evening at Meijer for 180 dollars (groceries, clothes, etc).

Ok, at this point you can see that I went into the red. I spent more money than I had in my checking account. Well, because I had “overdraft protection” with Citizens, all 3 charges were approved. Now, there is obviously going to be a fee associated with me spending more than I have in my checking account. But how much do you think it is? 10 dollars? 30 dollars? Not even close.

On Wednesday of that week, I was charged 7 fees totaling 231 dollars.

How can this be? Well, according to the customer service representative I spoke with, Citizens bank charges 33 dollars for both pre-authorizations AND the actual charge on the account! That’s right, they charge 2×33 for each charge made on the card for EVERY charge the day you went over. Pre-authorizations are “holds” that are put on your account at places like gas stations or restaurants, where they want to make sure the card isn’t going to be declined before the services are provided. They do not show up on my online account or my monthly statement.

I would have expected ONE fee, my last charge that day, that put me over, not 7 of them. I asked the customer service rep what would have happened had I used my card 20 times that day for small purchased. You guessed it. I would have been charged 40 fees for 33 dollars totaling $1320. Scary to think about. I’ve used my card 15 times in one day before.

Anyway, I wrote them an email stating that I would like all of my money back that they took for these outrageous charges, or else I will be closing my personal AND business account with them. I got an email response about 5 minutes later with instructions on how to close my account. This just proves to me that after 9 years, they really don’t value ANY customers.

In my email I also asked how I am supposed to be aware of data that I have no access to. I have no idea how much the gas station pre-auths my check card for, same with restaurants. Do you know how much your card is preauthorized for? Have you ever even heard of a pre-auth? Since they don’t show this information ANYwhere, I feel that it is unfair that I am penalized for not knowing it. Their only response was that I should “just estimate twice as much as what you spend will be on your card”. The rep actually said that. Great. Now in order to spend 100 dollars on my check card, I need 200 dollars in it because the pre-auth doesn’t clear for 3 days. SCAM.

After some internet research I saw that in this last quarter’s prospectus they mentioned to their investors that they have modified the fee structure and have made if more difficult for “customers to get fees reversed”. Wonderful.

Beware of Citizens Bank. They lost this long-time customer because of one outrageous incident, and I hope they lose many more.

399 comments

  1. banks are out of control with the fees… I say we dump them and turn to Credit unions on online banking. Remember…There is absolutely NO loyalty

  2. I was scammed with Citizen’s bank “hidden fees”. Long story short, my husband cashed a check (which I hadn’t known about). They put my available funds “temporarily on hold” for 24 hours to cover the check. In the meantime, though the money in my checking account was showing as available, Citizen proceeded to bounce 6 debits that came in while the funds were “on hold”. After one and a half hours on the phone, I was rudely told by an uncaring supervisor that my ledger balance and my available balance are two different things, that the internet and the balance you get over the phone won’t show the “hold”, and that they reserved the right to do what they did. She said it was all in the disclosure statement when I opened the checking account. When I asked why they didn’t “hold” the debits, they told me debits go through right away and deposits/chack cashing are held. I am out hundreds of dollars. Beware of hidden fees. Citizens bank has quite a scam going!

  3. They are a ripoff. My son overdrww his account by 2.00. He had no money in his account, after the purchase rendering him 2.00 overdrawn. The bank says they ALLOW you for an EMERGENCY to overdraw your account even though you do not have the fundsa avialable. Then they wack you $35.00 fo9r doing so!!! Then after a wqeek, thery rehit you another 35.00. My sons 2.00 overdraft ending up costing 127.00, because he WAS ALLOWED to overdraw by 2.00 for an emergency which THEY ENABLE and ENCOURAGE you to do, then slam you 35.00 for the overdraft!! They are absolute CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Federal banking commision to look nito this practice!!!

  4. “Thank you for calling, this is Kim, may I have your full name?” Customer service for Citizens Bank, is my job. And for all that call, I am here for you. Any and everyone can make a math error that leaves you in the negative, and if you have a believable story, a good history with the bank and a polite manner, then I am here for you. I’ll listen, explain, and then place you on hold as I check all the details, then go to my supervisor to plead your case. Many times I can come back to my customer with such good news …(this is my favorite part) the customer thanks me, and hangs up happy. Thats a good call! But… most of my calls are from customers who intentionally overdraft their accounts, then call pushing the blame on the bank, in hopes of getting a fee rebate. Keep a good register, note when you cash or deposit a “not on us” check, allowing time for that check to be verified. If in doubt, call, we’re here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “Thank you for banking with us, and have a great day!”

  5. I am just wondering if there are many citizens bank customer’s that are having the same problem.

    I have been a customer for 25 years now, with 3 accounts, 2 personal accounts and 1 business account which I have had for 2 years and never a problem until about 8 months ago. I noticed the bank has been bought out by other banks many times over the past couple of years and our branch has a new manager every couple of months.

    I have had approx. 4 really horrible incidents in the past year alone.

    Several months ago I had made a deposit with cash back, being in a rush, I failed to count all the money in my envelope not realizing that I was 100.00 short. When I got home a short while after, I counted the money and was missing 100.00. I called the bank after searching every inch of my bag and car before I called to be sure it wasn’t me and was told by the manager that I probably spend it shopping somewhere and forgot which made me feel like an idiot. Sure enough the next day the 100.00 was deposited into my account, without a phone call or an apology or just to let me know that they made a mistake. Ok, well not that big of a deal.

    The second time I ran into a problem was when I was making a $600.00 withdraw from the citizens bank ATM, the machine made the same kind of noise it makes when counting the money before it comes out, only nothing came out. I called the bank on my cell to report the problem, thinking I did something wrong with an unfriendly man’s voice on the other end stating ” yes, your account is fine and you have enough funds (which I knew to begin with) and that it sounds like the machine is not functioning properly. SO, THE BANK DEDUCTED THE 600.00 from my account BUT I DID NOT RECEIVE THE MONEY. It was a relief knowing that I was not an idiot. So I asked if he could do something on his end so that I can make another withdraw without having the transaction counted twice, which would bring my account to a negative and he claimed that “there is nothing at all that can be done”. I would have to wait 24 hrs. and the money will be deposited into my account. 24 hours went by and no money, 48 hours went by, no money. I called the bank and was told that “the person I spoke with gave me the wrong information and that it takes approx 3 weeks to investigate this and I would have to fill out some forms and file a claim before receiving the money. “Sorry ma’am, this is our policy” Ok, I could do nothing at this point but wait for the forms to come in the mail and go from there, 2 weeks went by, no forms, but did notice the bank did deposit the 600.00 into my account, again no communication, wrong information and just left me out to hang. SO, WHO IS THE REAL IDIOT HERE???????

    HANG IN THERE, I KNOW THIS IS BORING BUT I HAVE MORE………. AND I AM HOPING THAT THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE ARE HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS AND WILL SPEAK OUT.

    I just want to say first of all that I am OCD when it comes to checking my daily balances, especially with my business account. I am very well aware of my automatic deposits and withdrawls 3x daily I call the automated system to check my balances because of so much activity in this account, morning, noon and night.
    Make a long story short there has been atleast 3 different times in the past 6 months that Citizens has charged me overdraft fees, how could that be, when I called 3x every day and also made cash depostits at that time, AND HAVE NOT USED MY ATM CARD, the automated system never said “OVERDRAWN” Did I say that I call the bank atleast 3x per day to get my balances? the first overdraft fee was 300.00 of which they refunded 50%, 2 months later 500.00 overdraft fee because the first 245.00 overdraft fee did not cover my deposit to cover the overdraft fee so the next day they charged 245.00 for that overdraft. I hope that I am making sense. Anyway, guess what happened today after calling the bank daily and checking my balances and registers, another overdraft fee. I am not the kind of person to write complaint letters and don’t have the time, but would just like to know if there are more citizens customers out there who were also made to feel like idiots when the bank made “mistakes”.

    Please send letters to: LARRY FISH, CEO AT CITIZENS BANK, 1 CITIZENS DRIVE, RIVERSIDE, RI 02915

  6. citizen bank is the worst bank in the whole world.this month alone they charged over 900$ in fees i had a posoitive balance but they say it was on hold so they kept charging me fees shame on them and shame on president of citizen bank for not care about his customer instead he has god the rudest people in customer service and supervisor the same shame shame

  7. Reading these stories, and having had similar experiences, is not a surprise. There are plenty of pre-auth scams that are run by banks, hotels, mobile phone services, and on and on. Do not expect to get good service, do not expect anyone to take responsibility. And to Lonnie: Larry Fish (or any other CEO type) doesn’t give a damn. The best advice I can give is not to deal with big banks – if you can find a small small bank in your own community, where you can get to know the local branch manager, bank there (at least you will have a name, face and a real person). To Kim: you must be one in a million – customer service is designed to not give customers any service.

  8. Just got off the phone. OK, when I opened the account I was given a list of fees in, what else, the Fees booklet. It says $19 per item for 1/2 days, going up to $35 per item for 6 days or more. It says nothing about “within such and such a time”.

    So I overdrafted by $15 three weeks ago. I got a $38 fee. Panic, because then I am $53 overdrawn. But money went into my account. Now we had unexpected car trouble, and yes I didn’t check my account before spending. My husband had spent $69.95 fixing a broken mirror while I was busy buying groceries and we overdrafted again this week. Four items yesterday totaling $51.16 overdrawn. We deposited enough to cover the overdraft – thank goodness it was just the first day! $19 for four items – $76, right?

    I got a $190 fee – and when I finally got through to someone, I was told I had overdrafted before, bumping my per overdraft charge to $38. If you are good and don’t have any overdraft charges for 12 months, we’ll drop it back to $19 per overdraft, I was told. Nothing about this in my fee book.

    We can forgive some of this – I was told. As if I needed to be forgiven for charging $190 for money that I had already deposited into my account within 24 hours of overdrafting!!!!! And how much of the $190 did they “forgive”? $76. Yes, I am still overdrafted as of this minute, though I have deposited more than enough to cover the overdraft.

    Citizen’s Bank is a ripoff and I am closing my account.

  9. “Thank you for calling, this is Kim, may I have your full name, please?”

    Tracy, and all …. it is not about “checking your account” before spending. It’s about keeping records of deposits, bills that are debited on a schedule, and expences. Simple math skills and good record keeping, plus knowing your banks policies on cashed and deposited checks will keep you in the positive. I answer the phones for mostly foolish people who can not exercise their spending control, and then push the blame onto the bank when they get fees. If the bank charged no fees, then what would be the limit to how much customers would take? Honestly, don’t spend more then you have and if you do, suck it up and pay the fees.

    “Is there anything else I can assist you with today? Then thank you for banking with us and have a nice day!”

  10. Here’s a question that I’ve been wondering for awhile. If a credit card knows when to stop charging then why doesn’t a debit? I fully understand that it is up to the individual to manage his or her money right but this should take place at the purchase. If you don’t have enough money to cover it then the system should put a stop on the account until the funds are there. Just a thought

  11. I’m also fed up with Citizens. Sometimes shit happens and you just can’t get to the bank quite on time. Not an excuse, but it’s life. Also, in my case, I suffer from short-term memory loss, which is no picnic. I remember one minute that I have to go to the bank and the next I forget. Anyway, I’m really tired of paying insufficient fund fees (I’ve actually only been overdrawn twice, but it’s enough!) . I am honest enough to admit that it’s my fault that I get charged a fee. And, I really don’t mind paying a fee – as long as it’s reasonable. Citizens fees are beyond riduclous.

    Oh, and Kim, I’m sure you’re a nice person. Really. But, I can assure you that you must be the ONE in a million that’s employed by Citizens. As you can read from others and as I will further attest, your customer service center has the rudest, uncaring people that I have ever had to deal with. I’ve been around for awhile and I’ve seen it all and heard it all. I’ve dealt with customer services depts. of many companies. I’ve even been in customer service myself. Citizens definitely gets the award for the rudest. Really!

  12. Oh, and what I forgot to say – On Monday, I’m heading straight to the bank to close my accounts. I don’t need their headache any longer.

  13. Jan, thanks so much for saying what is on your mind. I would give anything to have been the agent on the line when you called. I love helping a good customer who has just made an error. I also have short term memory problems, so I can relate. I spend most of my days answering questions and explaining banking policies, but nothing is more rewarding then helping one of MY customers. Thats right, you call as a Citizens customer, but once you let me help you, you are mine.

    Neal, many of our customers need gas or groceries days before they get paid and they choose to overdraw just to survive, so for them, I am grateful they can meet their needs. It is like a pay day advance without the loan sharks.

    Everyone have a great day!

  14. My husband and I cash our payroll checks at citizens bank. Almost every time I am in there the bank teller asks me if I want to open an account. They ask me if I would be interested in direct diposite. They tell me how much easier it would be for us if we didnt have to drive all the way down here just to cash a check. With direct diposte, she said, you money will be in you account in the morning and with a bank card you could use there CONVIENENT ATM’S. Finally giving in my husband decided to give direct diposite a try and he opened an account. While he was signing the papers we were in a rush to get home to get my son off the bus. We asked the teller if there were any fee’s in useing the bank card. She made us aware that there was a four dollar fee when you withdraw money from an ATM. Satisfied we went about our banking.
    Three weeks later my husband could not get his bank card to work while trying to make a purcharse. He called the bank and they said that his money was there and to try to wipe the card down as it might be dirty. After wipping it down he tried to withdraw his money from the nearest atm. He was successfull this time. He left .99cents in his account and made his purchases.
    A week later we get a letter in the mail saying that we owe the bank 107 dollars in over draft fee’s. Not just one fee, a combination of fee’s that added up to 107 dollars. We couldnt undrestand how that happened. There was .99 cents in his account when we had left it. SO, when we called the bank they said there was an additional 2.00 atm charge that we didnt know about. We told him that we asked the teller when we signed the paper if there were any addition fee’s in useing the bank card and she had told us no. SO naturally we were upset. The customer service repusentaive said that since we signed the paper it doesnt matter what the teller told us.
    Now we told him we would be happy to come to the bank and pay the two dollars but that it was unfair to charge us 107 dollars off a mistake that was caused by the bank teller who had handled our account. We tried to reason with him. We live pay check to pay check. We don’t have much extra money and christmas is right around the corner. We have a young son and taking this money is takeing food out of his mouth and making it really hard for us to afford to do christmas this year. He had no sympathy whatsoever. We asked him what would happend if we didnt pay it. He said we would be black flagged and wouldnt be able to open a bank account anywhere else. Not to mention our credit report that we are trying very hard to repair. So, all those commercials you see on T.V showing how careing Citizens bank is is all just a facade. I strongly urge people not to bank with citizens. If the bank makes a mistake on there end they fix with an appology. We can not charge them 107 in fee’s for our inconvience. How it possible that they can do that to us?

  15. I am extremly mad!!!!!!!!!!

    a couple of months ago my husband got caught up in this fee scam. I yelled at him thinking he was an idiot. Come to find out it happened to me. I noticed that some money was missing and did nothing about. Although, I just deposited $175 I got hit with about $80 insufficent funds fees. I bring it to a positive now I have $100. My husband works next to the bank goes to talk with them. Guess what?! They charged me $210 insufficent funds fees for stuff that hasn’t even been posted. I deposited $100 my husband $120. What do you mean I am getting charge more fees. ” Because these items are going to go threw on midnight.” I asked for a print out nothing is in the negative. Explain this how can you charge for something a day ahead when it’s not on hold and no one but the bank can see it? I think that is unfair and am closing my account right now.

  16. My wife and I had the same situation happen to us. We have two accounts that are linked. We’ve been wainting to buy or boys a Wii and had the money in our account. My wife made the purchase then realized that she used the wrong card. We transfered the money immediately. We recieved notification that we had items on “hold” that put our account over the limit and we were assessed overdraft fees of $210!!! To add insult to injury, we had $69 in the account to cover the items other than the Wii which was transfered. We went to the branch and they told us they could not “see” how the items posted online and directed us to the online customer service. We went to the online customer service and they told us to goto the branch!!! It seems as if citizens chooses which transactions post at what time to keep the snowballing effect going. I know banks are under a lot of pressure to make money in the wake of the mortgage downgrading and interest rates at near all time lows. I just dont want to be raped in the process. As soon as I find a hometown bank or credit union I’m gone!

  17. It happens at Wachovia as well, not just citzens bank..looked at my bank balance this morning only to find out I was $358 dollars because a payment had been taken out twice and the person I spoke to previous had said she would not allow the 2nd payment to go through..well she did..and now I am in the red because of all the over draft fees..I hate Wachovia. There has to be a better bank somewhere who doesn’t take advantage of their customers.

  18. 1300 dollars in overdraft/insufficient fund fees in since June. That is an average of around 220 a month in fees during that period, a period in which my average monthly balance was 189 dollars. Sure I am the one who used my card and who uses Citizens auto-bill payment etc. but this seemed outrageous. Spoke to a Branch Manager today she “could maybe get some of the most recent charge of 150 dollars refunded to me if I opened a second checking account.” !. I am a Citizen aren’t I? Long, long time customer.

  19. Glad to see someone else use the term “Snowballing Effect”. This is exactly what happened to me. Its only money but this not very cool. We are all taking advantage of the latest in banking technology offered by Citizens. Unfortunately the penalties are just as rapid as the benefits and when it comes to rectifying a penalty well…”That is a really slow and painful process unfortunately but thank you for choosing citizens, good luck at another bank, and thanks for your hard earned money (which, incidently; we are, in fact, going to keep.”

  20. listen here folks = before closing your accounts make sure you withdrawl everything you have in there, and then go on a spending spree and overdraw the account. They cant take what you dont have and you then send them an account summary bring the negative balance back to ZERO closing balance by mentioning all the fees they have charged you, the time away from your busy day, the lack of customer service fee etc etc

  21. Citizen’s Bank loves to vaunt the fact that they are always giving back to the community as they participate in different charaties and the (Main Street Program). Nevertheless, did you ever wonder where the money came from to accomplish the civic minded miracles? They stole the money from little people like you and me. I have been a long time customer of Citizen’s Bank. Recently, I deposited a check (large sum)into my Citizen’s Bank account. I check the automated system faithfully on a daily basis and according to the automated system, I had access to my money. After FIVE DAYS I found out that I had a negative balance of over $4,000.00 as I had been using MY money. I called the bank and the person who issued the check to me and got to the bottom of it. I resubmitted the check within a day but it didn’t seem to matter to Citizen’s Bank. I am told by the Assistant Branch Manager in one of the branches in New Hampshire (Matthew Sterns) that it is a courtesy to Citizen’s Bank customers to have use of the money without knowing for sure that the check has been cleared. This is what I found out after the fact. Matthew sits behind his desk and Citizen’s Bank POLICY and tells me that ultimately I am responsible for any checks that I deposit and that he wasn’t willing to waive the $228.00 in fees which snowballed while I had no knowledge that this was happening. (I can understand a reasonable fee of $50.00 for the fact that a transaction or check didn’t post properly so that people don’t indiscriminately abuse funds, yet, this is about spiraling fees and snowballing) By the way, according to Citizen’s policy it is up to the customer to know at all times what is going on in their account. We are not privy to that information as we are not Citizen’s Bank insiders with access to the main frame 24/7. Whatever happened to good will and trust between venders and clients? Citizen’s was going to get their money one way or another as they have every bit of personal pertinent information about anyone with an account at their bank. Needless to say, I have closed my account with Citizen’s Bank (never to return)and can not continue the heavy handed banking tradition. I guess the lesson here is…read all your fine print and know all of your policies. So with falling temperatures, rising energy costs, what’s $228.00 to the average person? Merry Christmas Citizen’s Bank-NOT YOUR TYPICAL BANK!!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. Citizen’s Bank loves to vaunt the fact that they are always giving back to the community as they participate in different charities and the (Main Street Program). Nevertheless, did you ever wonder where the money came from to accomplish the civic minded miracles? They stole the money from little people like you and me. I have been a long time customer of Citizen’s Bank. Recently, I deposited a check (large sum)into my Citizen’s Bank account. I check the automated system faithfully on a daily basis and according to the automated system, I had access to my money. After FIVE DAYS I found out that I had a negative balance of over $4,000.00 as I had been using MY money. I called the bank and the person who issued the check to me and got to the bottom of it. I resubmitted the check within a day but it didn’t seem to matter to Citizen’s Bank. I am told by the Assistant Branch Manager in one of the branches in New Hampshire (Matthew Sterns) that it is a courtesy to Citizen’s Bank customers to have use of the money without knowing for sure that the check has been cleared. This is what I found out after the fact. Matthew sits behind his desk and Citizen’s Bank POLICY and tells me that ultimately I am responsible for any checks that I deposit and that he wasn’t willing to waive the $228.00 in fees which snowballed while I had no knowledge that this was happening. (I can understand a reasonable fee of $50.00 for the fact that a transaction or check didn’t post properly so that people don’t indiscriminately abuse funds, yet, this is about spiraling fees and snowballing) By the way, according to Citizen’s policy it is up to the customer to know at all times what is going on in their account. We are not privy to that information as we are not Citizen’s Bank insiders with access to the main frame 24/7. Whatever happened to good will and trust between venders and clients? Citizen’s was going to get their money one way or another as they have every bit of personal pertinent information about anyone with an account at their bank. Needless to say, I have closed my account with Citizen’s Bank (never to return)and can not continue the heavy handed banking tradition. I guess the lesson here is…read all your fine print and know all of your policies. So with falling temperatures, rising energy costs, what’s $228.00 to the average person? Merry Christmas Citizen’s Bank-NOT YOUR TYPICAL BANK!!!!!!!!!!!!

  23. I have been dealing with this recently also. This could be the best one yet! On December 11th, I needed to order home heating oil. My wife noticed we were low. It was delivered late in the afternoon on the 11th. On the 12th, there was nothing online. On the 13th, there was the check…DATED FOR THE 12th!!! This put two other transactions in the red resulting in $114 in fees. I looked at the back of the check and it clearly was printed 12/13/2007, but on the 13th they processed it dating the 12th. I called and was told that they were looking at the same check and it was dated 12/12/2007 on the back. I was told that if I printed it and went to a branch, the fees would be refunded. Here’s the very, very suspicious part. On my screen, the date is 12/13. I printed it and it actually showed 12/12! The only way I could get it to print what was on the screen was by using the “print screen” function. Copying it to a Word document and printing the document. I took it to a branch. I didn’t say anything except, “Could you tell me what this date says?” The response, “December 13th”. Perfect, where’s my refund. Nope…still had to debate with them. The woman procedded to print her own copy. 12/12 again!!! After going back and forth a bit, they refunded the fees claiming it was a courtesy. WHAT??? he refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and her story changed to, “Well, it might look like a 2 after all.”

    Today, more fees! No negative balance, but $114 in fees. Called up and spoke to a very rude girl. Again, after debating, she agreed to refund 2 of the 3 fees.

    That’s it for me. Off to find a new bank.

  24. I am just sick as i read everyones complaints. Its Christmas and all these people including my family have been robbed by Citizens Bank. I can tell you they have taken more money from us than we deserved. People are just trying to get by and they snow ball fees one on top of the other. I found a 114.00 insuficiant funds fee on my account for a credit that had not even gone through yet and after my husbands check had cleared. No matter how much I argued they would not help. I did however ask them how they could do this to so many people living from pay check to pay check? They do not care. Needless to say after few bad words later from me i will be pulling my account first thing Monday morning. Forget having direct deposit and overdraft protection. Its now become the biggest money maker for this bank. I urge everyone out there not to use Citizens bank. This is very sad that laws dont protect people from this. At least have a cap that we can live with on these fees. Thats it for now. Lets see what happens when i go in the bank on monday to close that account!!!!! They probably have a policy from preventing me from doing it. lol

  25. It’s Kim again. Citizens customers that have never overdrawn their accounts will never find this blog, because they are not looking. I help with loans, CDs, transfers, interest, etc. But calls about negative accounts are the usual, and many of these customers are repeat offenders. Honestly, don’t spend money you do not have available. Keep a resgistry, if your registry is low, so is your bank account. Customers overdraw themselves in the hopes of the fee being rebated. I hear all the time, pay check to pay check …don’t spend more then you make. It’s your money, until you spend your way into the negative. It’s basic math skills and a good ledger, it can be done, and is by millions of happy Citizen’s customers! Happy New Year!

  26. To Kim:

    I am a former bank teller, and Court Clerk who balanced books for four counties. My recent experience with Citizens in Michigan will be my last. I balance my checkbook daily, like many other people. I went Christmas shopping and used my Visa debit card to make four purchases, and the same thing happened to me that happens to many other people. I was charged $275.00 in overdraft fees for these “holds”. I spoke to my banks manager, and all he did was argue with me. I for one am not going to sit back and “take It”, and I would advise all you other folks that have had this problem to do the same. We cannot change things if nothing is done about it. I am filing a complaint with the Federal Reserve Bank. I spent several days and phone calls, and it may take a while, but I will get some results, it it only comes in the form of the Federal Government putting and end to these ridiculous scams that the banks are pulling. I think it’s time we as Americans satand up for ourselves…..fight back. What have we got to loose? Anyome can reach the federal reserve at http://www.federalreserve.org. File your complaints….let’s stop this madness. Happy New Year.

  27. It’s the “high to low” posting policy that makes them the most money. Say you have $200 in your account. You make 10 debit transactions for $15 each one day. You should have $50 left in your account. The next day you make a $150 ATM withdrawal, overdrawing the account by $100. Obviously, you’ve overdrawn your account and should pay one overdraft fee. But instead, the bank will post that $150 withdrawal on the day it’s made, then post the 10 $15 debits against the $50 left in your account (which will only cover 3 of them). That’s right, instead of one OD fee for $38, they can now charge you 7 of them – $266. They know that doing it this way maximizes the fees they can take from the customers who can afford it the least. And they know that anyone who lets their account get that low is living paycheck to paycheck. They know that for every OD fee they charge a customer, that customer is that much more likely to overdraft the following week. It’s a snowball effect. A fairer (but less profitable) policy would charge a percentage of the overdraft. Think about it, if that $3 cup of coffee overdraws your account by $1.50, they’re going to charge you $38 to “borrow” that $1.50 for a few days – or however long it takes you to make a deposit. Calculate what that means in interest. It’s more than a bank could ever dream of making on a credit card, personal loan or mortgage.

  28. One additional comment – if you’re the type of person who could see yourself in the example illustrated above, you’re better off making larger ATM withdrawals and trying to avoid making debit purchases at all costs. In the example above, if the customer simply made one ATM withdrawal for $300 and paid cash for those 10 $15 transactions, he still would have overdrawn the account by $100 but he would only have paid one $38 fee – keeping $228 of his own money rather than letting the bank get their greedy paws on it.

  29. Thanks for the comment Jill. I understand what is being said. I am not here to defend bank fees, but hoping to educate people so they can avoid getting fees on their account.

    When you use your debit card, as credit it places the amount you are spending on. Hold means you can not use that amount for any purchase. The only way you can get a fee from a MC purchase is to use more money then you have available in your account. When you swipe, subtract immediately, do count on a debit to post after you get a deposit. If you don’t have it, don’t spend it. Balancing books means to never spend more then you have deposited.

    Posting order: I agree with Steve that the posting order, largest to smallest does cause more fees. And once you know this, then don’t Overdraft and it will never be a problem again.

    I am here, just ask me questions. Not knowing your banks policies can cost you. I am not in the area of our banks, but I do have an account with another bank that folks blog about, and not favorable either. But, I know my banks policies, and carry my ledger with me so every minute I know my balance. Like Steve I do not make lots of little purchases, I make a cash withdraw and live on that from pay day to pay day. Once I paid ONE fee, back when they cost $14, was the last time for me! Know your bank!

    Thanks everybody, keep the blog going. Happy New Year!

  30. By the way Jill, We don’t have Citizens in MI, our branches there are Charter One, and we only have Master Card debit cards, no Visa. I believe that we never changed Charter One to Citizens because another Citizens Bank is in that area. But your point still applies. 🙂

  31. “The only way you can get a fee from a purchase is to use more money then you have available in your account.”

    This is incorrect, at least for the Citizens Bank out of Flint, MI. If I have 100 dollars in my account, and go out for a 60 dollar dinner, my balance ends up being 7 dollars.
    How can this be? Well, here is how it was explained to me by citizens:
    Every charge to my debit card is actually TWO charges… an authorization, and the capture. When the capture actually will go through, you will have the 60 dollar dinner on your statement, along with a 33 dollar fees since you overdrafted. Yes, they count pre-authorizations, something that you really have no control over, or any way to verify, as actual charges that result in overdrafts. Hopefully you didn’t make any other small purchases that day, because each of those would count as an overdraft as well. And the transactions that involve pre-auths will count as 2!

    This happened to me several times while at Citizens and THIS is how they are scamming. I’ve since closed my account.

  32. Again Citizens bank in MI is not the same Citizens bank I work for. I know though that a resturant, hotel, and lounge/pub will authorise more then the actual purchase which places that amount on hold. Then later the second engagement is the actual amount that is taken from the customers account. This is the practice of the merchant not the bank. Ask when you are paying for one of these bills how much they are going to put on hold, and don’t use that amount until you know that hold is released.

    Everybody have a great day!

  33. It all makes sense, and it makes just as much sense to know your bank’s policies. Here’s my example.

    It’s late in the pay period and I was tight on money, and needed gas to get to work. I’m just a lowly restaurant manager working full-time while I get through college part-time.

    So I use my debit card to purchase $10 in gas at a local speedway station, leaving $3.21 in my account. Later in the day and the next day I verify the transaction and all was well. 3 days later I look online again and there’s ANOTHER 10.01 charge sitting on top of an Overdraft Fee, both being in process. I’m going to check again tomorrow at my local branch office and argue with a teller and/or manager. (I’ll post my results when I get home.)

    The thing is, I never spent money I didn’t have. I physically NEVER put my account into the red. But because of this fabled “hold” they place, I’m most likely going to get the shaft.

    It’s a really shady business practice but when you sign an agreement/TOS that has provisions about “holds on accounts”, this is the type of thing that happens, and the bank will in most cases win an argument. Of course there’s that rare occasion where they’ll provide a “courtesy”.. hopefully that’s my case tomorrow.

  34. Ok so I talked to the teller today, and apparently my experience wasn’t an isolated incident. Across the US, if you got gas on 1/6/08, Speedway double charged you. It was a mistake on their part. I would suggest that if any of you good people got gas on that date, check your account activity between 1/6 and 1/10. They made the double charge but ended up refunding it. If you went into the negative, speedway will pay for the overdraft, the process is on their website.

  35. Greg please let me know how it went at the bank. Here is what I see from my chair on a gas purchase using the master card debit card as a credit transaction (not using a pin number)

    When you slide the card a dollar is placed on hold, this is a test hold to make sure the card is a working card. Only the dollar is on hold for the first 24 banking hours. Once the merchant finalizes the transaction the full amount replaces the dollar on hold. When the transaction posts to the account, the hold drops off. Mistakes happen, if it is the banks mistake (or the merchants) then you can call customer service and ask an agent to help you to get bank the fees charged by the error. If you make the mistake, then you still can call and see what can be done to help you.

    Let me know if I can help Greg. Thank you for banking with us and have a great weekend. 😉

  36. I am SO glad to see that this is not just happening to me and my husband! We have been through this over and over with the overdraft fees and things. Some of which were totally our fault I will admit, but some were totally boogus. Saturday we put a check for 589.00 in the account. we went online and we were positive we spent maybe 300.00. well today (thursday) my husband goes to put his check in the bank I was waiting out in the car and he was in there for over 20 minutes I went inside to see why it was taking him so long, and he was standing there looking at papers that said we were negative 275.00 AFTER he put his check in. How on earth do you become negative after only spending $300 from almost $600 and put a check in. Outragious is what I call it. Oh the lovely bank teller did waive a 29.00 and 33.00 dollar fee big freakin deal we are still negative. we’ll be hit with another fee tonight! I can’t take it anymore you work hard for your money and it seems like theres always some fee for something. I would have closed the account today, however my check is getting deposited tonight and for the risk of getting put to jail we had to leave because we were both fuming. Its a shame they can take advantage of people like this I am so upset. We called the CT headquaters and the guy hung up on my husband. Tomorrow I am calling someone else and closing my account and warning EVERYONE, NOT to use this bank. I’m glad this isnt only happening to us- not that I’m happy this is happening to anyone. I may not ever understand the whole “hold” process or whatever they are doing, but I understand that I need to withdrawl my money and leave! good luck to whoever decides to stay with this bank! I wish you the very best of luck!

  37. If you get takeout beware…a 15% tip is taken out immediatly and then put back in. | have lost thousands
    due to fee’s and mismanagement…I have a saving account protection and they removed it and now are not living up to deducting the charges. I am filing with every agency. We should start a class action lawsuit.
    My banks computer’s are always down. They know it’s the old building so how do they say that the computer is accurate.

  38. Debbie, what happens when you deposit a check. The bank puts in for check verification from the paying bank. If the paying bank gives us a go ahead, then we release funds into you account. But sometimes, for unseen reasons, we later get notified that the check will not be paid, then the funds are placed back on hold. Even working for the bank, I am not immune to this, or late direct deposits, merchants placing an extra hold and so on. I have overdraft line of credit protection, and a bit of money in my account on reserve. Banking is more difficult these days with so many scheduled and unscheduled debits. So you have to have a plan to stay fee free.

    Happy banking! Kim

  39. It’s awful that Citizen’s Bank preys on people who are living paycheck to paycheck. Vultures! Citizen’s Bank is definitely scamming with their high to low policy. I was charged a $39 fee for being $3.03 overdrawn (because of a $10 gas purchase that didn’t post for 4 days, even though they state on their website that all purchases are taken out immediately), and another $39 fee for a $6.00 purchase that put me over by $9 in total. The bank cashed a $900 check after these 2 transactions. I don’t know how it is legal to post transactions from high to low and not in the order that were transacted. If the $900 check was cashed last, I would only have overdrawn once. I was willing to pay one overdraft fee for my mistake, so four phone calls and 2 emails asking if they could waive one of the fees, since $79 was legal theft for being overdrawn $8. The bank is getting about %1000 return for my honest mistake. I agree that all their charity comes from overdraft fees. They are stealing from the poor to improve their image. Then they get tax breaks,so they are actually profitting from this. I really doubt they care about humanity. I just want to know, when that ad on television that shows the Citizen teller helping the elderly lady across the street, is one hand in her pccketbook and the other around her shoulder. So Kim, I hope your conscience lets you sleep at night, knowing that you are taking food from children’s mouths, or maybe you lack that. It’s too bad that most people might not have your superior math skills. I read your code of ethics on your website, so could you explain to me how your overdraft policy is honest and ethical. $39 if you go over $1 and $39 if you overdraw by $2000. Legal crooks! Write to the Federal Banking Commission, your elected officials and Citizen’s Bank. Let your voice be heard.

  40. Thanks for commenting Rose. I only reply here hoping to help people to understand how and when customers can be charged a fee. I believe that information on banks policies can make a customer aware of how to not get bank fees. Today is harder then ever, joint accounts with two debit cards, electronic debits, holds, checks, etc. added to busier then ever lifestyles, makes banking a tricky business. No one needs superior math skills, a registry and a calculator will do the trick. I am a single mom, with no other source of support, that lives paycheck to paycheck. I do understand what it is like, and I could not afford one of these fees. But from my desk, I can many times see where my customers go wrong. Many problems caused by the cash advance companies, internet “free” offers (if it is free, they wouldn’t need your card or bank number) and video club fees from unreturned movies or games. Whatever causes your account to go below zero, it will cost you! I’m not in the Citizen’s area, but my bank known for higher fees (and all bank fees just went up) will charge me if I make a mistake, so because I don’t want my child to do without, I make sure I keep my registry with me at all times, and update it the same minute I spend any money. I never rely on a balance inquiry (not to mention I cannot spare $2), online or the automated system to tell me my balance, I depend entirely on my registry.

    With a pending recession, we all have to be more careful with our money. Unless you have to have a checking account, some of my customers have been better served with a savings account and an atm card that cannot overdraw your account.

    Rose I do sleep at night, because most of my calls I helped my customer. My motto is “Even grumpy customers need rebates”.

    🙂

  41. I got ripped off by them too, looks like i’ll be switching to a local bank that treats me more like a person instead of a number. I had $54.99 in my account. I had a check out for $30 which had been sent out days prior. So days after that I spent 5.29, 14.88, and the following day I spent 21.90. The 21.90 definately put me over, and they charged me 34, and 37 totaling $71 in overdraft fees. I called them and asked them why I was being charged twice for one incident. They insisted it was two. I explained the order in which I made the purchases, and also explained that according to my bank account it stated i had 4 dollars and change with ONLY the 21.90 left to clear. They had the nerve to tell me the 21.90 came out first, then the other two purchases are what gave me two overdraft fees. gotta love how they change the dates in which they actually hit my account in order to draw more money in overdraft fees from me. I will NEVER recommened anyone to use citizens bank for as long as I live. and i’m in my 20’s so i got alotta livin left to do!

  42. I ALSO HAVE BEEN A LONG STANDING CUSTOMER WITH CITIZENS BANK AND RAN INTO PROBLEMS B/4 XMAS USING MY M/CARD (WHICH I HAD BEEN TOLD HAD OVERDRAFT PROTECTION AND WAS HOOKED INTO MY SAVINGS ACCT) TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT I WAS CHARGED $842 IN FEES WHICH THEY AGREED TO REFUND ME $256, BECAUSE OF MISUNDERSTANDING. I DO PLAN ON WRITING MAIN OFFICE TO ATTEMPT TO GET MY $586 BACK, IF THIS FAILS I AM WILL FILE WITH BANKING COMMISIONER AND ATTORNEY GENERAL THEN THE PLAN IS TO BRING THEM TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT.I BELIEVE WHAT THEY DID WAS UNLAWFUL WHEN YOU USE YOUR M/C AND IT GOES OVER THE LIMIT IT SHOULD DECLINE,NOTHING WAS MAILED FROM BANK ABOUT PROBLEM FOR 3 DAYS I SAVED ENVELOPES SO I JUST RACKED UP THE CHARGES FOR THOSE 3 DAYS.

  43. Susan, what were the amounts of the fees? I tried to calculate 842.00 by what our fees are and found no calculation that matched. If this was a first time depending on area, it could be $17 or $35, then finally $38 each, sustained over draft fees are $35 after the first six days negative and then a final $35 sustained fee posting 5 days later. You must have had at least 24 over drafts.

    Savings overdraft works like this, all or nothing. If you don’t have enough in savings to cover that entire days negative balance it won’t cover anything.

    Keep good records (on both accounts) and you won’t rely on the card to decide if it will over draw you are not.

    I had a woman the other night an hour from home, with no money and her car ran out of gas. She kept good records and knew she didn’t have any money in her account. She called only hoping that she might have a few dollars in her savings to transfer over. When I told her she could over draw using her card, she cried from relief. We can’t please every one all the time, but knowing she was going to get home safe and sound to her family was worth all the bad crap I hear all day.

    It’s your money, use it wisely!

    🙂

  44. The problem is that credit unions are going the way of banks now. Competition is stiff and the credit unions are charging just as many fees as banks. It’s sad really. I too hate overdraft fees with a passion. I was online a few weeks ago and found a bank in Kentucky that will let you overdraft as much as you want for $19.95/month. It’s really nice for people like me who overdraft a couple times a month by mistake. I figured I would give it a shot. Here’s the website if anyone’s interested.

    http://free-overdraft.com/signup/LearnMore/LearnMore.html

    That’s the information page, to apply they have a form to print out and send to the bank. So far I’m pretty happy with them. I got a call from a girl at the bank that explained the account to me and I got my checks a few days later. Maybe there is an end to overdraft fees in sight…who knows.

  45. I basically have the same story as everyone else, but just wanted to let everyone know that citizens bank has another unsatisfied customer. CITIZENS BANK ARE A BUNCH OF CROOKS. They are an institution of criminal role reversal. Instead of sticking a gun in your back and robbing you, they give you a card and charge you $39. for a $1.35 cup of coffee. It’s no wonder people rob banks. They’re just getting their money back that was taken from them.

  46. Tom, don’t over spend then you will only pay $1.35 for that coffee! It’s your money, keep your own count.

    Funny only folks who overdraw their account call the bank crooks! 🙂

  47. We didn’t even overdraw our account and citizens charged us an overdraft fee of $35. We had $50 in the account, and they said that there was a “hold” on our account for $60. The “hold” was for gas that we only paid $25 for. They said the gas stations sometimes put holds on your account for higher amounts then you actually paid, but that the amount is never actually deducted, they just want to be sure the funds are available. (Although the gas stations say it is the banks that are doing this – and only to people who have low funds available so they can charge the overdraft) I asked how I could be responsible for a fee I had no idea about, and they said that I was. I told them that I never actually overdrew my account, therefore I should not be charged. Yet, they are refusing to refund the $35. You can bet that Citizens just lost another customer, and that I will fight tooth and nail to get that $35 refunded. How can they possibly hold me responsible for something I never even charged?

  48. In re-reading my comment, I put that I asked how “I could be charged for a fee I knew nothing about.” I wanted to clarify, it wasn’t an actual “fee”. The $60 that they held on my acount was just a “hold” – but after so many days, it drops off. So, in the end, I’m only charged the $25 for gas that I orginially put on my debit card – leaving my account still in a positive balance. I never overdrew my account. The bank knows I never overdrew my account. They admit I never actually overdrew my account. Yet, they refuse to refund the $35 for an overdraft.

  49. Citizensbank is the worst bank in the US. This is my story:

    I have a loan and a checking account with citizensbank. I use my checking to transfer money from my other bank to pay for my loan. I always keep a little bit of money, but never keep track of how much. Last month I decided to look at my statement and doing so I realized that they were taking $17 a month since March of last year. When I called customer service they said that the type of account I have, requires me to keep more than $5000 for them to stop charging me the $17. I was ready to close my account, but for some reason I decided to ivestigate. I wife found my original papers from when I opened my account and realize that they weren’t suppose to charge me anything. If your loan with them is more than what they require for you to have in your checking them they have to link both account. I called them back and they apologized and said that the account weren’t linked properly. They only credit me with $47 (three months) and said I had to go to local branch and talk to the manager in order get a full reimbursement. I’m currently deployed with the Marine Corps how can I stop at my local branch??????? Later I sent them an e-mail asking if the interest could be reduced on my loan because of my military deployment and they said no. I e-mail them back explaining the Servicemember Relief Act, and they never responded. Them people are full of Sh.. F… citizensbank.

  50. I had the exact thing happen to me that happened to Jamie. I had a postive balance in my account – around $50 – when DHL accidently put a hold on my account for $59 for a shipping charge I had already paid for weeks prior. They never actually took the money out of my account, they just placed the “hold” on it, so my account was never actually overdrawn. Yet, Citizens still took out the $35 overdraft fee. I called them about this, and they told me that DHL had placed a hold on my account for the money. Concerned because I had already paid DHL, I contacted them, and they explained that this had happened to everyone that had shipped packages on the same day, but the money was never actually withdrawn because they had caught their error in time. They even called Citizens Bank for me and explained this to them. Citizens however, refused to refund my $35. I’ve been fighting with them ever since.

  51. Again, a hold is placed by a merchant, not the bank. If DHL causes you to overdraft by a hold they placed in error, then why not blame DHL? I rebates fees all the time, when it’s merchant error, or just as a courtesy, as long as the customer isn’t blaming the bank, and hasn’t already received excessive rebates in the past.

    Same with gas stations, ask about that stations policies, don’t assume anything.

    When money is “on hold” it is NOT available, so don’t spend it.

    What is that old saying, “A Fool and His Money …”

    Know your bank’s policies, read your disclosures, keep a ledger, stay on your budget, use a calculator …

  52. Rully, that is a bank error, some how your circle checking account fell out of circle with the loan account. You need to call back, and ask for a supervisor to assist you.

    The soldiers relief act is for loans only, so call consumer finance and request the instructions for applying. What is does is lowers your interest rate to 6% on any and all your loans with us.

    Also you need to change that circle checking to the free green checking, unless your loan is a line of credit. I wish I could have taken your call, I would have been able to help you with all these needs.

    Jamie and Bob I would have rebated your fees as well, I do understand merchant holds and how they can cause you problems.

    It’s not that we are dishearted in customer service, it’s just that the bank expects one thing from us, and the customers expect another. Real customers with real issues always win me over, but unfortunately most of my customers are at fault, and just want to call to degrate me, to make themselves feel better. I have sat on mute for as much as 10 minutes while a customer screams at me calling me names, etc … then once they’re done, I’m still silent, they ask are you still there? “Yes, now if you’ll let me, I’ll help you.”

    I am someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, someone’s mother and someone’s grandmother, but spoken to many times a day, like someone’s trash. And still if you need me, I am here for each of you.

  53. Every bank has overdraft fees. Citizen’s are outrageous. Funds should be made unavailable if in fact they are UNAVAILABLE! Citizens and all banks make it so easy to just swipe your card and they advertise that way, and they also advertise online banking as an easy way to “stay on top of your finances”. Well when it takes a charge over a week to come through on your account, that’s extremely difficult to do.

    Either way, that’s not the bank’s fault, we should all be better about keeping track of our expenses. What IS the bank’s fault is that they push you to lose track of your expenses by making it so easy to do so. They love the fact that it’s so easy for a person to overdraw. What IS the bank’s fault is that they are now charging $38 per overdraft!! That’s robbery. The fees should either be per $20 of over draft, or per day.

    Those of us living paycheck to paycheck find it very difficult to be able to handle $200 + dollars taken from our account. That screws us for the next pay period and will most likely cause us to overdraft after that. Citizen’s is the worst and if people just keep staying with them, they’ll continue to rob you. Cancel your accounts NOW!!

    I did.

  54. Sorry, one more thing. Kim, you are an angel I’m sure, and I always make it a point to be nice and polite to the people on the phones because after all, it’s not they who are performing the actions on which I’m disapproving of and I know that like you, they’re mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, etc.

    However, when I took your advice and called and was polite and pleaded my case and asked nicely and explained that it was far from intentional. I got $38 back. . .from almost $400 I got. . .$38. I explained to them that I had another account that was not nearly as harsh and that I was going to have to leave Citizens because of this. They seemed as though they were glad to see me go.

    Oh well. So much for Customer Service, I’m sure you’re one of the rare ones Kim. You should find a company where you’ll fit in better.

  55. Banks making money! When interest rates go down, investment rates go down, money gets tight, even at the bank. So bank fees, not just over draft fees are the way banks make money. Imagine that everything was to go back to the way it use to be: no direct deposit, no debit cards, just atm cards and paper checks. No instant payments. If you wrote a check for your electric bill and did not have money in the bank, it would bounce back to the electric company you’d be sitting in the dark. Banks need customers, customers need banks. I bank at a bank that promotes the use of their debit card by rounding your purchase off to the even dollar, calling it keep the change. Then they put that change in your savings account. If you NEVER over draw this is a great plan. But they know, the more you use your card, the more likely you will over draw. I use my card very little, so I have very little change to brag about.

    The only way to NOT over draw and pay bank fees, is to be smart, keep good records, and have a plan how and when to use your card. I would rather have a happy customer on my phone!

    🙂

  56. My husband and I opened our account on Feb. 1,2008 at citizens bank. On Feb. 14, 2008 we deposited our paychecks of $1,243.87 and our deposit slip gave us a total account balance of $1,664.64 and an available balance of $408.32. I was ok with this because the check should be fully available the next business day… well that is what i thought. (by the way i should mention that my parents are long time customers of Citizens bank so I know the payroll checks go through the next business day.) Well on Sat, Feb. 16,2008 I went to make a purchase at walmart and at this time I knew i had the money in the account because i keep very good records of ALL transactions. Well my card was rejected at walmart. I then go to the atm to get an account balance and this is what i find a negative balance of $288.56. i then call the bank to find out what this is. I have more than enough money in my account well this is what they told me…. because my account is new and less then 25 days old all checks deposited to the account will be held for 5 business days. and I will be charged for 17 overdraft fees come Tues, Feb. 19, 2008 because of purchases and checks posted to my account. I asked the rep on the phone How come my husband and i was not notified of this check holding policy. She then told me that we were notified the day we opened our account…. NO WE WERE NOT. I had no idea this was going to happen until the 17th of Feb. My sister and my mother then went down to her local branch at a supermarket (because they are open on sunday’s) (by the way they live in another state, we don’t have supermarket branches in my state) she asked the teller about the policy and he told her that all tellers are trained to assume ALL customers know their policies and they do not have to inform any customer of any check holdings. this is outragous…. oh and it gets better… the bank refuses to take off any overdraft fees…. well my sister has informed me that any complaints about the bank should be sent into the FDIC and this matter will be looked into. I’m currently writing the letter now and come Tues. morning I will be mailing it to them seeing how monday is a holiday tues will have do. so for anyone who is having trouble with Citizens Bank you can write a complaint letter to the FDIC go to their website for all information it is http://www.fdic.gov. do not close any accounts until you contact the FDIC, let them help you get the issue resolved first before closing any accounts. an non existing account can not be helped.

    Oh and did i mention that Citizens has the RUDEST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. i can’t believe how rude and heartless these people are…. no wonder there is sooooo many problems between bank and customers. that goes to show that we live in a greedy world and customer service is non existant. no company knows the true ethics of how to treat a customer.

    Citizens Bank are nothing but scam artists… And why are there no laws protecting the consumer… if you want information on how to help to protect customers from overdraft scams visit this website and sign your name to the petition letter… http://ga3.org/campaign/hr946 this is to support the consumer overdraft protection fair practices act HR 946. if you are tired of paying fees then sign the letter.

  57. Kim this is in reference to your post on Jan. 26, 2008. my sister keeps perfect records of her register and she keeps it on her at all times and any check she writes or debits she makes gets deducted the same min she makes the transaction…. so tell me how are you supposed to keep track of your account if the bank puts a hold on your account and you don’t even know it, because the bank didn’t inform you. and then get told by the teller that they don’t have to inform you about a holding and they assume that all customers know the policies. to me that is not right. I go with bank of america and i had a check i deposited and it was held because it was a thrid party check… no problem because the bank assumed that i didn’t know about the policy and informed me the check was going to be held and on top of that the deposit receipt had the date listed on when my funds will be available. for that i was properly informed and knew not to spend that amount of money. i have made a few overdraft mistakes before but i owned up to them because they are my fault but if the bank does not properly inform the customer of the policy or let them know of any fees then i’m sorry i have to blame the bank. it is their duty as a financial institution and loyalty to their customers to inform them about any policies, fees and check holdings. i had a big problem with citizens four years ago, my husband cashed in some savings bonds (now we went to the bank to ask the inrest because we didn’t know how the interest was incurred, we relied on them to be correct) we didn’t know it at the time that there was a problem because we thought that is what he was going to get in interest we relied on her to be right. well a month later our account went 4000.00 in the negative. come to find out the teller gave us too much interest. i calmly called a customer service rep and was basically told that it is my problem and if i didn’t pay the 4000.00 back in 30 days then this would be reported to the credit bureaus and my credit will be so bad as if i filed bankrupcy. that really scared me because i have good credit. so i did the next best thing i contacted the FDIC the matter was resolved the next day. and my credit didn’t go bad due to a teller error. and believe me as soon as the matter was cleared i closed out the account and went to… yes… bank of america and have been happy since. Citizens customer service is rude and very heartless they don’t care about the customers only on ways on how to make money and rip the low and middle class off. i will never go to citizens bank ever again. they lost a long standing customer who never made an overdraft on that account.

    I’m fully prepared to get my sister through this mess and I have helped her write to the FDIC. We are also fully prepared to go to the news station and plaster Citizens Banks overdraft scam all over the news. this is a scam and i will also inform the news about this website. my parents are also fully prepared to withdraw everything they have from this bank and go to a new one, and they have done business with them for several years. in fact i’m going to inform all my citizens bank account holder friends about all of these scams and let them be aware of it. we are in a pending recession and every dollar is precious so what gives the right for the banks to manipulate the charges so they can get much more in overdraft fees.

    and for any of you who have overdrawn on your account but didn’t keep good records well shame on you because the fees i’m sorry you deserve. but i don’t agree with the bank putting the larger amount first just so they can charge a ton of overdraft fees on a lot of smaller charges. that is not right. they should be posted to an account the same order that they were recieved. go to Josette’s Post on Jan. 18,2008 and sign the HR 946 letter and help get this act pasted to stop this snowballing.

  58. I’m not surprise about this scam. I currently bank with Washington Mutual. I do not have overdraft coverage which means that if I use my debit card and funds are not sufficient the card should be rejected for insufficient funds. WaMu did not reject the debit but allowed the withdrawal and then charged a $50.00 overdraft fee. This happen over the course of several months before I realized that over $1,000.00 had been taken out of my account to cover overdraft charges when they simply could have rejected the debit. I had been banking with WaMu for 3 years and have direct deposit which means they knew money would be coming in and simply opted to charge a fee for insufficient funds knowing they could easily withdraw the money out of my account at the time of deposit. This is a SCAM! If I don’t have the money don’t give me the money. I have no overdraft protection which means they should not give me money I do not have and then charge me for it later. I will never bank with them again!

  59. I have direct deposit, and bought 2 things under $5, expecting that day I’d get paid, and my account said I had $33 dollars in it also. The next day I see that I have an overdraft fee of $130-something dollars, b/c 2 purchases FINALLY went through…and no deposit from my job ever went into my account..Now a day later, I listen to the Citizens Bank account info and hear another purchase went through for $4 and now..lucky me…I wowe $173.83..and still no direct deposit from my work…Seems I’m a lucky girl…

  60. I also returned some shoes for $29 3 days ago, and that hasnt gone back into my account YET… It seems so much easier to take the money out, then get it back IN!!!

  61. CITIZENS DOES NOT VALUE CUSTOMERS OR SMALL BUSINESS HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HERE AT ANN ARBOR. REMEMBER WHEN THEY WENT FROM REPUBLIC TO CITIZENS, THAT WAS A WHILE BACK, WELL JUST THIS PAST WEEK THEY ARE TELLING US THEY CAN SAVE US MONEY BY SWITCHING FROM ONE BUSINESS ACCOUNT TO ANOTHER(AT THE SAME BANK) BECAUSE WE ARE loosing money which is a pay, pay, pay, pay, fee based pay again business account. I am closing 2 accounts there this week. THE Way they hold back money and information is sick. ALL OF YOU PEOPLE THAT THINK YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE YOUR MONEY ,well think again, you do. What is happening here is that you probably feel bad and and believe that it is you and your error. Citizen Bank here in Michigan uses a program that is designed to take money from the customer , it knows when to take money out and when to hold it and in each move it makes money. I KNOW YOU DON;T SEE MONEY GOING INTO YOUR ACCOUNT DO YOU, COMING FROM THE SAME SYSTEM DO YOU . THERE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE LOOSING MONEY HERE, TO THE SAME BANK. I WOULD”NT BE TO SURPRISED TO SEE SOME CITIZENS BANK PEOPLE LOSE THERE JOBS HERE, THEY BETTER DO SOMETHING FAST OR HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLE, MARK MY WORDS I KNOW. THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING. SINCERELY, THOMAS

  62. Thomas, I completely agree with you. If we could get everyone here to petition Citizens Bank then maybe something could get done. If the FDIC were to get enough complaints from customers then maybe an investigation would happen. I’ve been there with Citizens and I just want anyone here who has a complaint you really need to go to http://ga3.org/campaign/hr946 and sign this letter to your state rep. I hope this can help. You also need to send a letter to the FDIC and let them know you are having a problem with Citizens. They have to power over them. And if all else fails hit them hard by going to the news stations (only do this if the problem is big) you don’t want to make fool out of yourself. Hit them hard where the money belt is. bad pubicity is were it hurts the most. Everyone needs to be aware of their snowballing overdraft get rich scams. There are soooo many laws protecting people from many things well why aren’t there laws protecting the consumer from banking frauds as this. If I went into a bank and poses as someone else to withdraw (steal) from another persons account I go to jail for identiy theift and fraud… well how can a bank get away with almost the same thing… they are scamming the consumer and fraudulant on taking money for bogus overdrafts. HOW IS THIS RIGHT? Please go to the FDIC website at http://www.fdic.gov for information on your rights. I had to use them 4 years ago from Citizens and I did get good results. Citizens had to eat the account. I PERSONALLY THINK THAT SOME OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AT CITIZENS NEEDS TO LOSE THEIR JOB OR NEEDS A NEW ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT. THEY ARE THE MOST UNCARING AND HEARTLESS PEOPLE I HAVE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH. Good luck to anyone who has had a problem and takes the steps to correct it. I only blame the people that knew their account was going to go overdraft but didn’t do anything about it, but for most of us who didn’t know because the bank changed the order the charges would go through the account to make themselves rich then I feel for you and I hope you take my advice and contact the FDIC and sign that letter to your state rep. Let’s pull together and unite as consumers and beat this scam, and lets put Citizens in their place. I check this site regularly, if you have questions about contacting the FDIC, I will be happy to help.

  63. So he’s my issue. I had just started a new job so I wasn’t really getting paid for 3 weeks because the pay is biweekly. So on thursday I had only $10.68 in my account. I got a cup of coffee on credit leaving my “available balance” at $9.31. Then later I took out $7 at the ATM to bye lunch at work and was charged by that ATM $1. So I should have had $1.31, right? WRONG! The next day I got paid and went online to see my balance. there was about $500. so I went about my normal spending. Then I check today and they have taken out $39 for an insufficient funds fee, although no where on my statement have i gone negative. I called customer service and they said that the coffee $1.37 coffee was put on hold and the $8 ATM withdrawal went right through. Then they charged me $2 for using a foreign ATM. Then even though my pay check went through before the $1.37 was taken out, I was left with a negative available balance. WTF? I think that that is ridiculous. Then they told me it’ll take weeks to close my accounts because i have 2 direct deposits to get cancelled or else they’ll just keep reopening. I’m outraged by this and the rep I spoke to was very rude and uncaring about my $.60 overdraft. Citizens bank is a joke!

  64. I too have been hit with numerous insufficient funds/overdraft fees over the last few months due to “holds” on my account and high to low posting for my purchases. I have to say finding this blog has been an education for me. I was going to close my accounts with Citizens but it seems that all banks follow this process.

    So here is what I will do. I will no longer use my debit card for any purchases and will instead withdraw cash at the bank (or ATM) for my week’s purchases. This will be a tough adjustment because I used my debit card all the time, but hopefully this plan will keep my money in my pocket and I will no longer be a victim to Citizen’s predatory practices.

  65. Also, to add to what I stated above in my plan to avoid these fees, I have canceled all my online payments and will go back to sending checks by mail for my bills. When I deposit or cash a check at the bank, I will not even consider that money to be available for at least five days, as it is often held for that amount of time anyway. I will also go back to keeping meticulous records for my checkbook, and not rely on the online balance.

    This has been a huge wakeup call for me. I have to admit that I have been rather lax in keeping track of my purchases, and ultimately it is up to me to make sure that the money is there when items are presented for payment. It is my money and therefore my responsibility, and I am going to do what it takes to make sure that I don’t get into this situation again.

    Good luck to all!

  66. AGAIN, the Citizens Bank in this blog, is NOT in Michigan! We are known as Charter One in that state.

    Jackie, making a purchase before verifying that deposit, is the best chance to get an over draft fee.

    Not knowing your banks policies on holds is also the best way to get overdrawn. As I have said, over and over, I am trying to help customers to become banking savy, so they have their money. But when I read this blog, I realize that it’s just easier for the customer to blame the bank.

    I have had a checking account for 29 years, and once I goofed up, and was charged an NSF fee. That punishment was all I needed. When you make a deposit of a check, and the teller doesn’t say when the funds are available, and the deposit slip doesn’t say, and you have not paid any attention to the signs in the lobby on funds availability, or read your account disclosures, then why not ask the teller?

    Rude customer service? Customers can also be rude, sometimes abusive, and personally blaming the agent, for the mistake they’ve made.

    It’s banking, know the rules that apply to you.

  67. Kasey, you make my heart smile! Have I talked with you before? The reason I say this is because this is what I say to customers all day long, and it falls on deaf ears. But you my dear, get it! God Bless you, you now have controll over your own money.

    Banks are a business, if you play by their rules then you are a happy customer, but if you try to get around the rules, the banks will profit.

    Kasey if you ever need me, I hope I get that call, I’ll be there for you.

    🙂

  68. Hi Kim; no, I don’t think I have spoken with you before. But thanks for letting me know that there are people who work for banks that do care about the customer, because you don’ts always get that impression when you call customer service.

    You are right. I do get it now, and I didn’t get it before, I was lazy and didn’t keep proper track of what I was spending. People ABSOLUTELY must keep track of the balances on their account and write down every purchase/debit/check in a check register. If you don’t, you more than likely will overdraw your account. It is as simple as that.

    I do think banks charge too much for these overdraft fees, but I can see now that it is certainly avoidable.

    Thanks, again, Kim, I hope I do get to speak you with you if I need help. 🙂

  69. Yesterday (03/14/08) I stopped in Bank of America to open a new savings account. I live outside of the Citizens and Charter One Bank area. In an office the representative tried mulitiple times to sell me checking products. They have a new thing, if I use my debit/visa card they will round off my purchase to the next dollar, using the money from my checking account, then transfer that amount to my savings. If I have 5.50 in my checking account, use my card for 5.05, they’ll round that off to 6.00, putting 95cents in my savings, but charging my checking account an overdraft fee, but if I have savings overdraft, then they’ll pull the 95 cent neg balance from my savings to give to my savings and charge me the 10.00 fee for that savings overdraft plan. Who thinks this stuff up? BANKS DO!

    The rep was very nice, I asked questions, can using the debit card overdraft the checking account? YES
    Can using the ATM card overdraft my savings account? NO

    I’ll stay with my plan: I opened a savings account!

    At work, I read ALL the disclosures that came with my bank, it was 2 small books worth…highlighted the ones that could effect me. I am now ready to use my account. Be smart, educate yourself!

  70. Citizens Bank robbed me too! I had a check come through for today the 18th, along with 3 other transaction that totalled about 50.00. Tell me why the 150.00 check came through first, instead of the 3 seperate transactions that came below my available balance of 124.00. Citizens Bank smacked me with 222.00 in fees. I called them and they said they will remove 1 as a final courtesy. I’m closing my account and using my Federal Credit Union account. My Federal Credit Union account will decline me if I don’t have the funds to complete the transaction. Even if it was a credit or debit. Honestly, it’s my fault for not keeping track of my funds as the writer above stated but the point is some of these banks are just robbing us, while the owners sit back sippin and eating the finest foods while they take food from our mouths.

    PLEASE KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF YOUR TRANSACTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    BLESS

  71. Andrew, I know, it is a hard lesson to learn. The banks typically will post high to low to maximize the amount of fees they can charge.

    Using your Credit Union seems like a wise idea, especially if they will decline a purchase if funds are not available. But regardless of where you bank, make sure you keep your own records of your account and each transaction, and don’t rely on the ATM or online balance.

    Good luck to you in the future.

  72. Kasey my friend!!! I love how you are helping folks here. Thank you so much.

    Banks post highest to lowest comes from back in the day of paper checks. Folks mostly wrote large checks for important purchases, and no bank back then covered an overdraft, they simply returned your checks if you had no money. Customers would get upset if you returned their bigger checks because these were mortgage or rent payments, down payments, etc. Now the posting order is still the same, it is in the bank disclosures, so read and learn EVERY policy that applies to you. Listen to Kasey, once you get it, you can bank anywhere you want.

    Today I had call after call, folks making multiple transaction before they had available funds. I have seen accounts this week that have had as much as $800 in NSF fees in this month. Of course it’s the banks fault that these customers can’t keep a written ledger! LOL Let me ask, do you really want us to decline your card at the resturant where you just got through eating a meal at? That won’t embarass you? Try this, skip eating out so much, make coffee and pack a sandwich for lunch. If you can’t balance your written ledger then don’t spend the money!

    I do feel for my customers, but most I cannot help, because they won’t take responsiblity for their own loss of self control. A mother crying to me today, claimed she was at a store and if I didn’t rebate her a fee, she wouldn’t be able to buy food for her baby. She did not qualify for any more help. What she didn’t know was I could see the transaction that she was trying to put through, do they sell baby food at the liquor store? A man called had hundreds of dollars in fees in the past few days, was uphappy that I couldn’t do as much as he wanted me too, sad there was more then 10 items pending and every one of them was either a resturant, fast food or doughnut shop, he was already negative, so a couple of days food, would cost him another 390.00 in fees. There are more stories then I can tell, but all show the wastefulness of our country. Live for the moment, either pay later or beg, why live like that? Thousands in tax rebates gone in a few days.

    Kasey now that you get it, do you have extra money? I am a single mother with no other support, so I never have much extra, and we might have to eat oatmeal and rice more then we want, but I am fee free!

    I wish we could change this blog to how to learn to keep your money.

    Kasey I hope someday we get to chat. 🙂

  73. In 2007, I paid probably $3,600 – THAT’S $3,600 – in overdraft fees to Citizens Bank. Most of this is due to their creative money-raising practice of posting transactions is whatever way makes the bank the most money. For example, I have had them post one item for a large amount that was charged to my debit card AFTER bunches of small transactions that were charged to the card so that ALL of the small transactions would trigger overdraft fees. I recently discovered that they overdrew my account “early” this way by posting one charge so that the account was overdrawn faster, and then they took THAT charge and, after they charged me $176 in charges and the item actually was paid, they charged me another $39 for paying the item that they posted as soon as possible BEFORE the account was hit with all the fees. Does that make sense??? If you’re having a hard time following it, don’t be concerned. The bottom line is that Citizens Bank is out to SCREW as many of us hapless consumers as possible. Too many times have I gone $10 over and then been whacked with $218 in fees. Forget the mortgage crisis – THIS is where Ameica’s first money problem is. Who is going to do anything about this? Citizens thinks we’re all too ashamed – I’m to tired of getting screwed to be ashamed. WHAT CAN WE DO??? (kim if you tell me to just keep track I swear to god I’m going to send a nasty virus to your computer – you are just a big lackey.)

  74. Citizens Bank recently (in Nov 07) took OD Fees a step further, now charging them if your AVAILABLE balance goes negative (previously your LEDGER balance would have to go negative to trigger an OD Fee). How is this different? Let’s say that before this new method, you had $100 in your account, you made a $55 debit card purchase, then a $10 debit card purchase, then a $40 ATM withdrawal. The ATM withdrawal would post that day, bringing your balance to $60. A day or two later, the $55 transaction would post, bringing your balance to $5. Then the $10 transaction would post, causing a $5 overdraft and an overdraft fee (at Citizens that’s $39 if you have previous overdrafts). Let’s look at how this works with their new method (which by the way they say is done in the interest of the customers). You make the $55 purchase and your available balance is reduced to $45. You make the $10 transaction bringing your available balance to $35. You make the $40 ATM withdrawal which brings your available balance to -$5. A $39 overdraft fee is assessed. At the end of the day, your ledger balance is $21 (available balance is -$44). A day or two later, the $55 transaction posts (ledger balance is now -$34). The $10 transaction posts (ledger balance is now -$44). An overdraft fee is assessed for each of those transaction at $39 each. That’s one $39 fee the old way, and three with the new method. Think about that… you have $100 in your account (granted it’s dangerous to keep your balance so low, but some of us have no choice) and the bank didn’t allow you to make a one of those three transactions without assessing a fee. They’re are reserving money (with the authorization of debit transactions) yet now allowing that money to cover those very transactions. To me, that is unethical at best. It’s an unfair business practice and they’re playing around with the money of the customers that can afford it least. And they know that each fee they charge makes it that much more likely that customer will overdraft again, making them more money. It’s a snowball effect and they do it blatantly to rip their customers off.

  75. To Kim: (kim if you tell me to just keep track I swear to god I’m going to send a nasty virus to your computer – you are just a big lackey.) I’ll not say a word! 🙂

    Mike, it’s easy, here is how to manage that $100.
    $100
    – 55
    = 45.00 balance
    – 10.
    + 35.00 balance
    this is called a written ledger, in your real time written ledger you have 35.00 so if you take 40.00 out at an atm, you just over drew your account.

    ATM balances, online balances, the phone system balance ARE tools, you written ledger is you exact true balance so trust it!

  76. To the person posting as The Other Kim who posted 3/21/08: Overdrawn is overdrawn, whether by $10 or 100. If you refuse to keep track of each transactions, it is your fault when you overdraw your account. You can blame the bank all you want, but if there are not sufficient funds at the time items are presented for payment, you will be charged fees for overdrawing your account. Don’t pick on Kim, who is only trying to help people. She knows how banks operate and is trying to share information so people can avoid exactly the type of situation you are in. It just seems that most people refuse to listen and also refuse to realize they are at fault for their own financial irresponsibility.

    Obviously the banks are trying to make as much noney as they can. Be smart, record your tranasactions, don’t make purchases or payments based on funds that are not yet available. It can be done!

    Hi Kim. It has been almost a month now since I first wrote in to this blog about the changes I was going to make, and since then, NO overdraft fees! It is such a weight off my mind, knowing that I know exactly what my account balance is and when I go online to look at my account, I don’t have to dread seeing what the balance is, as I used to!

    Keep doing the wonderful, helpful work you do here and in your job, Kim. I also hope we can chat sometime.

  77. Kim, I too work for Citizen’s Bank/Charter One as a CSR. I totally agree with you. A lot of customers call in and try to place the blame on the bank for their simple errors. Or they intentionally overdraw their account and expect the bank to give them rebates. I think if all the customers kept accurate ledgers and wrote every single transaction down the moment they made it then there would be a lot less angry customers! I do understand that sometimes overdrawing an account is because of an emergency or on accident or an honest mistake but the majority can be prevented by keeping accurate ledgers. Kim keep up the good work! I think your amazing! There should definitely be more employees like you.

  78. Hey Kasey, my favorite customer! 🙂 Since I joined this blog I have also been moving around and up at the bank, I am in a better place to help customers now, and just like in the beginning, I love to do just that.

    My happy customers will never read this blog, they won’t be looking for it. Banks are a business that people need. Some employers require a bank account for direct deposit, SS requires an account for benefit or assistant programs. If you need a place for your money to land, then consider a savings account and an atm card.

    It’s tax refund time! Customers get an email telling them they will have a direct deposit on a certain date, but the direct deposits are coming into the ACH department with a different “release” date on them. Before verifying their deposit customers are spending this money. Those calls are so hard, this is not a banking error, I cannot just give you back all the fees. And I mean fees! Piling up, eating away at your hard earned money. Verify that deposit at you bank FIRST!

    Transactions If in dire straights I would risk over drafting my account for: Mortgage or rent, electric or heat, medicine or medical, groceries or gas, car payment and only then if it was a final notice that I already tried to work out first. IF you choose to overdraft yourself for a transaction such as this, make sure you don’t have any other transactions still out there that haven’t posted!

    I hear alot that our customer service is as helpful as you want us to be. Anytime you feel like the agent on the phone isn’t trying to assist you, calmly ask for their name, note the date and time, and ask for their supervisor. It might be a 20 minute wait, but it can help us better serve you. This information we keep track of. Things we need from our customers when they call, we need your patience, we need to understand you, once we get to this point, we need you to listen. If we can help you avoid this in the future, then we are ready to help you. I am going to try to help you no matter what, but if you are calling me names, screaming at me, verbaly attacking me, it’s going to take longer, and if you hang up, all working the situation out stops!

    Kasey, I will figure out how we can keep in touch. 🙂

    website that helps me and my son stay on budget http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com

  79. Savannah, thanks for stopping in. Kasey is a happy customer, and now we have a happy Customer Service, you. Please join us is sharing what could be the most important message for others during such a financial trying time.

  80. By the way, last week I had a message to call back a customer. “Andrew” asked me if I could remember him, I hated that his voice and account felt familar, but no I couldn’t remember him. He said he was rude to me and not very excepting of my advice. I admit if I am really trying to help you, I can be very firm in my position. He called backing hoping to talk to me, first he apologized for how he spoke to me, but most important, he thanked me. Like Kasey, he gets it now. I hope to hear from him again, now I know I won’t forget him, because he made my day!

    Did the other Kim call me a big lackey? What is a lackey? Is that someone who is NOT overdrawn? 🙂

  81. I think it’s disgusting that because you people work for Citizens Bank, you think that makes their actions justifiable. Everybody wants to make an “honest” living, but by supporting these ridiculous banks, you certainly are not. You should be ashamed of yourselves! How on earth can you justify charging someone $40 for spending $2????? It makes me sick to my stomach how these banks take advantage of the hard-working citizens. If they don’t want you to overdraft then they should cut you off. Simple as that. This whole “lag” time is bull. They purposely tie up your money and hold your transactions until you reach a minimal amount and then hit every charge starting with the large ones first. I work in the car business and everyone thinks that salespeople are scammers…well you know what, the banks are making a hell of alot more money off of you and with minimal effort. I think everyone should take their money out of banks if you really want to see politicians like Bush go down. Someone’s getting all this money and is certainly isn’t us. The most humiliating part of this whole discussion is the fact that you Citizens personnel think that all of this is ok. I feel very sorry for you because you are some very pathetic souls and you’ll never achieve anything in life being a follower, especially a follower of the beliefs of Citizens Bank.

  82. So Amanda are you overdrawn?

    Knowing all about your bank and bank policies, and never spending money you don’t have available on your written ledger. Don’t kite a purchase unless you are ready to pay an overdraft fee if it posts before your deposit. It’s not a scam, unless you’re a scammer.

    Don’t blame the bank or their employees because you can’t stay in the possitive.

  83. Today-Monday, I wish all the customers that I helped would comment on this blog. The Mom who had fraud on her account, leaving her waiting on the investigation to be complete, and needing gas to get to work tomorrow. Just like any of us in her shoes, she was demanding, some might say she was rude, but honestly she was desperate. I couldn’t bring the fraud money back instantly, but I did rebate enough fees to replace what she lost. The relief in her voice was priceless.

    Another customer had deposited a check Saturday that wouldn’t be available until Tuesday, she had no clue until she went online to transfer that deposit into her checking account. She had a check coming in that would overdraft her account. Months ago her husband’s direct deposit was delayed causing her 3 fees, I could instantly rebate most of that amount, giving her enough balance to cover her charges on hold and the check. She was very nice to do business with.

    These are the 2 I liked helping the most, but all my customers today were great. I like my job!

    🙂

  84. I had banks in lots of banks, and I didn`t find yet a bank worst than CITIZENS BANK, its unbeliveable how there is a customer service of this bank trying to clean up its mess!!! Please friend, this bank is good for who has plenty of money. This is a very good money for rich people. Now if you consider middle or low class don`t open an account in this BANK!!!

  85. EVEN BANK OF AMERICA IS BETTER THAN CITIZENS BANK,, OPS EVEN SOVEREIGN BANK!!!!

  86. I am yet another Citizen’s Bank failure. I overdrafted my account by 1.28 on March 17 then went out of state for Break. About halfway through it I got a call saying that I was in the hole 40 dollars. By the time I returned and got to the bank I was in the hole 108 dollars. I tried speaking to a manager, who told me that my circumstances didn’t matter, I had to pay in the next four days. My friend told me to call customer service, they rebated one fee, and generously allowed me to only owe 73 dollars. As an unemployed college student, I don’t have 73 dollars, I didn’t even have 1.28. I can not pay. But in a few days I’ll owe 108 again, and it will just keep snowballing. So I’m wondering, if all these people are upset, why doesn’t anyone do anything about it? FILE A COMPLAINT. I’m taking it up with the Federal Reserve, everyone else should too. Maybe they won’t be able to help me, but don’t just let this bank push you around, do something about it.

    Also, when I opened my account the vice president harrassed me about smoking cigarettes, talk about poor customer service. I should have walked away then.

  87. I’m not hear to clean up Citizen’s mess, in fact about 1% of the customers I assist are bank errors.

    As I have stated, over and over again, IF YOU SPEND MORE THEN YOU HAVE IN YOUR ACCOUNT, no matter who you are, you will overdraw your account. It’s a computer program, all it knows is positive or negative! The program doesn’t know your income, it doesn’t know if you are a student, a senior citizen, mentally impaired, unemployed and it can’t see race. If you don’t keep track of your own account then why do you call this Citizen’s fault?

    Sometimes after a long day at work, and I check in here, I wonder if any of you guys will ever be like Kasey. Sha was angry with the bank, and yet she realized that unless she took control of her own expenses, the bank would have the advantage, and her money.

    The bank advances you money though your own transaction, at a cost per transaction, period. Banks are a business.

    Interesting question. You don’t have much balance in your account with a few pending transaction. You use your Debit card as credit, to “kite” a charge that you know won’t be completed before your direct deposit. The credit purchase imediately places the spent amount on “hold”. Where does the amount on “hold” come from?

    Answer: Your account’s available balance. So now any or all of the few pending transactions will not have any available balance to pay these with. Who took the balance? You did! This is not a bank error, this is you spending more then you had in your account before your deposit.

    “kite”= writting a check or making a transaction before the funds are in the bank: illegal in ALL states.

    Tonight I am in the mood to tell you, if you can’t balance your account, then close it!

  88. What Kim says is true, you must be responsible for knowing what is in your own account AT ALL TIMES. It does not matter if you are $1.28 overdrawn of $128 overdrawn, you will be charged fees for spending more than what is in your account.

    It is now almost six weeks since I started from square one, as I described in my previous posts. I nailed down the exact amount that is available in my checking account, and from there I made sure I started to record each and every transaction (debits, checks, deposits, preauthorized payments). I have not overdrawn my account since I started doing this. Before this, I would overdraw my account on a regular basis, not really being sure of what charges were coming in and what checks I had written that had not yet cleared.

    If you refuse to be responsible for your account by keeping your own records and not spending more than what is in your account, you have no one but yourself to blame. As Kim says in her post above, you probably should not have a checking account at all!

  89. are you getting GOOD MONEY to defend them??
    if not go take care of your own life
    Because if you don`t know there are lots of people that are paying $200`s and $300`s a day only because of small purchases they made of $1 or $2,
    If they don`t have the money to pay it, so why the bank pay it???? only to charge them stupid overdraft fees. More human from the bank should do not pay so these charges wouldn`t be charged, now don`t tell me these people are doing crime, the citizens bank is the BIGGEST LEGAL KILLER that I ever saw!!!
    I can list lots of people that are suffering from that
    write down their losses and lets see in court who is the biggest criminal!!!

  90. Sorry, Rodrigo, you are incorrect. The bank’s policies are stated in the disclosure booklet you are given when you open your account. There is nothing that you can take them to court over. If you choose to ignore their policies, that is your problem. I certainly think the banks charge too much for overdraft fees and they are greedy. But fees can be avoided by simply keeping track of your transactions by writing them down and keeping track of your available balance on a daily basis.

    If anyone is paying $200 to $300 a day in overdraft fees, they have serious money management problems and should not have a checking account at all.

    I learned the hard way and after hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees myself over the last few years. I finally learned my lesson and I now take responsibility for may own money and keeping track of it. Since I have done this (read my previous posts) I have not overdrafted once in the six weeks I changed my ways.

    I am not sure why you think that your refusal to keep track of your own money is somehow the bank’s fault. Banks are in business to make money. Don’t hand your hard-earned money over to them. Keep your own records, write down every transaction and know what your available balance at all times!

    I don’t work for the bank and I am in no way defending the outrageous amounts banks charge for overdraft fees. But you can avoid fees by using simple money management skills and not spending more than you have in your account!

  91. Hi dear friend, but it is in the agreement, it means it is legal,
    I`m not wast my precious time with a person who has nothing to do and keeps defending a bank.

  92. Ok, whatever, Rodrigo, you can think what you like, but I clearly stated in my previous post that I do not work for a bank and am in no way defending how banks operate. I am simply stating that if you learn how banks operate, you can take control of your financial situation and avoid overdraft fees.

    But I guess it’s easier for you to keep on blaming the bank for your own financial irresponsbility. Good luck with that!

  93. Kasey, your post(s) was well said. Rodrigo is the perfect example of an unhappy customer. Still not the bank’s error.

  94. Rodrigo any checking account requires the customer to keep track of their TRANSACTION. Blaiming the bank, or the customers who get that, isn’t cool.

    Try giving up the checking account, opening a savings account and having an ATM card.

    It’s been a hard week, more and more customers are not keeping a written ledger. Some are over drafting their accounts on purpose. They claim it’s due to the economy. But the truth is, because of the economy, you need to stick to your budget, this means giving up some things. Customers are risking overdraftS for a cup of coffee, a burger, etc. Pack a sandwich and make coffee at home.

    Have a good weekend, and don’t spend more money then you have available in YOUR WRITTEN LEDGER!

  95. I’m not sticking up for Kim or Kasey or any bank…. but I have to agree with them….. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR TRANSACTIONS. A written Ledger is the best way to keep track of your money…. BUT on the other hand…. you also need to watch your account from the bank as well. If you have a check going in and you are unaware of a holding then what you have in your ledger is wrong… because those funds are not available and you will overdraft and get fees even if the money is there but held. I bank with Bank Of America and believe me when I make a deposit that transaction goes to the front any holds already there(whether it is from a debit or check) will then follow after it. I never spend more then I have in my ledger… I don’t overdraft on my account because I keep a good written ledger.
    While keeping a good ledger is a good habit, knowing your available balance is also neccessary. So for anyone out there who spends more than they have in there account SHAME ON YOU… don’t blame the bank for YOUR MISTAKE. I know the bank is charging outragous charges, and there is something we all can do…. STOP SPENDING MORE THAN YOU HAVE IN THE ACCOUNT. If you know you don’t have enough for that cup of coffee then don’t get it.
    Is anyone here listning to themselves…. You have $100 in your account, you spend $50 for a bill then you go to the store and spend $40 for whatever, then another $10 for lunch, then $2.00 for the cup of cofee…. well duh you obviously went over the $100 you are going to get charged an overdraft fee and it is your fault not the banks… this is why you should ALWAYS know what your available balance is and you should ALWAYS keep a ledger.
    Stop blaming the bank for your mistakes. KEEP A WRITTEN LEDGER AND KEEP TRACK OF YOUR AVAILABLE BALANCE

  96. Way to Go Candida! You are one smart chick!

    I agree with you, knowing you banks policy on cashed or deposited checks is most important. Best thing to do is ask… when the teller hands you your receipt, turn it over hand it back and ask her to write her name, and the date and time your money will be available to spend. Now you have written record to put in your ledger. If you have proof, and the bank employee is wrong, this is a bank error. And if you cash a check at the bank, the bank will place an equal amount on hold from your accounts available balance. When cashing a check, ask the teller to pring a receipt for your available balance, and ask if that check will be placed on hold.

    Smart customers get to keep their own money.

    Candida I have never overdrafted my Bank of America, can you ask for a rebated overdraft fee?

    Be smart this week, pack your lunch, make your own coffee and don’t over draft your bank account.

  97. i do balance my account at all times as i am making the purchase i am balancing. couple weeks ago got an overdraft fee from them although everything was on piont an there shouldn’t have beeen a fee. called customer service and asked them to tell me every activity on my account dating back a month everything was written down and on point so i asked to explain to me why i owe them $60 if we both have the same things she said i probably made a mistake and should check my book.nothing was different and they didn’t give me my money back.

  98. Kim, To be honest… I have overdrawn only once on My Bank Of America account… But it was totally my fault because I forgot to deposit my check after I had written it in my ledger. I owned up to it and never asked for a rebate on the fee…. I don’t know if you can ask for one… I never have.

    Pamela… I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you…. If you are 100% sure that you have the same in your ledger as the bank does then I would go to the bank and talk to a teller and have her print you a statment and then compare it with him/her. If everything is perfect on between the two then I would start asking questions and if that does not help write to the regional manager of that bank and show proof from the statement and from your ledger and try that way to get the fee rebated. good luck.

  99. I have a revolving loan with citizens bank. I was unable to pay it on the due date of the 23rd for the month of January 2008, but I knew not pay 30 days late, I made my payment on February 21, 2008 and it posted that day. I calculated that as 29 days past due, I know that was pushing it, but that was the best I could do. I was reported 30 days late and I called customer service and was told they count the day it is due as the first day late and so on. Does this make sense? Can I just not count?

  100. My daughter , 22yrs old, has had an account with CItizens since she was 14 yrs. old. She keeps very good records but every once in a while miscalculates her register and overdraws her accounts by $2.00 to $4.00 or so. This last time, 2 items on a Master Money Purchase were on hold and she had JUST enough $280.00 in savings overdraft to cover $276.00 in items that POSTED to her checking account. Because she had items on hold that totaled 18.00, she had NINE FEES totaling $351.00!!!! One was a check for $170. that they paid! If they had returned the check all would have been fine. She had a “decline when overdrawn” on her CARD..BUT ONLY FOR DEBIT PRUCHASES! DECLINES do not work for Master Money purchases and DEBITS cost 35 cents so she was told not to use DEBIT!!!! HELLO??? Then, one of the checks for $57.00 was to car payment and she went to Credit Union to pay off the check lest something happen there and the check was presented again and then NSF…another $129.00 in fees after she had deposted money in the checking to be current and was charged $35 for being overdrawn 6 days in a row…that 6th day was the day her funds were deposited and the check came in the same day…so she was condsidered NEgative for 6 days in a row!!!! You try and talk to people at the bank, customer service, supervisors, bank managers, etc. YOU GET NOWHERE??? ANd Kim…..Its People like YOU, who don’t LISTEN to people and understand circumstances and make INTELLIGENT decisions that they are employing at banks like CITIZENS WE ARE DONE WITH YOU!! My daughter is a college student working 2 jobs and finally had enough to get her summer classes paid for when now she is out of over $500.00 in bank fees….her hard earned money!!!!

  101. Diane- wow, that is awful. But you have to understand that this scenario will more than likely happen no matter where you decide to bank. Overdrawn is overdrawn, the banks do not care. They will always post the largest amount first, so they can maximize the number of fees they can charge you, and if you remain overdrawn for a certain amount of time, they charge fees for that too. You have to beat them at their own game. Purchases on hold that take a few days to post are the things that trip most people up, as they will make the purchase and not write it down, and then forget about it, which will often put people in the red when it does post. I would often get into trouble too when I made small purchases with my debit card and not really keep track of them, like coffee, lunch, etc. I don’t use my debit card for small purchases anymore, I withdraw enough cash for the week for these purchases so I don’t run into that problem.

    I can sympathize with your daughter’s situation. I myself paid hundreds of dollars in fees to Citizens, and it was usually because I overdrew my account by just a few dollars. Unless it was a bank error, and it was not in my case, Citizens would not refund the fees. Yes, I was angry at Citizens but I was angry at myself too, because I had made the mistakes that made my account overdrawn. So now I am extremely careful about maintaining my check register, but when it gets a little too close to zero, I still get nervous, thinking, oh no, what if I forgot something, I can’t afford to get hit with any fees.

    I think your anger at Kim is misguided. If you read over all her posts, she is only trying to be helpful in getting people to understand what they need to do to avoid these fees. I think most people cannot get past their anger at their situation in order to listen, which is a shame. Kim’s advice helped me. From my first post back in February, since I started keeping meticulous records, I have not overdrawn once, and I don’t have much extra in my account at any time.

    I can see why you are upset, that is a lot of money, and it is truly awful to call the bank, pleading your case, and then to have someone say, nope sorry, there is nothing we can do. They come off sounding uncaring and rude, but they must follow bank policy as they are just doing their job, and spend most of their day having to listen to people scream at them.

    Again, I don’t work for a bank and am not in any way defending how they operate, but I now believe that these fees can be avoided by keeping meticulous records, especially if your account comes close to zero, which mine often does.

    Good luck to you and your daughter in the future!

  102. Thank you Kasey.

    To all customers: How we can help customers is based on how customers can help themselves. If I told you all the stories I hear about how a customer overdraws their account and feels this is the banks fault, you’d be shocked. First of all, tell the truth. If you tell me the truth and I can help you understand how to avoid this from happening again, then we have a reason for helping you. If you don’t want to admit responsibility then cut to the chase, tell the agent you want a fee rebated, if you qualify then the agent can rebate ONE overdraft fee. Saves the agent time, gets you what you want and you’re done. Agents who answer the calls we call them front line agents have the ability to rebate ONE fee, if you have not exceeded the limit the bank allows in a rolling 12 months. Screaming and yelling at them, will not change what that agent is allowed to do. If the call escalates then you may be on hold waiting for a supervisor, there is 1 supervisor to 100 agents, so be patient. A supervisor won’t do anything to help you if you blame the bank, lie or refuse to listen to them as they attempt to help you understand the policies and how to avoid overdrafts. Supervisors have a limit they have to remain under as well, so don’t expect more then they can help with. Make a mistake, ask for help, continue making the mistake, ask for help. BUT remember there is a limit to how many times per rolling 12 months we can help. If you want to change banks, call their customer service and tell them you frequently spend money before making a deposit and ask them if you mess up and overdraft how munch and how many times can you request a rebate. Bank of America, once if you are a student, and one fee only in the lifetime of the account, NEVER otherwise.

    If you tell me that you overdrew your account due to a MMC purchase that is on hold, then I can tell you were using money you clearly did not have in your account. Make a deposit, wait for it to be available and then make the purchase.

    Everybody have a happy weekend, don’t over spend, balance your written ledger, have the power of bank fee free! 🙂

  103. Kasey I am going to figure out how to meet you email wise and then reward you for your good behavior! 🙂
    _

  104. Candida, Kasey and Savannah, please help me keep spreading the banking fee advice. With money getting tighter people are feeling the BIG squeeze, and need not just my help, but all our help.

    Kasey I once mentioned a website on here that gave me budget help. Find that site and look for a blog by Kim I don’t know what I will blog on, but it is a step for you to find me. I’m heading there now to blog! 🙂

  105. Found this site after my sister called in tears that her whole paycheck evaporated in bank fees. Downloaded her statement tonight and it turns out that Citizens has charged her over $2,700 over the last year and a half. In the last two weeks the damage was $975. She had no money left to pay rent.

    What a scam. They hold out automatic deposits until the last transaction of the day. Meanwhile, they tie up more than double the funds for a debit transaction, which then are subtracted from the available balance. An automatic payment goes thru and poof you are in the red $3 because $120 is on hold pending a $40 charge. Now they start to rack up the fees.

    4/15 – $195
    4/16 – $117
    4/17 – $117
    4/18 – $39 (after depositing $500 to cover everything)
    4/21 – $78 (keep in mind the weekend hence the skip in dates)
    4/22 – $195
    4/23 – $39
    4/29 – $195, leaving a whopping balance of $160.

    This is absolutely crazy – this bank has gone from processing transactions to simply stealing all your money. They are using the debit card as a super high rate interest card. $975 in fees over a two week period for a $20 overdraft is something like A Gazillion Percent APR which certainly should be illegal. When Kim compares herself above to a loan shark she’s not joking.

    Well hopefully the guy at Citizen’s can sleep better tonight knowing that while he ran off with nearly $1000 my sister has $160 to live on for the next two weeks. That will have to cover rent, gas (at $4 per gallon, yikes), food, etc. Even though I am furious when I read the posts above I realize that everyone is being reamed by these guys and we all need to ban together.

    I have to laugh however at Kim, Kasey and the other Citizens mouthpieces that try to downplay this mounting customer backlash. It’s funny how they belittle the customers and lash out in the posts. No customer service person in their right mind would be so insulting and rude, especially in writing unless a) they are make believe and just trying to give a positive spin to this forum or b) they actually do get a lot of hate calls everyday. Which I can believe, given the nearly $3000 they have scammed off my sister in the last year and a half.

    We are moving the account right away and going to pursue legal action against Citizens. I advise everyone else to review your statements, add up your losses and then do the same. And to RBoS – if you are behind this fee squeeze to justify a merger well then shame. Good, honest and hard working people are losing everything because of your predatory practices.

    And everyone take a moment to contact

    Center for Responsible Lending

    at http://ga3.org/campaign/hr946

    to fight predatory banking fees. Good luck everyone.

  106. Oh boo hoo, yet another person blaming the bank for their own account mismanagement. Bottom line, if the funds are not available in your account at the time items are presented for payment regardless of the order in which they are presented, you will overdraw your account. If you are authorizing purchases based on a deposit that you have not verified has cleared your account, you have no one but yourself to blame if you go negative.

    $975 in overdraft fees is a sign that Lyle’s sister has a serious deficiency in her money management skills. Yes, she probably should close her account but she should not have a checking account at all!

    Take responsbility for your mistakes and stop blaming the bank!

  107. The reason this problem is so big is that times are tough. So many more people are living paycheck to paycheck. I DO NOT excuse the bank’s practices; they are wrong and the laws need to be changed to protect the customer; however, you must do what you can to make sure you do not overdraw your account. That means not authorizing payments based on deposits that you have not verified to have cleared your account; if that means you have to pay something a day late, do it. It’s better to pay the late fee than to pay the hundreds of dollars that in fees you can rack up by having your account go negative.

    You cannot rely on the online balance or what the ATM says; YOU MUST KEEP YOUR OWN WRITTEN RECORDS BY KEEPING A CHECK REGISTER AND WRITING DOWN EVERY TRANSACTION (CHECKS, DEBITS, CREDITS, PREAUTHORIZED PAYMENTS, ETC).

    It is amazing to me as one person after another post on this blog, telling pretty much the same story and blaming the bank for their own mistakes.

    Get past your anger and manage your account properly! Overdraft fees can be avoided!

  108. ~lisa

    You are very fortunate to have all the life skills you need and obviously you’ve never had a paycheck come late or bounce.

    Many people these days aren’t so lucky, and banks take advantage of that. If you can’t see that you probably work for one. Do you think it really costs them that much to cover the difference for a few days?

    Instead of kicking someone who’s down and out, why not offer a friendly piece of advice, or just take the silver spoon out of your mouth and place it gently .. …. …

  109. Yes Kasey I totally agree that we need to keep written records. That said – if Kim would have the courtesy to call us and let us know she was going to delete $228 from the account I could write that down in the written ledger and keep a good balance.

    The problem arises when there is $200 available balance, then the restaurant holds $70 for a $30 purchase, the gas company holds $50 for a $10 purchase. This leaves $80 as an available balance, then a $90 check clears. In theory there should be $160 in the account, leaving $80 in the account.

    According to the bank however $120 is on hold, leaving a $80 available balance. The $90 check bounces, generating a $38 overdraft fee. Now the balance in the account is $42 according to the bank, in reality there still should have been $160, ample funds to cover everything.

    Now a $50 preauthorized debit shows up, according to my writen records using “basic math sills” there should be $110 left. According to the bank, however, the balance is now a negative $8 and the $50 check bounces generating another $38 fee. Now according to them we are $46 in the hole even though the balance should be $110.

    This bank is using predatory banking practices with customers that can not afford these fees. If we had a $30,000 daily available balance it would not be a problem, but I really don’t know anyone that has that amount of cash just sitting around. Written records and responsible banking are one thing, but the bank is stealing money without any warning, generating more and more fees for themselves without any authorization!

    Let’s put a stop to predatory banking practices now. Everyone who has had problems should open a credit union account, then contact the FDIC to complain. Lastly close your account and send a letter to your bank.

    Thanks for all the input. Like I said above if Kim were to just simply call us and let us know she was about to deduct hundreds of dollars from the account perhaps we could add that to the written ledger and keep a good running balance. She does not, therefore everything snowballs and the bank just steals the money with no warning.

  110. Lyle, thanks for responding. I think a civil exchange between people (even if we disagree) is the best way to hopefully provide information about learning about the way banks operate and avoiding their predatory practices.

    I still feel that educating yourself about the bank’s fees and policies in regard to overdrafts is what must be done in order to avoid problems. I recommend not using your debit/ATM card for purchases at a gas station or restaurant, where they will most likely put a hold above and beyond the amount of the purchase. Use cash for small purchases. Yes, it is a pain in the butt, but I don’t mind now that I am not constantly overdrawing my account.

    I hope things improve for your sister. I was in a very similar situation about a year ago, but not so much in the hole (maybe about $350 negative) but it took about two months for things to turn around.

    We need to keep spreading the work about this situation so people can learn how to manage their accounts and beat the banks at their own game. Until the banks are forced to change their ways, it is the only thing we can do to protect our money.

    Good luck!

  111. well not the same thing.. but something similar. it was absolutely ludicrous. they charged me double what i charged over plus tacked on a whole bunch of fees.

    i ended up switching to TCF. not the greatest.. but havent had a problem with them so far.

  112. To all, I am reading and trying to keep up with all, but seriously I am busier then ever these days. If I received a overdraft notice from my bank today it I would crawl into the fetal position and cry. This fear keeps me from making any transaction concerning my bank account without first checking my written ledger against the online ledger to see if there is anything I need to know prior to making that transaction.

    Self control, money management, math skills all play a part in keeping up with your own money, plus knowing your banks policy. Don’t think I have superior money management skills, this payday if I pay the mortgage and utilities, both due NOW, I will have to choose between sleeping in the parking lot at work to save gas or not buying food for my son. I have been here before, but it was freezing, easier choice because it’s no longer cold here. My son worries about me, and no parent wants to know this. Next pay, i am hoping for over time. Folks it is hard, you have to make wise choices right now about money.

    Every customer to me, could be me. I always put myself into their shoes when deciding how to help tham. If they are yelling and screaming I still hang in there knowing that if they let me I can help them. But if I look into their account and see they are very wreckless with their money then all I might be able to do is patch their situation and I know it will happen again.

    Banks are limited to what they can do for a customer, customers know the rules, the fees and their own responsiblities of keeping track of what they do with their accounts. Take a cash withdrawl from the bank or a atm, buy gas and dine out with that cash, then you will not have to worry about what is placed on hold. The bank does not know that you only got $20 worth of gas and the station placed on hold $50, same with the resturants or the pizza take out, you have to know, ask before handing over your card, or simply use cash.

    Banks are a business and fees are how they make their money. So be wise and careful.

    Time to get to work. Have a great weekend.

    Thanks to Kasey, Lyle, Lisa and all for keeping this going. Together we can make a difference.

  113. There is a real simple way to avoid these pesky fees.
    Quit using those damned ATM cards! Write a check, have enough cash on you to pay for what you want or even use a credit card or hey, here is a novel idea,
    STOP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE!
    Banks are in the business to make money, they always have been. Why do you think they charge a higher percentage rate to loan money than they give to you when you deposit money? Cause they are a business!
    As for rude customer service, if you don’t like it, don’t do business with them, it really is “That” simple.
    I googled Citizens bank Overdraft because a co-worker has been crying about his problems at work for a month, finally I told him exactly what I wrote here. Know what? He finally smartened up and cut up his ATM card and has not had a single overdraft fee since. Isn’t common sense a beautiful thing 🙂

  114. I have a son college who has his own checking account, which is linked to mine so that when he runs low on cash, (which happens more frequently than I’d like :-), I can transfer money electronically from my home or work computer and avoid overdraft fees…

    Citizens Bank has started something new lately in how they process overdraft fees (to their advantage of course 🙂

    In the past, if there was a balance (for example) of $100.00 in his account and he spent $101.00 on books, as long I moved money to his account *before* the transaction was posted to his account and the money paid to the merchant, we could avoid any overdraft fees. Kind of like in the old days of writing a check. If you write a check on a Monday for $15.00 and you only have a balance of $10.00 in your account, so long as you deposit at least five or more dollars in your account *before* the check is deposited by the recipient of the check, then you could avoid any embarrassment and fees.

    It should work the same way with debit card transactions – (over draft fees should *not* be charged unless and until, the bank goes to pay the merchant from your account and finds that you don’t have enough of a balance to cover the transaction) – however – recently, Citizens has started charging overdraft fees *before* the merchant is paid – in essence, they are charging you a fee for not having enough money in your account – even though the money is technically still *in* your account as the merchant has not yet been paid!

    I’ve heard that the way banks make money these days is primarily on fees – that’s fine, you have to make money somehow or else why be in business… I’ve heard of banks doing things like processing transactions in order from largest to smallest as a means of increasing the number and frequency of overdraft fees *and* I can understand that banks should charge fees when people are spending money that they don’t have – However, It seems to me that fees should not be charged *until* the transaction in question is “posted” against your account – thus – taking the money out to pay the merchant. Otherwise, the only one who wins is the bank – as they now have charged an overdraft fee (which you now owe the bank), and they have not paid the merchant yet so technicall they still have your money in their bank, the merchant sold a product or service but have not been paid by the bank yet, and they had to pay a transaction processing fee to the card proces sing services that handle the debit/credit card transactions…

    This is not right!

    The bank branch manager has been nice enough to refund some of the over draft fees and admitted that they recently changed how they process overdraft fees and was confused as to how it works and why we were being charged fees for certain transactions when in fact they hadn’t even been paid yet!!!

    Citizens Bank is *not* a small neighborhood bank – they are part of a much bigger bank, Royal Bank of Scotland.. imagine how much money they are making skimming people’s accounts (around the world) with overdraft fees on transactions they haven’t even paid out yet!

    Some may say it sounds like small change… think again… many customers x many fees = lots of money

    As of writing this letter I am waiting the hear from the Branch Manager as she too is confused over how this now overdraft fee policy works…

  115. Harold before writing a check, before making a purchase on the debit card the money needs to be in the account. Otherwise it is called kiting, which is illegal. The moment you swipe the card that is the moment the money needs to be in the account. Otherwise you are using the banks money, which can cost you. Over Draft Protection is what is needed here, so stop by your branch, speak to the manager, apply for the ODP and then ask the manager since you are attempting to remedy this can they assist you in any fee rebates.

    Kasey, everyone is calling, LOL I have no time anymore to check this! Keep pitching in!

    Happy banking! KIm

  116. Citizens bank blows. I just went back to bank of america because they refunded my overdraft fee when I was younger and I appreciated that. Not sure they would do it again and dont care. I dont plan on overwithdrawing again. The service, however, at my local citizens is pathetic.

    Kim, Let these poor people gripe. They know they made errors, just let them complain. If the fees werent so outrages we wouldnt be here. I overwithdrew at citizens and got charged too much money and then was delt with by several rude people. They dont value business from people who make them money with the ridiculous fees. Thats big business for you… I’ll just take my banking elsewhere.

  117. One last thing. I am closing my account tomorrow. I just transfered 650 dollars with a teller to zero out my savings and make it avail in my checking. I had a current avail balance of well over a thousand. Today I had a lot of work done on my truck for 450 bucks as well as a few other charges.I come home to check my account and my savings is zero’d and the money is not in my checking. Not sure why my 650 is floating around in cyberspace, but it better clear…

  118. Jon, your frustration and anger are valid. But switching to another bank, especially another big bank like Bank of America, probably won’t be much better. You are right, you must be vigilant and not overdraw your account.

    Until the laws are changed and the banks are forced to do things differently, you must educate yourself about the bank’s policy on fees and their overdraft policy. I sound like a broken record, but the following are things you must do so you don’t overdraw your account:

    1. Keep your own paper register and record each and every transaction as soon as you make it. Know what your balance is at all times!
    2. Don’t rely on the online balance or the ATM balance.
    3. Don’t authorize payments or write checks against a deposit that you have not verified has cleared your account.
    4. Withdraw cash and use it for small purchases.
    5. Be very careful when using your card at gas stations and restaurants; they will often put a hold on your account, and that will tie up more of your money.
    6. When you deposit a check, make sure you know when the funds will be available. Don’t write checks or make purchases against that amount until you have verified that the money has cleared into your account.

    Good luck!

  119. Kim – Has Citizens appointed you their spokesperson on this website? It seems that you have made pontificating to others on this website on Citizens’ behalf your part-time job. Your smug attitude and arrogance isn’t doing your boss any favors. Citizens bites the big one. A number of people have made it clear through postings that nothwithstanding the rigid bookeeping that you seem to think is the key to life DOESN’T MATTER because Citizens has found ways to charge fees even when the ledger balance is in the black. If I were you, I’d stick to my day job.

  120. Now that the long weekend is over, did you write down all the transactions you made this weekend in your ledger? Did you check to see if you have any preauthorized payments coming up? Did you make a deposit this weekend? Make sure you know when that deposit will clear; don’t use that money until you know that it has cleared into your account.

    I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

  121. The Other Kim, Thanks for your concern. I hope you have a wonderful day too. 🙂

    Kasey I had a very low key holiday, stayed home ate leftovers, saved gas and planted my garden. I have NO transactions to record in my ledger except my transfer to my savings account for the money I saved.

    Have a wonderful week.

  122. Hi Kim. Thanks for checking in. I commend you for not responding to the negative comments directed to you. These comments are unnecessary and a waste of everyone’s time. Thanks for staying positive and continuing to want to help people.

    With money getting tighter and tighter and household budgets stretched to the limit, it is absolutely critical that people stick to a budget and micromanage each and every penny they spend. Many expenses are unavoidable (mortgage, utilities, insurance) but I think Kim can attest to the fact that some people are being frivolous and irresponsible in their purchases, and then top it all off by not keeping track of their purchases and then not recording each transaction in their checking account register, amd then wondering why they have ovedrawn their checking account.

    I can tell you, before February 2008 it was a very regular occurrence for me to overdraw my checking account, I never wrote anything down and never had a clear picture of what my balance was. In February I began to keep a written check register and recorded each and every transaction, purchase, deposit, check, fee, etc. that came through my account. For deposits that I made and for automatic payroll deposits I also verified that funds were AVAILABLE in my account before I would make purchases against that money. Guess what, NO overdrafts since that day!

    I am sure I will get negative comments for this post, but it really is that simple, I have lived thru the overdraft nightmare, and now I know what to do to avoid it. You can choose to listen and learn (like I did) or be like The Other Kim and waste your energy being negative and mean. It’s your choice!

  123. Kasey you are so right. As times get worse, people are starting to wizen up! I worked an 11 hour straight (no breaks or lunch) by choice, just trying to help as many people that I can. i am also in the loan dept so I see hardship there too, I never just transfer those customers away, I contact a counselor, talk to them first then bring the customer over to the counselor, so that things can be worked out for the customer. I really care about each and everyone of my customers, even the other Kim.

    🙂

    I need sleep, very long day tomorrow. Kasey thanks so much for all you do. I still left you a clue on how to find me at http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com hunt me out!

  124. This was the post from the other Kim:(read my comment at the end)

    In 2007, I paid probably $3,600 – THAT’S $3,600 – in overdraft fees to Citizens Bank. Most of this is due to their creative money-raising practice of posting transactions is whatever way makes the bank the most money. For example, I have had them post one item for a large amount that was charged to my debit card AFTER bunches of small transactions that were charged to the card so that ALL of the small transactions would trigger overdraft fees. I recently discovered that they overdrew my account “early” this way by posting one charge so that the account was overdrawn faster, and then they took THAT charge and, after they charged me $176 in charges and the item actually was paid, they charged me another $39 for paying the item that they posted as soon as possible BEFORE the account was hit with all the fees. Does that make sense??? If you’re having a hard time following it, don’t be concerned. The bottom line is that Citizens Bank is out to SCREW as many of us hapless consumers as possible. Too many times have I gone $10 over and then been whacked with $218 in fees. Forget the mortgage crisis – THIS is where Ameica’s first money problem is. Who is going to do anything about this? Citizens thinks we’re all too ashamed – I’m to tired of getting screwed to be ashamed. WHAT CAN WE DO??? (kim if you tell me to just keep track I swear to god I’m going to send a nasty virus to your computer – you are just a big lackey.)

    Comment by The OTHER Kim — March 21, 2008 @ 10:47 pm

    3600.00 in fees for 2007, that is about 98 overdrafts in a year. That is about 7.8 overdrafts a month, costing about 300.00 a month. For anyone, this is a tragedy. 176.00 and 218.00 don’t go with our 39.00 fee as a combination, so I wonder if Kim is from a different bank. Anyway in this case I would recommend that the customer close their bank account, or change to a saving account only and an ATM card, no Master Card Debit card. This type account is fool proof, you cannot take anything out of the account unless you are in a branch or using an atm, and only what you have available. Happy Banking People!

  125. About a month ago I sent a check to pay off a loan. There was a 550 overpayment and I still haven’t receive that money back. I called customer service and they keep saying that there’s a note on my account and and to call them back. This is the worst bank I ever dealt with. They are quick to process your payments, but slow to return what belongs to you.

  126. Wow, I can’t believe how many other people have had similar experiences.
    I’m 18, working for basically nothing, and I bought 5 small items (totaling $15) and got charged $187 in overdraft fees. I realize I should have been keeping track of my account, but Citizens doesn’t need to charge you 5 times. How about once? How about sending me an email?
    I don’t know if I want to go through the trouble of switching banks.. but c’mon! I’m 18… I CANNOT afford to pay 190 bucks for one simple mistake…

  127. Luke, Citizen’s Bank is charging you five overdraft fees because they can. I know that doesn’t make it right, but until laws are changed to protect the consumer, that is the way it will be.

    Switching to another bank will not solve the overdraft fee problem, they all do it. My sister also belongs to a credit union, and she tells me they charge fees for overdrawing your account also.

    The key is to know how your bank’s policy on overdrafting, and then do what you must to avoid it.
    That means keeping meticulous records in your own check register, and not relying on what the online balance or ATM balance is. Also, do not make purchases against a deposit until you have verified that the money is available. Yes, it is a pain in the butt, but I would rather do that than hand over half my paycheck to the bank in overdraft fees.

    Good luck in the future!

  128. When there is an over payment on a loan: that payment is held for 30 days, just in case the payment is reversed. Once that is guaranteed funds, then the customer is sent a check.

    I agree with Joe on the fees per transactions, but Kasey is right, until the law makers change things you have to keep track.

    If a checking account isn’t for you try a prepaid debit account. You cannot overdraw this type of account, and have your pay or government check directly deposited. There is usually a $20 upfront amount to apply and get your card, and many wave the monthly fee if you have direct deposit. I use the Western Union account for my college age son, and have found no problems.

    It’s off to work for me. 🙂

    Have a good week.

  129. All paper checks, even payroll and government checks are subject to a hold. Allow 1 full business day for you funds to be available.

    ATM deposits: ATM machines are serviced between noon and 3:pm on business days. Saturday, Sunday and Holidays are NOT business days. The deposits are processed overnight. If in deed there is cash in the deposit envelope then it will be available to pay those items processing on your account that same night. If there is deposited checks, they will be on hold the entire next business day and will not be available until the second business day after the ATM is serviced. Do not make transaction to be paid with these funds unless you are prepared to pay bank fees per transaction. If your deposit envelope is empty, then good luck, because your account will go on hold will under review by the fraud department. If you tried to withdraw funds right after a fraudulent ATM deposit then you could be found guilty of bank fraud.

    Bank deposits: read the funds availability policy in each branch and posted at the drive thru to help you understand that all checks, money orders and official checks will be held, ask the teller to write on your deposit slip her name, and the date and time your funds will be available.

    Depositing internet fraudulent checks: If you get a check from anyone or a company you do not know, don’t just believe that this is a good check because it says official bank check. Google the check, call the police, but don’t expect the bank to know if this is a good check or not. No one is just going to give you thousands of dollars for no reason, or for a 10 minute survey. It is YOUR bank account and ONLY YOU will be held responsible for fraudulent items you deposit into YOUR account.

    Another tricky deposit, the cash advance deposit. If you give them your routing number and your bank account number then they have a a two way direct line into you bank account. First they give you money, then they start to take it back. If you don’t have the money and we pay it, we charge you a fee for that transaction and every other transaction that post after it. If we return the item unpaid we still charge you the fee plus a fee for any other item that posts after it, AND the item can post again the next business day after we return it, up to 3 times. These same payday/cash advance companies then come after you under a new name and offer you another loan to cover your negative account only to come back after you the same way, then so on, then so on. I have seen customers pay hundreds in fees, hundreds to these companies and have zero or less left after their direct deposit. Leaving them with no more pay day loans available to them and no money left to pay their bills or feed their families. And still these companies watch their account and start the process all over again.

    Hope this information helps customers avoid getting fees! 🙂

  130. They are an expert to how play with numbers to charge you UNFAIR FEES in row. By just putting the numbers and date in order to generate the fees, they charges the fees and say never ‘sorry’. Unrespectful staff.
    I need some ways to tell any one who is about to chose citizens bank.
    NOT YOUR TYPICAL BANK.(You know, this is their motto)
    That is right!
    It is going to be your terrible bank.
    (If you step in the bank.)

  131. To Kim:
    You’re going to lose your job for this
    You are going to cost all of your co-workers their jobs
    If the right people find out who you are
    and that you have been posting these things on the internet
    You’re place of employment will get shut down
    You talk a lot about reading disclosures
    And knowing your bank
    But you obviously know nothing about the multiple contracts you signed when you were hired
    You are a total idiot
    People who work with you know who you are
    It’s really easy
    Just by reading this I was abe to narrow it down and figure you out
    I hope you are happy

  132. blah, blah, blah do you have any information to better help the customers or this just a war waged on Kim?

  133. Tips to Avoid Cashier’s Check Fraud

    All Banks are committed to helping you protect the safety of the funds in your accounts. In response to recent national reports, we are offering the following advice to help our customers avoid a growing incidence of scams involving cashier’s checks.

    Here’s one typical cashier’s check scam scenario:

    * An individual receives a cashier’s check. This individual is asked to deposit the check into a bank account, wait until the funds become available and then wire some part of the funds from his or her account to a third party, often in a foreign country.

    Another scam involves receiving a false, unexpected windfall:

    * The victim receives a letter advising that he or she has won a lottery and that the proceeds will be sent once the taxes or fees are paid. A cashier’s check is provided to cover the charges. The victim is asked to deposit the check, wait until it clears and then wire the funds to cover the taxes and fees. In most cases, the wire transfer is directed to an account in a foreign bank. The victim never receives the lottery proceeds.

    How these scams work:

    * In each of these scenarios, while the amount of a cashier’s check that the victim deposits to his or her account quickly becomes “available” for withdrawal, these funds do not belong to the consumer if the check proves to be fraudulent. (Funds availability is sometimes referred to as check “clearing;” however, funds availability is not a determination that a check is legitimate.)
    * When the false check is returned, the bank reverses the deposit and withdraws the funds from the customer’s account.
    * So if the victim irrevocably wires funds to a scam artist or otherwise uses the funds (only to find out later the check was “bad” when the fraud is detected), he or she will owe the bank the full amount of the cashier’s check that had been deposited.
    * Wire transfers are an instantaneous and irreversible transfer of funds. Once the money has been wired to a third party, it is irretrievable and can’t be recovered by the bank.

    What you can do:

    While it can be very difficult to know if a cashier’s check is fraudulent, remember one basic rule: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here are other specific tips to help you avoid cashier’s check fraud:

    * Call or visit the bank on which the check is written to find out if a suspicious check is genuine.
    * Know the difference between funds being available for withdrawal from your account and a check having finally cleared. It could take several weeks to know if the check will clear or not.
    * Know the people with whom you do business. Independently verify information about the buyer or other person who gives you a check. This can be done through consulting a third-party source such as a telephone directory. Be cautious about accepting checks — even a cashier’s check — from people you don’t know.
    * Consider other options such as online payment systems or escrow services when you sell goods and services over the Internet.
    * Never accept a cashier’s check for more than your selling price if you are expected to pay the excess to someone else. Ask yourself why the buyer would be willing to trust you, who may be a perfect stranger, with funds that properly belong to a third party.
    * Ask for a cashier’s check drawn on a bank in your area. A cashier’s check is less risky than other types of checks only if the item is genuine.

    Other tips to avoid cashier’s check fraud can be found at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Web site: http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/ADVISORY/2007-1.html.

    For additional information from the Federal Trade Commission about “Giving the Bounce to Counterfeit Check Scams,” visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/02/fyi0716.htm.

    Source: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, January 2007.

  134. Kim or Kasey–I ordered a pizza for 11.54, but when my card was authorized for the amount of 711.54. This took all my available balance and more, causing 6 things to overdraft. Customer service was very nice and did what they could to help and I understand that this is not a bank error, but how can a customer protect themselves from this happening to them? If a business immediately voids the mistake why doesn’t Master Card or the bank have this information, after all they authorized it immediately? It starts out as a business error, but it does feel to me that the bank would benefit more if the error is not immediately correctable. When I called the pizza place and explained what happened, the first thing they asked me if I banked with Citizen’s, and said that that is the only bank they have had trouble with in this type of error.

  135. Hard-Hit Banks Hike Overdraft Fees
    By KATHY CHU,
    USA Today
    Posted: 2008-06-18 14:53:47
    Filed Under: Money, Banking

    (June 18) – As the economy weakens, banks are increasingly squeezing customers who overdraw their bank accounts.

    For more than a year, Wachovia has been urging its employees not to refund too many overdraft fees because they “make up a big percentage of our revenue and is a HOT button among leadership,” according to internal memos obtained by USA TODAY.

    Bank of America and Washington Mutual , meanwhile, have jacked up their overdraft fees and made it easier for customers to be hit with multiple penalties.

    The changes come as banks grapple with growing losses from bad mortgage loans. Overdraft fees have increasingly become a source of profits. Banks and credit unions collect about $17.5 billion in overdraft fees per year, the Center for Responsible Lending says.

    Checking-account customers are “easy picking” for fees, says Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America, because banks typically can take any money owed out of a customer’s next deposit.

    What banks are doing:

    · In 2007, Wachovia put in place a tool that tells employees how much they can refund to customers hit by overdraft fees. The bank, in memos, also tells employees to “sell” a debit card with every account because it makes money when consumers use it.

    “We are in an economy that is requiring us to tighten our belt and ensure that we are looking for every possible way to generate revenue,” says a memo sent to employees in the Atlanta region on Jan. 17.

    Responding to the memos, Wachovia spokeswoman Jennifer Darwin says the bank “work(s) hard to educate customers on how to avoid fees; however, we have a responsibility to shareholders to collect fees.” Most customers don’t pay overdraft fees, she adds.

    · In April, Washington Mutual raised its overdraft fee in most states to $34 from $32. Also this year, the bank increased the number of times a day that a customer can be hit with this fee, from five to seven. Washington Mutual spokesman Gary Kishner says the bank raises fees partly due to “competitive factors.”

    · This year, Bank of America raised the fee charged on the first day a customer overdraws to $25 from $20. The bank also raised the number of times a customer can be hit with this fee per day to seven from five. And it’s told customers that most signature debit-card transactions will reduce their balances that same day and be subject to fees if there isn’t enough money in the account. Before, consumers often avoided this fee if they deposited money before a purchase cleared.

    Bank of America spokeswoman Diane Wagner says the bank adjusts fees to “establish more uniform pricing for our national franchise.”

    Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve proposed a rule that bars financial institutions from charging a fee for paying an overdraft – unless customers have had the chance to opt out of this payment. Consumers can get more information about the proposal and directions for submitting comments to the Fed at http://www.regulations.gov; enter Docket R-1315 in the “comment or submission” field. Comments must be submitted by July 18.

  136. To John (who posted the wrong amount was debited from his account). I certainly do not understand why the bank would not immediately reverse any overdraft fees in your case. This was clearly not an error on your part. Especially if the merchant immediately reversed the charge. I wish I knew why the bank would give you a difficult time about this. It does not make sense to me! Sorry that happened to you.

  137. Be aware the Citizens Bank and other major banks around the country intentionally use a practice of posting checks to a customers account with the largest amounts first. The reason for this is; if a customer has insufficiant funds it will cause more checks to bounce so they can charge the customer with larger fees. Instead of 1 check not clearing several may not clear and they will charge large fees per check, per day to the account that does not have the funds.

    They do not actually bounce the checks, they cover them in your account that way thay can charge these fees daily until sufficent funds are credited to the account. Then the customer places money in the account and all fees are first subtracted in hopes to continue the cycle. It has a snowball effect on the account.

    This practice intentionally targets customers that can least afford it. I suggest people stop using these large banks and go with a smaller local bank or credit union, they usually do not use this practice but when your check does not clear you will be charged with a one time penalty. STOP USING LARGER BANKS LIKE CITIZENS BANK they have all sorts of fees to make them rich at your expense. They don’t make money on your account, they make it on fines, penalties and fee and the government lets them.

    Think about it if 2000 people stopped using a bank and each paid $500 a year in fees that is $1 million dollars the bank has lost. With citizens bank they can only charge a maximum penalty of about $250 a day to a account. Two days and you have been charged $500. A simple $1 check could keep accruing fees and in a few days has cost almost $100. Nice Rip Off isn’t it

    Tired of big bank rip offs
    plattsburgh, New York
    U.S.A.

  138. It is true that banks are predatory in their practices. They know how hard times are and that people are prone to overdrawing their accounts.

    That is why it is ultimately up to YOU to make sure the bank does not take your money. Again, keep meticulous records. Write down every transaction (deposit, ATM withdrawal, purchase, check, preauthorized payments) and then subtract that from your balance. Don’t make purchases or authorize payments based on deposits that have not cleared into your account.

    Yes it is a ripoff! So be smart and take charge of your fiances. Overdraft fees can be avoided.

  139. To John. I know one reason the banks do not rebate all the overdraft fees is because it is the companies error so it’s their resposibilty to credit you for the error they caused. If this happens in the future most institutions have a process in place for a merchant to be able to get the incorrect hold on you account released. When they voided that transaction all it did was tell their processing company not to process the transaction. Never did the processing company have the hold released. Another thing…. To the best of my knowledge a financial instituion has to report all fees charged as income and paying taxes on that income.
    Even if they return the fees back to the customer at a later time for whatever reason. Hope this helps

  140. John, thanks for the reply. But if the processing company can place a hold on my funds the minute my card is swiped, then why can’t the same process company communicate with the bank about the immediate void. I knew about the error and the voided receipt was 52 seconds later then the mistaken transaction. The next day when I realized my account was negative, by instruction of customer service, I went back to the pizza place and the manager called, answered some questions about the transaction and the hold was released. The manager assisted me with the limit of courtesy rebate($74 out of $222), which I do appreciate. Because of these fees my grocery budget was cute short, BUT the pizza place, has taken up the slack by providing food for me and my kid until my next pay day.

    The manager said this has only ever happened once before and the customer was also with Citizen’s Bank, new sign on the door and at the cashier, “No Citizen’s Bank Debit Cards Processed Here!” Hopefully this will save the bank so much trouble????

  141. John, what happened to you is truly frightening. I wrongly assumed that the bank would refund ALL fees, because this is obviously not your error. I would take this issue to someone higher in the bank, and raise a fuss until you get that money back.

    I have to tell you that in my case, there was an error with my mortgage company debiting my Citizens checking account twice about two years ago. This obviously caused me to go negative by hundreds of dollars, incurring many overdraft fees. All of these fees were reversed by Citizens bank. And, they also credited me the amount that the mortgage company took and put it back into my account until the situation was resolved. However, I was only able to get this done by insisting on speaking to someone who could help me, and the first two people that I spoke to when I called Citizens were absolutely useless (and rude). I finally spoke with a wonderful supervisor who was kind, understanding, and she reversed all the fees.

    So John, get back on the phone and insist that all the fees be reversed. Be polite but insistent!
    The bank has no right to profit from something that was not your error.

  142. To John. The merchant made the error, why do you want this to be a bank error? It’s not going to be. Kasey I don’t think telling him to call again will help. Customer service isn’t as rude as customers.

  143. To blah, blah, blah:
    Did you make sure the “right people” found out? What about all the other company policies, dress code: what are you wearing, look around, anyone breaking this policy? Clear desk policy: How many surfing the web with their cell phones, taking pictures to upload to myspace, talking or texting while a customer is on the line? Attendance policy: everyone there with no written warnings? You are now the company rat, so rat them out!

    To blah, blah, blah:
    You’re going to lose your job for this
    You are going to cost all of your co-workers their jobs
    If the right people find out who you are
    and that you have been posting these things on the internet
    You’re place of employment will get shut down
    You talk a lot about reading disclosures
    And knowing your bank
    But you obviously know nothing about the multiple contracts you signed when you were hired
    You are a total idiot
    People who work with you know who you are
    It’s really easy
    Just by reading this I was abe to narrow it down and figure you out
    I hope you are happy

  144. If I read the above post correctly, apparently someone has gone after Kim and tried to get her in trouble at her work. I hope that is not the case and shame on whomever might have tried to do this.

    Why must some people be so nasty? Kim has tried to help people here.

    So, to the person who posted as blah, blah, blah- Shame on you! I hope you are happy. Why don’t you crawl back into your hole and stop harrassing people?

  145. Hello. My sister is bank teller for Citizen Bank. At the time, I was at Sky Bank but switch to Citizens Bank. Everything when well and I signed my daughter up for her owe account. I was on the account because she was under 18 years old. When we signed her up, I told them I didn’t want her to have overdraft protection because I didn’t want her to get into a ripple affect if she overdraft her account. The lady said that was not a problem. Once again everything was good for about 5 month.
    On the fifth month, I received a bank balance for $958. I could figure out what happen. So I called Customer Service. Finely I found that she deposited her check and used her ATM CARD four times. But her check was on hold even thou she work for Giant Eagle. (Giant Eagle and Citizens had agreements for free checks, same-day check deposit, etc., for Giant eagle employees.) Which she was to have no overdraft protection but they still let her overdraft? Which ran into fee and more fees? By the time I found it had been 3 weeks and negative $958. I told the lady on the phone I can pay the amount owed from her four transactions by transferring the money from my personal account. She told me I had to pay the whole negative balance. I told her I would call citizen back later on that day because I wasn’t home. I when to Citizens and talk to my sister whom pulled up the account. In the notes, it said No Overdraft Protection. She told me call Customer Service back because there was a mistake and tell them what I found out when I when to the bank. I did but they said miss informed me and said they could settle the account for half the fees. I give up and paid it. Then I closed the account.
    The next month I received a statement for positive amount for the fees I paid. No one called or anything. When in to withdrew the amount, told the lady that I didn’t know they put it back. She said let me look. Then she said they weren’t supposed to because I settled the account. She said the computer automatically fix the problem after I paid it off. Because the check was supposed to be same-day. They would keep the money because I settled. I fought until my face turned blue. I WON MY MONEY.

    RAN FAR FAR AWAY FROM CITIZENS. I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH SKY BANK. I NOW HAVE A CREDIT UNION WHICH WON’T LET YOU TAKE MONEY IF IT AIN’T THERE. IF ON MISTAKE YOU GET MONEY OUT THAT WASN’T THERE, THEY GIVE TWO DAYS TO PAY IT WITH NO FEES. AND THEY CALLED YOU a lot TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPEN SO YOU CAN PAY IT OR MAKE ARRANGEMENTS.

  146. This is a response to all of Kim’s (the customer service representative) comments. Until just an hour ago I was planning on switching my checking account to Citizens and then I come across all these complaints and you saying people purposely overdraw their accounts. Now your probably right some people do scam the bank but most don’t. Take a look at the numerous problems listed on this page. Now I overdrew once in a year with my current local bank. They charged me about $30 plus the cost of the $12 dollar check. That was it! I admit it was my fault and I payed the fees. That is all the came of it. Do you really think Citizens isn’t scamming people? Are you brain-washed or is the money your paid enough to make you want to find this blog and try and defend your companies bad policies. This bank better straighten their policies out or they should get used to losing customers because I have heard multiple times in my town too, that the bank has too many hidden fees. Quit ripping people off, greed is one of the worst traits in anybody. I’m currently a college student and that means I have ZERO dollars to waste on useless fees from a rip-off bank. I will never open an account with this bank and I will make sure to tell everybody I know not too either. Now I’m going to research respectable financial services.

  147. I would just like everyone to know that Citizen’s bank is a scam. I made four purchases 6.00, 3.94, 142.84, and 9.34. I had enough to cover this but the 142.84 was to pay for a hotel. Well the hotel put an authorization hold for another 142.84 which the bank doesnt release for 5 days. So it caused me to overdraft…would you believe overdraft of 88.00 caused my account to be negative 517.48. In the matter of two days…I woke up this morning panicked because it was at 317.81. By the time I got to the bank is was at 517.48…an hour time difference…How ridiculous. The worst is I have my direct deposit being put in on Friday..my whole check will be going to the bank. They had no sympathy and I told them that Commerce Bank charges you one overdraft fee per day. The Manager didnt believe me and called Commerce right why I was sitting there. She was surprised to find out that I was correct. She …the manager….suggested I go back to banking with them. She told me she was going to email the regional manager and let him know this but she doubted he would do anything. She was a manager of the bank and was upset at the fees I was being charged…She then told me that as long as I was in the negative I would continue to be charged 35.00 per day on top of this because my account was negative…I asked her to freeze my account and close it. She said until it was a 0.00 balance she couldnt close my account…basically until friday..who knows how much more they are going to charge me…I also had overdraft protection from my savings that would have covered this and she had no reason on explaining why they didnt use option..THANKS CITIZENS HALF THE EMPLOYEES DONT EVEN KNOW WHY YOUR CHARGES ARE SO HIGH NOR CAN THEY EXPLAIN WHY MY ACCOUNT WAS CHARGED OVER 479.00 IN FEES SO FAR…

  148. I haven’t read all the above issues but get the idea. I too have had problems with Citizen’s. My son has an account with them as his college uses them for their deposits to study abroad students for meal money. He was studying in Barcelona this past spring and I kept a careful watch on his finances via the internet. One day I noticed a removal of 20 euro and 200 euro from his account. It took a while to figure because the withdrawals were something like $31.54 and $315.40 or something. They were also from two different banks/ATM’s as far as I could tell. I called my son immediately and told him what I had seen. He had to call the bank from Spain and report the problem and was told that they would look into it. Overdraft charges of $37 were added because the mistake had put him over his limit. I had to add another $315 to his account to cover the loss. After about a week they gave him the money back and removed the fees while they investigated the situation. About 2 weeks after that they removed the money again saying that the bank in Spain had been balanced that day. That was it, no other explanation. My son went to the bank in Rhode Island to complain and the women or man (not sure) there said that Citizen’s wants you to deal with the bank in Spain on your own because it was their fault if it was anyones! They admitted that it was a way for Citizen’s to get out of it. Not being fluent in spanish my son gave up and in the process lost $315 that he had earned so far this summer. This caused his account to be very low and he teetered on going over again and again. Finally, a week or so ago he went to the bank, asked if he had anything outstanding, was told by the bank that he should be fine and closed the account. Within a few days of this I looked at the account to make sure and found that he was $7 overdrawn! A few days later he was charged $74 for the overdraft, went in yesterday to complain about it and then today when I checked he was charged another $35!! So to close his account with Citizen’s it will cost him (or me in this case cause he’s broke) $116!! I can’t wait to be done with this bank.

  149. It’s the same story again and again. People are spending more than the amount available in their accounts. Then their accounts are overdrawn ! The days of hoping that you can run to the bank to cover purchases and charges with a last minute deposit are gone! The bank hopes you will do this. The bottom line is, do not authorize payments or make purchases based on money that you have not VERIFIED to have cleared into your account. I keep a paper register and record every transaction, deposit, purchase, check, etc. You need to know exactly what is in your account on your own and not rely on the bank’s online, phone, or ATM balance.

    Overdraft fees can be avoided! Banks want to take your money, don’t let them! Believe me, I know, I have lived thru the overdraft nightmare- read my previous posts!

  150. I finally won one with Citizens. I was able to get a few supervisors to see that the bank’s conduct with overdraft fees, in my situation anyway, were unethical, immoral, inappropriate and illegal in my state. Within a day and a half, the bank refunded $1,975 of fees it had stolen from me. So it CAN be done. Thanks, Kasey – I followed your good advice to keep careful track of every single transaction and was able to use my records to back the bank into a corner. I am still in the process of reporting Citizen’s behavior to my attorney general and I recommend that everyone else do the same.

  151. I have the same problem but is there any way someone can sue the bank for this over charges.

  152. I had a deposit of an income tax return for a few thousand put into my account. The same day I wrote 2 checks, one a rent check which for some reason they put on hold. They then released the funds for the rent, but the hold caused me to have $900.00 less available. When I saw what had happened and the resulting fees of $70.00 for two OD items, I called Customer Service. They were really polite, didn’t understand what the local branch was doing by holding the check and returned my fees overnight.

    Decent service if you ask me (of course it was their fault, but they wanted to fix it ASAP).

  153. Basically whoever is argueing that citizens is a preditory bank is incorrect. Beleive me I’d love for them to be legally labeled as such but sadly they are not “YET”. They have changed their OD process since last November and yes they are much more severe. It seems that they are targeting larger amounts of withdrawals first then saving the many smaller ones for later. Thus increasing the ammount of fee’s you owe them. I’d only like to say this to kim, kasey, and whoever else cause I frankly dont care what your names are. I hope you really get paid well enough to sit here on this website and explain the same thing over and over again about having a good ledger is the key to not overdrawing. Oddly enough people make mistakes, and I could see charging someone $39 because they made a mistake. It shows for them not to do that again. Much like touching the top of a stove. Once you touch it, you know not to do it again. What Citizens along with many other banks are doing are taking ur hand back to the stove and holding it there ever so tightly and no how much you scream in pain they continue to not have a clue whats going on and repeatidly say its your fault for touching it in the first place. Figure out the metaphore while your sitting at your desk one day. Think of how terrible it would be for someone to do such a thing to your child or your brother or sister. Its not right to take advantage of people no matter what they sign or agree to. I’ve been purposely mislead by banks as well and especially customer support. The only thing I’ve learned is you can trust no one but yourself. Well the 2nd thing I’ve learned is you cant overdraw cash. My advice is to drop citizens. Do you people really trust a bank who does these kinds of things, employs these corperate desk monkies, then pretends to be your friendly neighbor, but nevertheless holds that sharp knife to your back pressuring you to lean back into it by overdrawing your account? Take a stand people.

  154. Anonymous, very well said and I agree. I hope people take to heart your comment.

  155. I am mad!
    How can this bank charge you for something you didnt spend yet?

    And Kim, are you really a customer service agent?! You are not “for the customer”. Despite of all the complaints here, you have’nt done anything to solve this problem. And that is all you can advise? To keep a ledger? To monitor every minute of their activity of banking with you??!! What an inconvenience! And you call yourself a “Customer Service”! Are you human? I doubt it. I see you as a system tool.

    Oh, I’d like to tell you, Im a customer service rep too! You know what, all customers who calls my dept are mad at first, but I think I’m good at my job coz at the end of a call, I gain friends..

    You know what a real customer service agent is? For the “Customer” not for the “Company”.. If your a customer service officer who couldn’t find a way to make your customer’s satisfied, you’re not doing your job right.

  156. Citizens charged me 10 overdraft fees in one day-resulting in $350.00 stolen from me!!!! The rep told me that because I have good EST scores or whatever that they allow me to go over. i told them that that is ridiculous since they charge me $35.00 each time! It should come up as insufficient funds when you swipe your card, plain and simple. I am investigating now what the laws are in my state and waiting for a call back from the branch manager, knowing I won’t get anywhere with her. I am settling this account even and getting a new bank ASAP!!!

  157. JP I agree, not everyone is going find the right bank, but if you got fees because you were allowed to overdraft because you had a great record with the bank, then it looks like they are encouraging you to switch banks. Last week I made a late deposit of cash, the teller told me my funds, that showed pending (online) were available. I wasn’t planning on using the funds, but when I got home, I looked up the disclosure that said that the bank could (and would) charge me for any transaction made on a pending deposit (including cash). I plan to show this to the teller when I return to the bank next payday. If you can get legal advice, I hope it works for you JP.

  158. ONLINE BANKING: anyone who works for Citizen’s or Charter One Banks, could you explain why online banking is not real time and why they do not show pending transactions? In the electronic age, when online banking is recommended by the bank, along with bill pay, why can’t the bank update their online banking so that customers can rely on that ledger? Other Banks show pending transactions, you know those so called “holds”, if a merchant makes a mistake and places an incorrect amount on hold it will show immediately if you have Bank of America. And if the transaction is voided, it shows online as well, no need to call and have the hold released. Can anyone explain why Citizen’s doesn’t update online banking, unless it’s so they can preach written ledger and charge excess fees?

  159. I do not work for a bank!!! I am a customer, just like you, who made mistakes with managing my account and paid the price by paying hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. Yes, the banks suck by doing this! Yes, you can switch banks if you hate Citizens! But guess what, most banks do the exact same thing as Citizen’s! So if you do not change your ways and keep track of each transaction meticulously, you will end up in the same mess as when you were with Citizens.

    Yes, Citizens should show pending transactions and holds in their online banking but they don’t. So be smart and beat them at their game. Keep an accurate checkbook balance. When you make a payment, purchase, or deposit, record it in your checkbook and then add or subract that from your balance. Make sure you record any ATM fees/other fees you will incur on a monthly basis. Keep a list of recurring payments (& dates) that are automatically deducted from your account. Also, do not authorize payments or make purchases based on deposits that you have not verified to have cleared into your account. In other words, if you have direct deposit on Friday, don’t base a payment on that deposit until you know that money has cleared into your account Do not rely on the online balance; checks you may have written or purchases made that were not presented for payment yet will not be reflected in this balance, so that is why it is so important to keep your own checkbook register. People can scoff and dismiss this, but it really is the only way you can avoid overdrafting.

    Also, do not use your debit card anywhere that you do not understand there to be a potential hold (gas stations, restaurants) unless your account can absorb that without going negative.

    I am tired of people who come here to complain but will not listen and just want to bash the people who are trying to help. Go back and read my posts and you will understand what I have been through; I learned how to beat the bank at their predatory practices and they have not gotten me for one overdraft fee in almost 8 months! Whereas I used to go negative all the time, again, not once in 8 months!

    So go ahead and bash away and keep on incurring those overdraft fees. I will continue to keep my “silly” paper checkbook register and keep my money where it belongs , in my account, and not overdraw my account and pay ridiculous fees to the bank!

    Oh and once again, I DO NOT WORK FOR ANY BANK! Geez!

  160. Hey Kasey, do you work for the bank???LOL, just kidding.

    I hope folks listen to you, seems like you are one wise lady…what or who helped you change? Are you still with Citizen’s bank?

    I agree with the paper register, but it’s 2008 and Citizen’s Bank promotes it’s online service, so if it can’t be displayed in real time with all transactions (including pending and holds) then customers should close their accounts until they get up to speed in this electronic world.

  161. Well, it has been about a year and a half since I wrote this article. What a response!

    The last comment by “whoever” makes me want to chime in. Whoever, I couldn’t agree with you more.

    Since switching to Regions bank (and moving across the country) I couldn’t be happier. Their online records update INSTANTLY. You can even see all pre-authorizations. I remember sometimes waiting 4 or 5 days for my charges to show up on Citizens web site. Ridiculous.

    There ARE options out there folks. Find a bank whose online presence isn’t built around SCAMMING you! Citizens bank is shit.

  162. vvhitekid2, thanks for the original post that started this blog. Citizen’s bank was the topic bank, Citizen’s, also known as Charter One, owned by RBS (royal bank of Scotland), BUT this can be applied to ANY bank. Customers we know what is expected of us, keep track, don’t spend more the you deposit, and allow time for pending items to post. BUT if your bank is not up to speed, so that your online ledger is an out and out lie, close your account and move to a bank that assists their customers with keeping a real time electronic ledger. Otherwise it appears to me that the bank is purposely causing you to overdraw. We all need to pay close attention to this and research more why a bank can legally withhold transaction information. Like other’s I left Citizen’s, and am better off.

  163. Hi whoever, I agree. Citizen’s should be more forthcoming about what they can “see” in regard to pending stuff that the customer cannot see when they are online.

    Why did I change? I will tell you that after paying hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees to the bank, I got fed up and said to myself, I am going to do what it takes to make sure the bank never gets one penny, ever again, from me due to overdraft fees. A simple paper register and meticulous recording of ALL transactions when I make them is what has saved me, and I swear, I have not overdrawn my account once since February of this year.

    I think that people need to make the right choices for themselves when it comes to their banking whether it be changing banks or changing the way they keep track of their account balance and being more responsible in their spending habits.

    Vwhitekid2’s comment is right. There are options out there. Find out what they are. Don’t sit and whine about the bank taking your money. Find the right solution for you whether that is taking a money management course, changing how you keep track of your account balance, or even switching banks if you are unhappy with your current bank.

  164. What is going on with Citizens Bank? My fiancee just found out that an overdraft line of credit was opened at Citizens Bank without his approval (we have a copy of the unsigned paperwork in our possession). Due to previous overdrafts and this line of credit charging 18% interest over the last year he now has a balance of $1500. Any charges would have been paid if we had known this line of credit even existed. I personally do my banking through M&T Bank and have never had an issue. I know that everyone says…”it’s your responsibility to track your account” and in some ways I agree. Despite this I trust my bank enough to not place bogus charges or open credit lines without my consent.
    Anyway, After speaking with customer service at citizens we were basically told that if he had been keeping an eye on his account he would have noticed these additions/subtractions and then could have called and cancelled the credit line. They said now there’s nothing they can do. How can this be legal? or Is this legal? It seems like fraud to me.

  165. I’m in the process of closing my accounts with Citizens Bank now. It’s outrageous that they charged me insufficient funds fees in the amount of $156 because of pre-authorizations. When Citizens Bank actually had the obligation to pay the creditors I had plenty of funding in my account. That’s when it should count. They’re charging insufficient funds fees when they haven’t incurred any expenses on their side.

  166. I have been hit many NSF fees over the yaers but this last one really broke my back. Things have been really tight lately and when the wife requested funds for back to school supplies I told her we had very little to spend. Well, in her best intentions she spent an afternoon cutting out coupons from various stores like Target, Big Lots, Walmart, Offfice Depot, etc., then made 13 purchases ranging from a high of $50 to a low of $3.99. Eight of the charges were for less than $20, three were less than $10 and the end result was six insufficient fund fees totaling $195 on a total overdraft of $46.42. Enough is enough! When are we going to get a fair shake from the banks regarding paying the highest charge first so the smaller charges will cause the OD. We have to do something. Fair is fair. Please help!

  167. Jonathan I hope you call customer service and get some of these fees refunded. So sad when a family is trying to make ends meet and the government won’t stop banks from over charging for overdraft fees. How can we ever stimulate the economy at this pace.

    Call customer service, nicely ask for a supervisor, and explain in detail what happened. I wish you luck.

  168. Jonathan, in future, withdraw cash from your account for small purchases. That way, your withdrawal is one transaction, rather than getting hit with overdraft fees for each time you used your debit card. I believe debit cards can be a real problem, if you use them several times during the day and don’t have sufficient funds to cover the purchases, it can trigger a cascade of overdraft fees (which is just what the banks hope you will do!)

    I hope things get better for you and your family.

  169. Citizens bank = 0 duty of care..
    They hire morons and criminals and when they find out about the crime/misake what ever, they ignore it.
    They make no attempt to rectify the situation.
    I cant say who I am or what I know but I hope to god it ends in a HUGE Fine from the #### against the criminals that work at this bank.

  170. I feel your pain. I overdraw 16.00 by my error. I received $37.50 fee. Because the fee threw me in more overdraw, I was charged other fee of 37.50 for the first overdraw fee. So – 16.00 cost me 75.00 in fees. One week later I found other overdraft charge of 37.50 on the summary of my account, although no negative balance is visible. I am still trying to figure that one out. This is in US Bank.

  171. It’s time folks to ask yourself:

    What do I need from my bank? If the answer is direct deposit and a debit card, look into the Western Union debit card, or other pre-paid accounts with direct deposit. If you need savings, checking, online banking and bill pay, then you need to find a bank that has real time online services. With this service you HAVE to keep up with your own transactions, and NEVER spend a dime that is not available. Banks are just waiting and will manipulate your transactions to get the most fees possible.

    But if you like to pay a bill, or make a transaction before pay day, Citizens Bank is for you…remember this service comes with a fee per transaction in as much as $39 each. Idiot customers are what they call you, sure they might give you back a fee, even up to 3 fees, up to 3 times in a year. You know why? Because idiot customers will do it again, and again.

  172. this is ridiculous. I’ve never had an overdraft charge before. I looked at my account online before I went out to eat and it said I had $55, then I paid for dinner which was around $45 at 10pm. I received my direct deposit at 12am for $1000. Then I logged into my account today to find I was charged $156 in insufficient funds fees? I called and spoke with a supervisor who told me that online does not show items that are on hold. So I asked why is there one spot for your account balance and another for available balance- isn’t that supposed to show you what is on hold? He didn’t have an answer for me. He just kept saying that another item was actually posted before it for $7.83 and another for $4.43 but it goes from highest to lowest. Nowhere on my account online does it show anytime where my account was negative. I am going to print out the online statement and call my attorney. I am NOT a bank how can they expect a customer to know that the account balance is not correct and the available balance is also incorrect? Why have online access to your account if you are just reading wrong information? What happened to the days where the cutomer is always right- or at least listened to and not treated like an idiot who can’t keep track of their bills when I literally looked at my account before going out to eat??? I wish I switched a long time ago I know it’s going to be a hassle to stop all of the direct deposits I have going in and out of the account 🙁

  173. Lacey, you said you have never overdrawn you account before. Four times $39 = $156. Remember the agent or supervisor can see ALL you account details. If indeed you have never overdrawn then you can ask again to speak to a supervisor, except responsibility to NOT keeping your OWN written ledger and ask for 3 of the fees to be rebated as a courtesy. That’s the limit of what they are allowed to do.

    Either keep a written ledger or switch banks, and remember deposit at midnight isn’t going to cover anything posting before midnight. Don’t be a Citizen’s Idiot Customer!

  174. They also bilk you a $5 a month service charge for
    inactivity. I wasn’t opening my statements for several months – because I knew that I had money in the account.
    I was ill and taking care of more pressing business at the time.
    I just had it sitting there – it was a very small amount.
    I personally never heard of a bank that wasn’t happy that you let your money sit there for their use!!
    I just closed the account – so guess what! They have just lost a customer. How smart do you think that was?

    Hopefully they will not become one of the bigger American Banks by using the bilking system.

  175. I am a single mom of six, three home and three on their own. I certainly can’t afford to over draft on account’s so I watch the account’s closely. I had several incidents were the citizens bank held out on drafts from my card. One time they held back on a swip then I made an Insurance payment, in the end the bank tried to claim that the car insurance company billed me twice, I have an online account with the insurance company as well as all my other accounts. For two weeks straight I called the insurance company to verfy they didn’t pull the money out twice. I to this day a year an a half later still have not been reinburst by the Citizens bank, for they claim they didn’t not overdraft, make any mistakes, nor will they take any blame in this matter what so ever.

  176. Citizens is a TERRIBLE bank. We are closing our account this week to a member owned credit union, after my husband gets his direct deposit transferred over. Last week they debited our account two times each for four transactions. Clearly, it was a data entry error because they were for like amounts for all four vendors, all four charges and all the same date. They then ordered them from largest to smallest and began to assess fees. Their error caused our account to be $273 the first day. The second day, they hit us with more fees & we noticed it online the third day when our account was in arrears nearly $800! It ate through an entire paycheck and it was THEIR MISTAKE! We had to fight and haggle for three days to get their charges reversed and meanwhile, while they were “investigating”, we continued to accure more fees! Unf*$%king believable! They are nothing but criminals! Once, there was an NSF charge on our account for $39 and we were hundreds of dollars in the black, not the red and hadn’t bounced anything. I think they just charge people to see what they can get away with. We had to argue vigilantly then too to get our money refunded. They are a terrible, terrible bunch of crooks. And Kim, you suck!

  177. stockyards bank is starting to pull the same crap as citizens bank. I had 40 in the bank I spent 35 and the following month I found out about my overdraft. When you call there phone number to check your account information it always tell you that you have more then you really do so you will spend close to it and overdraft. stockyards bank also give’s random overdraft’s to prevent people from getting bank accounts elsewhere. PNC wouldn’t let me get a bank account because stockyards slapped a overdraft fee on me. Good job stockyards your list of fraudulent activities is getting higher and higher.

  178. That’s how banks deceive customers into overdraft fees, by giving incorrect balance information over their automated phone system or online. Banks know that customers are running low in their checking accounts, with the economy as it is. They are counting on you to overdraw.

    Also Citizens will block you from being able to get another bank account anywhere else, but will let you open another account with them. If you left a negative account behind at Citizens and think you got away with it, think again. They’ll let you open a new account, get your direct deposit set up and once you feel everything is going good…BOOM! They’ll pull the money from the new account to pay back the default account, now they’ll shut down the new account, and toss you out of the bank.

  179. I’d like to complain and join this pack. I’ve been a member of Citizens for years as well. I always take full responsibility for my own stupidity when I go in the red and get charged, which isn’t often but hey, no one’s perfect. I am in the process of moving from Mass to South Carolina and this past weekend was spent driving the 16 hours down–which meant lots of stops for turbo coffees and other things. Long story short, I went negative and again, if you must charge me $39 dollars for the $2 dollar coffee, fine. But they charge you for every negative transaction EVERY day until you’re in the clear.

    My summary–I got charged with a $234 over draft charge and don’t get paid until Friday. Meaning by Friday I’ll be in the red $702 dollars which is more than my weekly paycheck!!! Charge me for the initial fees, but per day I think they should have a standard $50 dollar fee or something I should be giving them almost a THOUSAND dollars in 72 hours. I don’t know how I am going to recover from this and I KNOW customer service will be a waste of time. I’m closing my account as soon as I set up another one down south. Citizens is the worst!!!! I feel all your pain

  180. I have had the same situation with citizen’s national bank in macon, MS – from my research, this is a class action type of scam to get corrected. I am furious! The Bank president actually told me – maybe we aren’t the bank for you! CAN I SAY OBIVOUSLY!

  181. So a company mistakenly charged the wrong amount, which put me in the red by hundreds of dollars. They were suppose to charge me only $139, they carged me $1039. Now, the mistake was caught, and the transaction voided within the same day. But beacause it is a credit/ debit card, the initial amount is put on hold, but the void takes 48 business hours to clear! In the meantime( even though the transaction was voided, I was considered in the red and charged so far $239 insufficient funds fees. Now I did not overspend, and the merchants mistake, was just that, a mistake. And it was voided. But Citizens bank says that because it was not a bank error, they will not return the fees to me, even though I was never actually overdrawn!

  182. I laugh everytime I read this blog. First of all Kim no longer works for Citizens Bank, I made sure that the little goody-goody-two-shoes was exposed for this blog. And second, Citizens bank like any other bank is fine, customers are NOT always right, banks have the disclosures to protect them, but if you don’t keep up with your own money then no one else is to blame. Citizens doesn’t care if you get mad, they don’t care if you read this blog and close your account because they have enough customers and already have enough of your money to survive for centuries to come.

    Finding out about this blog, through Kim’s own co-workers, let me shine and I got a promotion and she got shown the door. I’m laughing all the way to the bank. And Kasey if I knew how to get you to shut up, I would.

  183. Dont forget about the debit card fee that no one ever mentions. At $.35 per purchase, these can add up quickly. In fact they added up so quickly that it had over-drawn my account.

    Once I figured out where my money was actually going, I hadn’t overdrawn on my account. If you have to put in your PIN number, you may have to pay up to $.45 for each transaction.

    On another note, Im appalled that Citizen’s customer service people make public statements here! To see actual customers stories, being told by Citizens customer service reps, makes my blood boil.

  184. sandwoman- no customers are not always right, but neither is the bank. And quite frankly I am finding my situation to be that of citizens bank stealing from my account!!!!!

  185. I have banked with Citizens Bank for several years. I love the bank and the people who work there. In my experience the people who whine about overdraft fees are the ones who can’t be bothered to keep a check register.

    As for overdraft charges, well anyone with a solid credit score is entitled to true overdraft protection and Citizens will transfer the exact amount of your overdraft into your checking account, no fee involved (although there is an interest charge on the funds you have borrowed). All that for $25 bucks a year. I think it’s well worth it! They have one of the best funds availability policies amongst any of the banks.

    Still complaining? Go find another bank.

  186. I guess you are all missing the point. They don’t want accounts from people like you who have $2 to their name and overdraft intentionally because you have no money. The reason for the charges is because they don’t want your business, no bank does. You’re a headache.

    Take your $2 to National City, I’m sure they will be happy to take your money. lol

  187. IM EXTREMELY GLAD MY CITIZENS BANK WAS BOUGHT BY COMMUNITY BANK I WAS ABOUT TO CANCELL MY CHECKING ACCOUNT FOR THIS VERY SAME REASON

  188. This has to be the worst bank in the world – I had many problems just closing a checking account – They came up with fees and charges I have never heard of – then when I did not pay one ogf the fees they sent me to Checks – Had a terrible time getting an account anyplace – Now I moved ans was late on two payments on the home equity account – I paid it off in full as soon as I got a hold of them but they will not take the report off my credit– Their policy is to never let you talk to a manager – I guess they are scared – Pissed off to many — I would like all sights to tell the story – Worst bank of the century Dave

  189. You bastards..Greed, taking ,advantage..discusting b e havior..22 dollars for 3 over drafts each on the first day and the second day..37.00 dollars a piece..of course, their access to the information is insufficient so one can not monitor . Ahh BYE BYE CITizens..I hope I GET A CHANCE TO laugh as fate in our disturbed economy flushes your bank down the big toilet. I will be laughing my way to Cambridge savings bank..the only bank to trust

  190. I work for this bank and can understand your frustration as I have been in the situation before.

    Unfortunately there is a dilemma in the story you have written. There is no such thing as hidden fees when it comes to a bank account, the issue is you didn’t review them like most others do not. The second issue is Citizens does not double charge on fees but has a per item overdraft fee. Now the type of Overdraft Protection you have may indicate why you got these fees. If you have an Overdraft Line of Credit then, as long as your available limit was not maxed out, you would get no fees. The other option is Savings Overdraft Protection which will automatically transfer the overdrawn balance equivalent from your savings account. The issue with this is if the amount that you “go in the hole” on checking exceeds the available value of the savings then no transfer is made to cover.

    The big issue here is people do not keep check registers reflecting their actual balance, not two times. If you maintained your check register then you would be aware of your current balance at all times and have no issue when it comes to spending money you do not have. If you make a purchase or spend money from an account it is the account owner’s, customer, sole responsibility to keep track of those funds. Any amount spent over the amount is not that of the customer’s but rather the bank’s and they have every right to charge in accordance.

    I agree with you, it sucks, but honestly don’t go on a rant because you think you are privileged to something when you are not. You made a mistake and just like I did you need to suffer the consequences. Enjoy your day and remember to keep track of your money or your next bank will do the same as all banks are the same it is the people that make them different.

  191. Thank you Guru. You are right. YOU MUST keep track of your account; that is your responsibility. Write it down in a check register, use a spreadsheet, a napkin, whatever. If you don’t know what your balance is, you run the very real risk of overdrawing your account.

    To the person (sandwoman?)who posted a few weeks ago who would like to “shut me up”, sorry, I’m not going away. I will keep saying it again, here’s my story:

    I used to overdraft all the time (and I mean almost every week). I must have paid hundreds of dollars to Citizens Bank in overdraft fees. I finally realized that I had to be responsible for knowing what was in my bank account at all times and I started using a check register. Since I have done this, and have recorded each and every transaction when I make it, and then subtract/add that amount and refigure my balance, I have not overdrawn once in the almost 9 months since I started doing this.

    I realize people get upset and angry when this happens to them and it does suck (believe me, I know I’ve been there), but you must move on and then take the steps to make sure you do not overdraft your account anymore!

    Good luck to all!

  192. I have to be added to the disgruntled customers list. I own a business, and keep a very close tab on the accounts. Money does NOT go out unless it is in there beforehand. I check my account online multiple times as well as calling at least daily to speak with Customer Service to see what is on hold. Yesterday I had $1,500 in that particular account with six transactions on hold for a total of $846, meaning that after it cleared I would have $654. I had a merchant charge $500 (which would have left that balance at $154), but the charge went through twice, meaning that account was overdraft by $346.

    I called the merchant who immediately pulled that charge, however, Citizen’s STILL charged me an overdraft on that $500, PLUS the original $500, and the other 6 charges. I called Citizen’s to alert them to it, and to clear up the problem. I was very polite because I honestly thought this was a small error that would be easily corrected. I was informed that I should take it up with the Merchant.

    I’m sorry the Merchant is NOT responsible for the fact that Citizen’s “fee hierarchy” is meant to charge multiple fees. Since the Merchant refunded the charge in less than an hour this shouldn’t have been a problem. Instead I was informed that it wasn’t Citizen’s responsibility to keep track of my finances.

    I’ve also cashed business checks against personal accounts and they put an ungodly hold on it, up to two weeks! I’ve also had to deal with multiple holds from gas stations, restaurants, etc. I started depositing checks, taking cash out for the week’s expenses and living off of that. I’m sure I’ll receive kudos for that but I don’t want them. I think it’s ridiculous that you’re not only expected to keep track of your own finances, but in order to spend it you have to have double the amount in your account! Want a pizza delivered? $40.00 please. We’ll give you $20 back later.

    Many places no longer accept personal checks, and cash doesn’t do you much good when 90% of your business transactions are handled online.

  193. Angela- I am so sorry, this is my point about “real” time online banking. I have not had one instant that I have needed to call my bank for my balance since I left Citizen’s. I know the minute I sign online, exactly what I have in my account, I check it to my ledger, I am ready to go. Dump them people, get a better bank. I use BOA and I am happy so far. 🙂

  194. my account was overdrawn $1.95, and i had a total of $198 in overdraft fees charged in 2 days… $198 for $1.95 is absolutely ridiculous! regardless of the circumstances!!! not to mention it was only AFTER the first overdraft fee was added to my account that it was overdrawn.

    last year on christmas eve i went to a citizens atm machine… i had over $1000 available in my account and withdrew $300. for whatever reason, i still dont know, i did not get any money. i went into the bank and spent over an hour (ON CHRISTMAS EVE) disputing my transaction. they did correct it, but it took 4 weeks to get my money back… for something i had no control over, whether the atm had no money in it or it was broken… 4 WEEKS!

    a couple months ago i opened a second account with citizens, a savings… and happened to find out that my checking account was negative because an online payment i had made was charged to my account twice. i then found out about some “known” mastercard issue where transactions were posting to accounts twice. i know a lot of people who have mastercard debit cards, and not a single person i know had this problem… so i wonder if its just citizens. but this problem also took over 2 weeks to be corrected, when again it wasnt my fault.

    i have been a customer of citizens since it was charter one bank… over 10 years. i have had problems with them for as far back as i can remember but always just stuck with it thinking it would get better, not to mention the hassle of having to switch direct deposit, online bill payment, etc over to a new account. i have never been so dissatisfied with any type of customer service as i am with this bank. i will be closing my accounts as soon as my direct deposit is changed over, and i will be offering my opinion to anyone that i come across that uses or is interested in citizens bank.

  195. Kristen what a wonderful loyal customer you have been, I’m sorry you were treated like their typical account holder… they’re not your typical bank, for sure.

    It took about a week for me to get set up in a new bank. WARNING: leaving you citizen’s account zero, doesn’t close it the way they say in the disclosures. What they’ll do, is let a fee for what ever they can, reopen your account. Once the account is negative, even by their own fee, other fees start piling on. Do this, once you have all transactions stopped, (double check this), go into the bank, say you want to make a closing withdrawal, once you get the receipt, ask the teller to put her name on the back of the receipt. Then ask the teller, can any transaction reopen this closed account? Write down the teller’s reply on your receipt in front of the teller. Keep this for your records! If you have Overdraft Protection, be sure and close this as well.

    Enjoy your new bank and freedom from Citizen’s.

  196. I am currently being scammed on an Installment Loan with Citizens. They are so stupid and can’t even figure out they are making the mistake. I paid my loan payment twice, paying two months at a time and both times the 2nd month payment wasn’t recorded properly and they send me a notice telling me I missed the payment. Oh and they charge me “late fees”. They say it’s my responsibility to tell the teller how I want my loan payment divided up between principle and interest. Anyone who’s worked in a bank knows Installment loans are set up with the same payment every month, interest is already accessed at the time the loan is written. How am I supposed to know what’s principle and what is interest. Anyway, I’ve called and called, they just don’t get it. So now I’ve contacted an attorney.
    DON’T BANK WITH CITIZENS BANK IN MICHIGAN OR ANYWHERE ELSE – THEY ARE STUPID IDIOTS WHO JUST WANT YOUR MONEY.

  197. Wow, I wish I did my research. My story is the same as all of yours. The order of which a transaction is made means nothing and because of this, I was charged $390. in overdraft fees. What angers me the most about the whole situation (In addition to the fees) was what the Branch Manager said to me. She told me that she felt my pain, AND that “IF THE BANK WAS NOT IN THE POSITION THAT THEY WERE IN, SHE WOULD BE HAPPY TO REFUND MY MONEY”. Now was that a red flag or what. I think she just told me that Citizens Bank was hurting financially and they’ll s—- us any way they can. I ask them how much business they lost because of this “new” policy and she was happy to say ‘none’ and I told her that I’ll be closing my account and I was told they were sorry to see me leave.

    Thanks to all that started these posts.

  198. I am reading all of these and have experienced them too! It amazes me the time this has gone on and to think government wants to bail out banks- as they dig us in a hole!! I need to say to Guru who commented on 11/26- no…the big issue is not keeping a register…it is Citizen’s bank manipulates accounts to their benefit at the cost of the customer. My recent issue was I withdrew money at 8:30am on a Friday. Looking at my available balance and reviewing my register- all outstanding items came through but 1. Knowing if that one item came through I would be charged one overdraft fee. Well, on Saturday I saw that item came through…but not only did it come through- Citizens re-arranged the items so that it showed up first and overdrew my account so I was charged for the 5 items that had already come through on Friday…and the banks response “that’s just the way the system works”. So- the bank is being allowed to manipulate our transactions so they make more money off the little guy.

  199. I just got hit by Citizens for $111 in overdraft for being $9.35 over. Despite covering the overage in less than 24 hours, they hit me with three overdraft fees. I am willing to pay one, my fault, I can live with that. But three fees!!!! Now, not knowing that I got hit that hard I spent some of the money I deposited and then the $111 overdraft they charged this am put me over again!! Can’t wait to see what the charges are for overdrafting the overdraft!

    Branch people are clueless drones, no common sense with these kind of issues, but they’ll peddle CD’s and loans all day long with amazing effort.

  200. I recently received an overdraft rebate for 38.00 dollars after constantly sending over emails and phone calls. I was satisfied with the rebate but when I look in my account their is a 35.00 service fee that pretty much wipes out the rebate. I have never had a service charge on my account before. Nothing has changed except for the rebate. So basically they won because I got nothing back and now I have to see if I can get this fee rebated. Unbelievable!

  201. Banks aren’t going to lose, if they give a fee back it’s only because they want to, not because they have to. This bank is waiting to catch you and collect a fee. The economy is tough enough without your bank taking some from the top. Time to change banks.

  202. I’m currently arguing with citizens bank over a check that was deposited by the government on a certain date, confirmed by the government. Coincedentally, a withdrawel happened to clear that day as well. Suddenly, the day my automatic deposit occured was moved to several days later. I have proof it was deposited that day and am looking into BBB/help from the Attorney Generals Office. How is this shuffling of deposits and withdrawels in their favor legal? Citizens Bank needs to be investigated by the government, there are some serious problems going on here.

  203. I actually deposited a paychack over the weekend and got hit with 9 overdraft fees on Tuesday morning because they said the fees were applied at midnight and the check was approved at 3:00AM in the morning.

    These banks are the biggest crooks running around America – I wish someone would do something!!

    My Bank is FifthThird.

  204. It is amazing that we are bailing out these banks when they continue to practice loan sharking practices. The most disturbing thing about these insufficient fund fees is that if you make 5 purchase on one day or 5 checks go through all on the same day. The bank will put the largest check through first so that all the other items will be insuffiecent. Instead ofputting the smaller transactions through so the consumer will have the least amount of insufficient funds fees, they now get hit with 5 fees.. Citizens bank now charges 39 dollars per insufficient transaction. This particular practice of putting through the largest transaction so they can make the greatest amount of money should really be stopped.

  205. Citizens keeps charging fees!!! watch yourselves. Citizens isn’t authurizing online payments and now we get slamed for late fees. and also a percentage rate increase. The will be paying for that…Were all set to take them to court, My husband and I are sick of it.

  206. I think that is horrible and very greedy of your past bank. The bank we have now is also terrible. we went over 1.85? and was charged 37.00 at Fifth third Bank. Another terrible bank. I and my husband are looking for a good bank ,who in theses hard economic times are not trying to rob the people over $1.85 and a payment of 6.00 every day afterward plus the 37.00 fee. It all adds up, and when you get your hard earned check , you are frightened to see how you will make ends meet.A bank who does not want to help their customers makes me wonder where all that money is going.I know in these hard times , I cannot be the only dishearted person who is unhappy with fifth third bank. Plus I will never go to citizens Bank after what I just read.

  207. All banks, or at least most banks have fees if you spend more then you have in your account, even if it’s by just a few cents. Credit Unions have lower fees, but still they have fees. I have BOA (bank of america) and have never (knock on wood) overdrawn, and not had a single bank error either. I use a pre-paid debit account from Wachovia for debit purchases, this type of account will not over draw, simply if you don’t have the exact amount or more then you are spending, the card will decline. I have repeating transactions on this card, such as netflix, gamefly, etc. If there is no money the transaction declines, I get an email and I go make a deposit, simple and NO fee. BOA & Wachovia both have real time online banking that helps me keep up with my balance at all times. This even shows holds & pending transactions. BOA atms don’t use envelopes, so your deposit is counted at the atm, and if it’s cash, it’s available. If you have a BOA near you, really, go check it out. But stay away from the “keep the change” debit card promotion, this could cause you to overdraft when they round off your purchases. Banks are tightening their belts, most are stopping all fee rebates unless it’s a bank error. Becareful you could waste your entire family’s grocery budget on an overdraft fee!

  208. I worked at Citizens Bank in Wisconsin for 3 years and I agree with the rants on this page. I was an EMPLOYEE with and excellent credit score and account history. I overdrew my account by 5 cents, I was charged 37.00. When I called ou internal employee line I was told that as an employee I would be held to a higher standard and would not be recieving a refund!! for 5 cents!! I mean I understand the whole overdraft process, like I said I worked there and explained it to frustrated customers everyday. We were told by our branch manager that we were to inform all customers that came in with overdraft concerns that unless they could prove to us and we could verify that it was a bank error not to expect any sort of reversal or refund. What a bunch of a******s..I no longer work or them. Thank goodness..they don’t care about customer service, and they obviously don’t care about employee relations.

  209. Wells Fargo is just as bad. This is abusive business practice supported by our laws. We need to get banking laws changed. I am closing my account as soon a check clears that they put on hold. I am going to find away to pay bills and purchases without a bank. I will not go to Citizens. I am also unemployed and asked for a 140 dollar refund on 4 overdrafts last week. I was essentially asking for a bailout and told them so. I do not know what banks makes on this scam, but they do not necessary need to give you loans to survive. They just need the overdraft charges.

  210. This bank is so bad, they should be held accountable for their malpractice. At this very minute, if you go online to my account statment, it will say that I have $530 in the black, but available balance says -$130. All of the debits are showing with dates and as they were deducted, I was still in the black. Why then the -$130, they said that the debits actually went through before the latest deposit! WHAT!! So what is the point of putting them online showing they went through (which they were covered…until they decided to post them before the deposit.) My son who is a college student, went over by $.06 and by the time he became aware of the mistake, he had $116 in overdraft fees. THAT IS CRIMINAL. Of course they wouldn’t take them back….$.06 cost him $116. I have left this bank and my son is closing his account as soon as he can get it to a 0 balance.

  211. Tell everyone you know to leave banks like this, I am going to do the same, I will not be shut up. Also becareful of DirectTV they are similar greedy bastards. Thieves.

  212. Oh My God the amount of comments on here and the people ripped off by banks, it’s terrible. We as American’s just take it. What happened to our rights? and the government gave the banks how much? It’s us the consumers that need the help! Our local banker is a millionaire while I struggle to feed my kids. Recently when filling out quesionaire since I was trying to get a loan banker asked me how much weekly for food, i said $130, Oh my goodness he said my kids are grown and just my wife and I spend $300 per week, we’ll put that down. Uh no I’m serious, we HAVE to make it on that amount. Well i’ve had months where my fee’s alone pay for his week of groceries. that would be nice. Hate bankers like i hate lawyers. Doctors are creeping up on my list too.

  213. I have read all of the comments about the overdraft fees charged by Citizens Bank and I am NOT sympathetic!! If you have enough money in your account BEFORE you write a check or use your debit card, you wouldn’t be subjected to any fees. Go to another bank and you will find, with the same senarios I read here, you will be charged overdraft fees there too. Quit whining and handle your accounts in a mature and responsible manner. You might also want to brush up on your addition and subtraction!!

  214. I just closed both accounts for this fee scam.Nothing to add to comments above. SCAM! I have been dealing with other banks in USA, Europe, Asia and Russia – NONE of them are like this F-ing Citizens – oh yeah – it is “not your typical bank” – that is for sure!!!

  215. I think an excellent solution to the overdraft problem is the following:

    I overdraft all the time, I also keep my own register, yet no matter how hard I try I cannot keep up with Citizens debting practices. Do not get me started on the “we start with the largest debt and work our way down”. All banks do this “for the customer”. It’s basically a scam to get fees, especially in a bad economy. I will not speak of actually seeing debts moved from one day to another in my account or having a debt taken from my account at supposed time of purchase and then actually posted two weeks later. so deceptive.

    Solution.. When I buy $2 coffee..Anywhere I look to see my balance, whether it be online or at the bank ect it should say $2 Duncans coffee HOLD.

    Just the little word hold…reporting the hold the moment it happens. If you can debt it the moment it happens you certainly can add it to my damn account.
    Instead the hold is magically behind the scene’s and two weeks later. Oh there it is! and if you do not take super extra viligent care of your registry (if you can get it to match silly citizens) then you are screwed.
    So solve the problem. No more..”it’s on hold but you can’t see it” crap. Report it right then and there, that way I can match up everything i do, with everything you debt.
    Please and thanks douchebags.

    Oh..and your welcome for me banking with you and you stealing my money, I will have a nice day!

  216. ps..I forgot to mention. I did not receive a diclosure booklet from Citizens bank. They bought out Charter one as we all know and I was grandfathered in, no disclosure ever sent, being a 21 year old at the time it was not the first thing on my mind to be on the lookout for.
    Secondly..I called Citizens the other to dispute a overdraft fee, asked for the supervisor, spoke with her in as calm of a manner as I could because I can only imagine what customer service is like. I did not agree with her answer either and asked to speak to whomever was above her. I did say that I wanted to report this information along with her to my lawyer so that I had everything correct. She said i would have to write somewhere, I assume corporate. I said ok, what is the address she said hold on *click*
    hung up. Can’t report someone who did not give their full name. That’s my fault for not demanding it.
    Now that is bad business.

    Kim, you mention somewhere in this long set of complaints that sadly your happy customers will never see this page. Instead of perhaps thinking it’s because they do not tend to look maybe it’s a large..and i mean huge lack in happy customers in general.There are few to be found.

    I await your generic response about how i should watch my ledger, read my Citizens rule book, not over spend, understand that it is perfectly suitable to accept a $39 overdraft fee…ect ect ect.

    Do you keep your responses copied and pasted somewhere? Less strain on the fingers I would imagine.
    Good luck changing opinions one by one. I hope you have alot of time..like eternity. Look at our economy..what caused the downfall? please tell us.
    Oh that would be the banks making bad loans..banks..corrupt.
    cheers!

  217. The coolest thing about being unhappy with your bank, is that you can switch. No matter the bank, you still gotta keep up with what you’re spending. Citizens has the worst online service, and the automated system is just as bad. Customer service can sometimes help, other times you wonder if they have their head buried in a book and completely ignoring you. I am NOT a Citizens customer, and I have never had a reason to call my bank BOA for any reason…it’s a good bank, and it suits my need.

  218. i am very angry after dealing w/citizens.If you get money in b4 close of business the day of overdrafts they won’t charge $35.00 fee.Until last week. i look at my acct. online everyday,since i had my identity stolen.My acct. was fine when i went to bed Mon.night, Tues morining it said Neg balance.I went on lunchbreak put $ in and @ when i got back and looked they had already assessed $117.00 fees,i called and they refused to take charges back off. i stopped my dir. deposit,my daughter and family (5 of them) had to move w/ me because of job loss.I couldn’t let my check go in and let my electric get cut off from them taking all my money i am the only income. Please Kim help me yes ,i’m frustrated cause no one wants to helpme. and i’m tired of hearing it was assesses Monday from midnight to 6:00 am how come it didtn’t show til Tues. then and i put money in as soon as i knew it. PLEASE KIM HELP ME. I WAS GOING TO WRITE ALETTER TO THE HEAD HONCHO OF CITIZENS DOES NE1 KNOW WHO IT IS OR THE ADDRESS. THANKS AND PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR CIRCUMSTANCES

  219. My Citizens was an F+M (Wisconsin) before they took it over. When I left for my wedding, I realized that I had probably (in a hurry) probably not charged a last minute item, but used the bank card which looked very much like the credit card I intended to use, leaving my balance low. Then I went to a local store and bought a couple of small items which led to an overdraft of a few dollars–nothing major. As we left the state for our wedding, you guessed it, piles of letters were sent to our house with huge overdraft fees. Of course, we weren’t there to receive them.

    So, I happened to check my balance when we were out of state for the wedding. And I was over a couple of hundred dollars for just a few minimal purchases. I called the bank to hear that they wouldn’t take deposits out of state. I would have to contact someone in Wisconsin to make a deposit. Everyone who could have done that was with me for my wedding. Then the corporate rep said that I would have to mail in a money order deposit to their office in Michigan. Thinking it would be faster, I Paypaled them the money. They knew that it would be a couple of days no matter how I did it and did they freeze my account? No! They continued rack up more overdraft fees so that no matter how much I put into it it would be eaten up by more fees. I asked them to close the account and they wouldn’t. They just charged me a daily fee for weeks.

    They then sent it to their loss recovery service. The rep there told me to talk to my local branch and it wouldn’t end up with Chexsystems (which affects your credit rating). Guess what? I get a letter two days later saying that it has been sent to Chexsystems.

    Even though I was a customer with this bank for 9 years, thanks to Citizens bank I get to have my credit ruined for 3 small purchases. I switched banks before that and now bank to what my husband calls a “real” bank.

  220. adding to comment on 3/18/09.I found $35.00 service charge on my acct. i’ve never had a service charge before, so of course they told me 7 days neg balance you get charged $35.00,so 7 more days another charge and then every 4 days after that. I don’t have the money to pay this and it’s the principle also.I covered the fees before close of business and they said no this time. I have my daughters family with me now because of hard times.I am the only income in a household of 7. my son in law is looking hard for a job. i can’t afford these charges and it’s going to keep on growing and they won’t close my acct. until it’s a zero balance. Can someone help me please?
    Peggy

  221. P.S I’VE BEEN WITH THEM FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS THROUGH LOTS OF NAME CHANGES,AND I AM NOW OPENING ACCT. SOMEWHERE ELSE. I HATE CHANGING AFTER ALLLLLLLLLLLL THESE YEARS. THAT TELLS YOU HOW BAD IT IS

  222. I am praying for you Peggy, and would give anything to be in a position to help you and you’re family. I’m glad you stopped your direct deposit. Make payment arrangements if you can with the bank. Call customer service and ask to speak with collections. And by all means here is the address to send a letter to:LARRY FISH, CEO AT CITIZENS BANK, 1 CITIZENS DRIVE, RIVERSIDE, RI 02915

    Let the bank earn your business, or leave. I miss being able to help and I understand your pain. There is no room there for true empathy. 🙁

  223. thanks so much for the address. I’m writing a letter to him. I seen on 20/20 or one of those shows, if you get a defective product and the store or customer service doesn’t help you, if you write a letter to the boss of the company,they will help you. Send it in the mail. So it doesn’t hurt to try.This world is really getting ridiculous the way people are treating each other.
    Thanks alot
    Peggy

  224. Whats wrong with all you idiots? What is so hard about basic math? I have had an account at Citizens Bank and other banks since I was 17 and I am 28 now and NEVER overdrafted or bounced a check. Maybe this is why this economy is in shambles. Too many stupid Americans that do not use common sense. USE YOUR BRAIN. YOUR ALL ADULTS.

    The bank gives you a free account with perks, use it correctly. If you don’t, you get penalized. -It’s like parking for FREE where it says “free 2 hour parking or get a parking ticket exceeding time limit”. Why or how can you justify disputing your parking ticket when you parked for 4 hours?

    There are so so so many ways to know how much of YOUR money you have in YOUR account. Online banking, ATM’s, Phone Banking, pencil/paper, your brain.. Use them, they are all free resources like the free checking account.

    And if you all still can’t manage your money after all this.. Then, please use CASH.. PLEASE CLOSE your accounts, it’s in the best interest for YOU. Banks like stupid customers that pay fes.. not smart customers that don’t. The idiots make the banks money.. Smart people cost the bank money.

    So next time you complain that you mis-managed your free account. Remember it’s your fault and serves you right to pay a fine. If you seriously pay extreme fees for having a free account, CLOSE it, use CASH. A checkng account is not for you.

    I love how all you of use the excuse “I have been banking here for 10 years and this is how they treat me” Let me ask you, if you get pulled over for reckless driving and a cop gives you ticket.. Do you respond, “but officer, I have been driving and a resident in this town for 10 years and you have the nerve to charge me a penalty because I broke the rules?”

    Remember, the bank gives you a lot of freebies if you know how to be smart and savvy. Banks pratically pay me to have my accounts there. I NEVER have given them a dime (despite a few times using foreign ATMS). They pay me to be a customer. Why? Because I do not overdraw, they pay me interest on my cash, I use their ATM’s that are free (unless out of the country), use their free services they way they want customers to. Play by their rules, you win. Make your own rules, well then you lose.

    If you all put the same effort in to learning how to manage your own money instead of using your spare time to complain and writing letters to CEO who likes people like you then maybe you would not be charged fees and maybe the CEO would get pissed that his pay checks are getting smaller. Billions of $$$ a year are made in fees. If Americans kept those billions for themselves maybe, just maybe it’s one piece to the puzzle for putting back our economy back to shape.

  225. I am laughing reading about all the brainless idiots that do not now how to keep track of their own money. Here is another good one I just thought of:

    I keep reading this, “I am so angry at XYZ Bank, I am going to show them..I am going to close my account and go to different bank!” -because they overdrafted

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA

    So, if I park my car in New York City in front of a sign that says NO PARKING TOW ZONE.. then my car gets towed and I have pay now to get it back… that is like telling the city’s parking authority, “Screw you guys.. I am so angry at you that I am going to be parking my car in a different city infront of the same NO PARKING TOW ZONE sign.” Yeah that’s right.. You heard me”. “I am taking my brainless ass elsewhere to be a moron”

    That is the equivilent situation to those who say “I am closing my free account because I broke their rules and got penzlied for it. I am going to open to another account elsewhere and do the same thing. Let me run away form my problems instead of dealing with it.

    God help you. Or enroll is Mathametics 101. Maybe read a common sense help book.

  226. Wachovia is as bad as the rest. I want you to know that I believe that Wachovia, my retail banking and bill payment partner for almost 2 decades, employs unfair and deceptive practices relating to overdraft fees. I feel this way because Wachovia, charged me with a number of OD fees because it prematurely processed a bill payment debit against my account which created an overdraft while, at the same time, continued to approve electronic transactions which further caused my account to overdraw. I was charged an OD fee for each electronic transaction that further enlarged my OD balance.
    For years, I’ve been using the Wachovia Bank bill payment services to pay my monthly bills. This month my mortgage payment, which I scheduled through the Wachovia Bill Payment service to deduct from my account on 3/30 was deducted from my account on 3/27. This caused a number of electronic payments that were “in flight” between 3/26 and 3/27 to overdraw my checking account. Wachovia charged me a total of $245.00 in overdraft fees – one for each electronic payment that was authorized by Wachovia at the time of purchase (and for which there was a legitimate balance to cover) but not hard-posted to my account. When I contacted Wachovia’s customer service center to challenge this, a Wachovia Call Center supervisory staff person explained to me that Wachovia had every right to charge these fees because of a “user agreement” one signs when opening an account at Wachovia. I countered this argument with one stating that I had enough money in my account at the time that Wachovia approved the electronic (ATM and POS) transactions but before Wachovia prematurely processed the online bill payment. This argument fell on deaf ears at Wachovia. Instead I was “offered” a “courtesy” reimbursement of 1/4 the overall fees that I incurred. I argued that this was not a courtesy that I was seeking. I argued that Wachovia intentionally allowed me to continue overdrawing my account (causing me to continue racking up OD fees) when Wachovia, itself, approved the payment of a bill payment item that caused the overdraft when I did not have the money in my account to cover that bill payment.
    In any case, Wachovia charged me an overdraft fee on transactions for which I had sufficient balances in my account to cover. I think that this is unfair banking practices and I believe that Wachovia must discontinue its practice of charging inordinate and questionable fees to its account holders.

  227. I too have just experienced the “customer care” of Citizens Bank. I am a road sales person, and rely heavily on the internet to manage my account. I check it every morning and evening to ensure the account is in good standing, and have been a customer of Citizens since 2001 with two open accounts, and my fiance has his business account through Citizens (or did until I fixed that) as well.

    Recently, I took a week’s business trip, and would manage my account by checking it in the morning and the evening on my laptop once I got back to my hotel. Never once did the account show a negative balance (or even anything relatively close to a negative balance). When I check my account the next morning, after checking it at around midnight the night before that showed no issue, I was infuriated to find an $80 insufficient funds fee, even though my online history NEVER SHOWED THE ACCOUNT GOING NEGATIVE.

    I immediately drove to my local branch, as I had just returned home, and was told the same story about “holds” from vendors that don’t show on the account right away, and that I was “strongly advised” to keep a paper ledger (who the fuck has the time for that?) I was also told to go screw as to any sort of refund, and they would be more than happy to close my account for me.

    Well, I am not a nice person when people fuck with my money, so I told her to go fuck herself and stormed out. I have now closed my account and opened one with my local branch, who is offering me $50 to open a checking account (which almost makes up for the overdraft but certainly doesn’t recompensate me for the waste of my time)

    Oh, and for those curious, the overdraft was for three seperate charges, each of those charges under $10.

    See, here’s how it goes. I could give a fuck if you’re a huge corporation or a small business. I am the customer, and if you won’t work for me, then you won’t see any of my business. If you try to make a quick buck off me, I will do everything I can to encourage everyone I know (500 customer accuonts in my business life, friends, and family) to never to business with you, and I have even gone so far as to bribe people with dinner and alcohol to close their accounts (5 so far – I was with them, I saw it!)

    And you can give me all the corporate crap customer service bullshit story all you want. My financial transactions are under my terms. You should be privileged to work with me, regardless if I have $5 or 5 million. And in this horrible economy, Citizens Bank, you may not wish to lose so many customers simply to make your executive’s Christmas bonuses. Penny wise, pound foolish.

    All in all, I certainly don’t exempt myself from blame. But I simply take my business to a bank that works for me. And then I spend time spreading the word to everyone I know to stop using their services and to be sure I discourage anyone from doing any sort of business with you.

    Of course, even though Citizens is a horrible institution to do business with, they can always bend over and spread wide for a beefy bail out injection, which, of course, encourages them to continue in this fashion.

    I may just be one, but I am still one. Give me my $80 back and I’ll stop the aggressive marketing to get people to close their accounts. I personally will still never do business with you.

  228. citizens bank is great at screwing you. I also have been taken for about 3,000 dollars in fees in the last four months. I will try to make a long story short, i am recovering gambler who spent a lot of money. My wife 3 months ago tried to get me removed from joint account and they refused without my signature. It was originally her account, she added me to it so i don’t understand that at all. I was able to over draw 1000.00 at a time. I sometimes got the money back in there and sometimes I didn’t. I eventually got to a point were it was harder to pay back the money by monday. I notice they also changed there ways of letting me overdraw the account. Instead of letting me take 1000.00 dollars at once they would only let me take like 5 transactions of 200 a piece. That way they could collect more fees, they are very rude and all they care about is screwing the weak and poor. I am almost at a point of fixing the accounts with no help from them. I do know that i did this to myself but come on, there has to be a cutoff. I really don’t think they should be allowed to keep a account opening after 10 fees but this is how them bastards make money. I have seen enough replies from douche bags so if you are going to tell me i should not over draw my account and pay my bills, I would like to leave you a message in advance. kizz my azzzzz

  229. forgot to add, i think common cents needs a fist in his mouth. I would love to help you out with that.
    probably a fag banker from citizensbank

  230. My Husband’s direct deposit got screwed up – they sent a check instead, without telling him, he assumed it was just the stub until his Boss called to warn him.

    Great timing – rent and childcare checks cleared, and we overdrafted, by the time we found out, and transferred funds to cover, and hi spaycheck cleared, Citizens had taken 3 charges of #195 each out of my account. No call, no warning,nothing. Putting me further into the financial hole.

    We called to talk to anyone who could help us – possibly charge us just ONE of the fees – no go. too bad, so sad, thanks for paying us $600.

    So much for “free” checking and great customer service.

    I take the blame but $600?????

  231. People its called overdraft protection. If you had this it wouldn’t be a problem. Read your account disclosures carefully its all in there regaurding fees and the amounts the bank is aloud to charge.

  232. Wow.. a lot of disparation on this blog. Does any body know how to balance their free checking account anymore? lol. USE CASH IF YOU CAN NOT ADD/SUBTRACT AND IF YOU PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN FEES.

    Anyway Citizens Bank sucks anyway.. The top banks will be BofA and Citi. But they don’t want losers like you all. They want people like me that are full of cash and have common sense.

    Citizens bank is a bank for idiots. That is why they hire uneducated employees running their banks. They go perfect with the moron customers that pay $39 for buying a $1 coffee.

    PS. Message to “Frank the gambler” who recently commented that he wanted to put his fist in my mouth.. buddy you just wrote in your blog that your a recovering gambler, your wife wants to leave you, you paid thousands of bucks in fees and your upset at me because your a loser, um ok. You sound like the assholes that deserve what is happening to you. Maybe if you use common sense your wife would not be bangin me and askin me where to invest her money. So much for a fag banker.

  233. Kim, I think they definately could come up with a better fee policy & make it a point to discuss in detail how the overdraft fee works BEFORE talking you into opening a checking account! that seems to be the biggest complain here. You mention you dont even bank with Citizens..why is that? Some of your replys on this blog are @ 1:30am..how do you find the energy to do this as a single parent? I’m out like a light by 9pm because I too am a single parent of three kids. Life is very tough for me right now and I did overdraw by $2 in my account and I kindly asked my bank in Dartmouth, MA if they would please waive the fee since I have been a customer of Citizens for 10 years with never overdrawing before this. I explained how I got laid off and am waiting for unemployment to kick in and I totally forgot about the $2 atm fee when I took the last of my money. They teller was rude to me and said your not the only one having it tough. WHAT WAS THAT FOR?? Sorry Kim but I have been to a few different Citizen banks over the years to do various transactions and all the tellers seem to have attitudes..like their not happy with their job. Its not just us customers that have the attitudes. Is your company aware of the amount of people that complain about the attitudes of these tellers & cust reps? I know alot of customers have attitudes too..but remember without customers there wouldnt be a citizens bank..there are many many banks out there and I can see of atleast 14 customers in this blog alone that left citizens. Did you see the several other blogs out there on this same topic? its crazy! Citizens better make some serious changes! Also, instead of you diverting all your energy at late hours of the night defending Citizens, get a good night sleep and save your energy for your kids…their more important and the way it looks if citizens keeps it up..then you’ll be looking for another job!

  234. Hey Jodi, looks like Kim stopped blogging here back in June…maybe she found a better job. Customer service for a bank is a 24 hour, 7 day a week job, so possibly her late night post were after her shift? Just a thought.

    Find a bank you can work with. Sorry about losing your job, good luck on finding a new one!

  235. I need to rant and rave a little about Citizens Bank, too. But let’s face it, banks are pulling the same kinds of moves that credit card companies have been – and for now they can get away with it.

    I work with low income elderly and disabled adults, helping them to manage their finances. These folks get one monthly deposit from Social Security. Sometimes a small error (timing of an automatic payment, failing to account for the debit caused by ordering a new box of checks) will cause them to go into the red by a few cents or a few dollars. So alright, an overdraft causes a fee. We can quibble about the amount of the fee but the concept of an NSF charge is perfectly understandable. But if the error occurs mid-month one fee turns into many. To charge anyone, let alone a menally ill blind women, into the hundreds of dollars for a 61 cent overdraft strikes me as unconscionable. I don’t expect the computer to have a conscience but I would hope that the person with the authority to forgive the fees would. However the policy is to forgive fees ONLY in the case of bank error. They make you feel they have done you a big favor when they waive $37 out of $129 in fees (all for the same small overdraft).

    This practice is definitely regressive (puts the most burden on the least affluent) and to my mind fits the description of “unfair and deceptive” that Congress has finally acknowledged credit card companies have been guilty of. Judging from the venom displayed above, I suspect it is only a matter of time till the banks are called on the carpet, too. Most of my clients will probably be dead by then. But at least the bankers will have gotten their bonuses.

  236. I live in Mexico, I have an account with santander, they give you a debt check or whatever you call card, and here in Mexico I thought banks were like thief, but not, Santsnder when you don{t have the sufficient money, just your debt card is rejected, they know people wont and cant pay a highest fees, and preffer to reject you, and there is a good way to know when your limits are,,,and now I opened a bank on bank of america, and I spend 13 dlls 6 transactions they charged me 35 x 6 now i have to pay 167 dlls…there is a big stolen they rob a lot, I really asked them they are very positioned on charge to me, see, I live in Mexico, so.. I will NOT PAY NOTHING…try to get me,,,,will be imposible, why I will pay that money if I will not get any good for me,..they ar stupid…..why Mexican banks are more smart than USA:….the answer….YOU USA ARE IN A BIG CRISIS…for lend spend and give credits without any warranty to get your money back!!! they gave home credits to inmigrants ilegal that when they noted they cant pay to the mortgage,..just they turned back to mexico and let the loan without pay and now that home cant be sell because there are no tpeople that want to buy homes!!!!1……

  237. Josue if you live in Mexico and are happy with your Mexican bank, why did you open an account in America?

    Though I believe Citizens is not serving customers with their bank fee practices, and not real time online banking, I feel anyone can find a bank that suits their needs.

    BUT to feel that if you screw up in America on a loan or bank account you can just run home to Mexico, then STAY home!!!!

  238. My son is the most recent victim of the citizens bank rip-off.
    He overdrafted 1.43 while away at college. No car to get to the bank, he came home this weekend and proceeded to take care of it finding out he now owes 110.43. I called the 800# to the bank to ask if we could have the debt reduced or forgiven, and was told no. I asked who has this authority, and was given to another representitve who reduced the fees by 39.00. In addition I was given an address where my son can write to ask for further assistance. Just in case anyone is interested it is: Executive Services 1 Citizen’s drive Riverside RI 02915

  239. Overdrafting is something to avoid. Banks these days have gone mad, with all the fees. More fees than fleas on a hound dog. Yeah, yeah, those bankers are just a bunch of dirty fee ridden DOGS !!! Fee ridden dogs are something we should all stay away from. Gotta git me some FEE repellant. They want to hold every check I give them hostage for days ? This is the electronic age, but banks move slower than ever before. They are so pathetic it’s painful to read all these posts. Why don’t they take all their FEES, HOLDS, RIP OFF COMPUTERS, and EXCUSES FOR LOUSY FLEA BITTEN, OPPS I MEAN LOUSY FEE BITTEN CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SHOVE IT. GET RID OF THE AUTOMATED PHONE THINGY TOO, I HATE CALLING THE BANK AND ALL I GET TO HEAR IS SOME RECORDING ABOUT HOW THEY WANT TO HELP ME. THAT’S BULL. ALL THEY WANT IS TO TAKE MY MONEY AND FIND WAYS NOT TO GIVE IT BACK !!! OH YEAH, I’M ON TO THEIR THIEVING WAYS. CROOKS !, SWINDLERS !, SCAMMERS !, HIGHWAY ROBBERS !, CRIMMINALS ! LOOKS LIKE THE SHOE FITS SOME OF THESE BANKS PRETTY GOOD.

  240. My Son was ripped off twice by Citizens bank and will be switching to People United. Stay as far away from Citizens Bank as possible. We will be filing a complaint with Connecticuts Attorney Generals office.

    Further, the people that work in our local branch are as unprofessional and rude as can be.

  241. WATCH OUT FOR THESE GUYS!! My story: My tenant sent me the rent check which I deposited on May 13. On May 14 looking @ on line balance, I wrote checks in good faith since the money sowedd available.

    On May 15, I noticed my account was negative, so I called th 800#. Cust. Serv. rep told me that they put hold on the check that day, but should taken off Mon May 18 if check clears.

    Checking on line Mon May 18 found tenants check bounced through the debit on my account and called the 800#. The kicker: they took MORE than the check (was $1300 deposited, but debit was $1300.60). I called 800# again & asked why they took additional funds & was told “it looked like $1300.60 on the check”. I pointed out the deposit was for $1300 & could not take more than that. They also told me noticed of bounced check mailed to me and that I had until Tues May 26 (since May 25 if a holiday) to get the $1300 into my account.

    May 19, they refunded the .60 cents.

    May 20 I noticed that a deposit of $567.72 into my account & my finaces account had 0 balance. I called the 800#, again, and inquired what wa going on. She told me that the collections department took the $567.72 from my finace’s account (joint w/ me) to cover my short fall. She was nice enough to transfer me to collections so I could resolve it. Speaking with the nasty collections woman she said “they had the right to take ALL his money & move it to my account (not just 1/2 of it). Then she wanted to know when I was going to deposit the rest to make the account whole and I replyed when you send the bounced check back to me for redeposit. She also claimed I had not called on my account until today — which is bull sh*t, since I called 1 on Friday May 15 and twice (2x)on Mon May 18 and 1 on May 20 (outside of speaking w/ her) and told her to check the recorded phone conversations as proof. Her response then was that I did not call her deparment which was where I sould have called first, but I couldn’t since: 1) May 15 did not know of bounced check 2) Had no idea collections deparment was involved, thought that what “Customer Service” was for and 3) they don’t list the collections department phone # even if I did try to call (got the # from nice rep I was speaking with.

    On May 20 I received a notice telling me that the tenants check had a hold on it. To this point on May 22 I have not received notice of the bounced check nor the returned check.

    I show a -681.81 balance & my fiance’s account has 0 (with 2 checks written in good faith against the $567 that was there). He can’t depost more money in his account to pay checks since they will confiscate it & put it towards my account. I getting whacked with 2 $39 charges, but I’m sure that will increase! My fince will be hit with 2 $39 charges for his bounced checks

    AND THEY RECEIVED TARP (TAXPAYERS) MONEY!!!

  242. Bank error? I am so careful with my bank accounts, like “mad as hell” above, I never spend any money until I see it posted in my account. Two weeks ago today, my posted deposit was placed on hold, now I hadn’t spent any of it, but I had transferred money to my other 2 accounts, via online. On Saturday morning those 2 transfers were in red. I called my bank, spoke with my branch manager. He assured me that there would be 2 overdraft fees posting to my account on Tuesday, but to breathe easy and trust him to fix it for me. On Tuesday my account was fine, no fees ever posted to my account. What makes this story worth blogging? I don’t know if it was bank error or not, I have never overdrawn before, I trusted my branch manager who spoke to me with the greatest respect, and worked on my account just as he promised. My bank is Bank of America! Thanks Eric, my branch manager!

    Use a neighborhood branch, get out of your car and go in regularly so they know you, and call them if you need to, not some toll free customer service line.

  243. Folks.

    You need to file a complaint with your states Division Of Banks, and Attorney General office. In MA the MA Division Of BAnks is 617-956-1500 and ask to speak with an examineer.

  244. We should just start a class action lawsuit.
    i mean how many people are on this page? banks get sued for this type thing all the time. perhaps its time for them to feel it as well. Join together! Who’s with me!

  245. I was using Citizen’s Bank, and as all the people here have written, one thing starts to bounce, and all of a sudden you can’t stop it. It got to a point when I wasn’t even getting my paychecks. I would have $10.00 available the day before, and as soon as my paycheck would be direct deposited all the money would be gone!
    All of my bills bounced, my electricity got shut off, and they would not refund my money due to the fact that they only refund once per year. And I don’t like when you call customer service they tell you to keep track of your money, and it is clearly your fault! I had the same checking account since I was 16 and never had this problem until about 3 years ago, this whole fee thing is new. I use the prepaid account now online w/bill pay and haven’t had a problem once. If the money is there you can spend it, if you do bill pay it takes the money out, no fees, no problems. I wish I knew about it sooner!

  246. Yeah, citizens…I read what Kim wrote down there and i think its not wise to call people foolish coz no one wants to intentionally withdraw their account… i mean seriously, why would i intentionally overdraft an account with 4 dollars to pay 78 dollars in fees? Just accept it, Citizens Bank is a scam and i am planning to close my account, thank you ver much and all i can say to my fellow Americans is try and get a credit union and say bye to Citizens….

  247. I totally agree with Louis that a class action suit is in order against Citizens Bank (CB).

    I’ve been banking with CB for 3 years and I have a very good account history. I always check my balance online and always made sure I had enough money in my account for any purchases.

    Some time ago, I could not get access to the online banking website. I continued to use my debit card thinking that it will be rejected if my balance became low since I did not sign up for overdraft. I assumed I will switch to my other debit card (where I had over $1500) if this happenned. I regained access about 3 days later and found that I had overdraft of over $500.

    I complained at the local branch and showed the staff incontrovertible evidence that I had over $4000 (cash + untouched credit card funds) I could have use. I explained to her that I did not need the overdraft and it was the result of failure of their system. She told me the “bank has recently got very tough with overdraft fees” but that she’ll see what she could do. She added that “CB does not take responsibilty for inability to check account balance even if its due to failure of their system”

    She suggested that I keep a tally of all purchases and deposits in my account using pen and paper (moronic)because even the balance on the ATM or the phone system may not be accurate.

    I find it interesting that CB offers different electronic tools to keep track of customers transactions but cannot vouch for its efficiency and puts all the responsibilty on the customer.

    I also think many prudent and disciplined bank customers are being primed to make overdrafts and then get slammed with fees. How else does one explain the fact that CB advertizes a wide variety of tools to prevent overdraft charges like “customizable balance alerts, etc” yet this is not routinely offered to customers when they open their accounts nor were customers informed of these tools when they transact business at the branches.

    More importantly, the CB front office staff ARE NOT AWARE OF THESE TOOLS. I personally asked 3 different staffs at 3 different branches in my area and none of them knew about these tools.

    When you add the fact that you have to opt out of having overdraft (a more caring and prudent bank will have you choose to have a overdraft) I strongly believe that CB deliberately primes even disciplined customers for overdraft charges.

    Lets start a class action suit!!!

  248. While I can certainly sympathize with your situation, the fact is that relying on the online balance is a mistake! If you keep your own records (Excel spreadsheet, Quicken, check register, paper napkin!) that is the only way to be sure of what your available balance is. Do I think this is fair? NO! Do I think this is right! NO! Does the bank have the capability to show pending transactions in real time? YES! But they won’t! They have rigged the system in their favor, hoping you will forget that one purchase, and bring your balance into the negative so they can charge insufficient funds fees, which can put you hundreds of dollars into the negative. So while it may seem “moronic” to have to keep your own records, I would rather do that than pay hundreds of dollars in NSF fees to the bank.

    Please go back and read my previous posts. I have lived thru the overdraft nightmare and have explained my situation several times.

    I get bashed continuously on this blog, people say I am sticking up for the bank and their practices. I am not defending banks! I am trying to help and educate people so they will know what they have to do so they can live overdraft and NSF fee free! I don’t work for a bank, I never have and never will, and I just want people to realize that this situation is something that they CAN get control over!

  249. Having problems…
    and not because I don’t ‘keep track’
    In many more ways than just those listed, the system is rigged in their favor.
    I have decided to
    1. use cash for small purchases and as much as possible
    2. use online bill pay as much as possible
    3. use pin for debit purchases

    I am also about to start putting cash in my mattress. Things have changed and it is not my imagination.
    P.S. even when your savings are setup as overdraft protection there is an extra fee for them using it to cover the other account.

    Answer: go back to cash

  250. The same story happened to me. I’ll close all my citizen accounts once I get back to states. They don’t value their customers so no business for them. I got bullied 3 times already and can’t wait to go back and close my accounts now!

  251. They are constantly getting me. They Deduct the highest charge first down to the lowest. Each time hitting you for a fee. My Son who is in College used his card for $1.14 and 10 days later when he had no money in his account they put it through and charged him $39.00.

  252. Over draft fees are the biggest scam that exsit they tell you your available balance is so much and they know whats on hold and whats pending why dont they just give you the real balance the pending amount and hold amount out of the available balance since its really not the available balance. because every time the account bounces its new money created and put into the money supply makeing more debt.meaning someone has to work to pay this debt also creating inflation and devaluating the currency make it worth less and less makeing you work harder and harder.if you use cash for every thing there is know new debt created meaning the money supply shrinks since theres no new debt wich creates deflation makeing it easy for you to afford things but haveing to work less.debt is slavery thats why when people withdraw there deposits or default on there loans the treasury prints the currency in order to keep things from becomeing to cheap.. and keep the endless cycle of slavery

  253. I am also in dispute with citizens bank. Similar circumstances exzizt as others I went to a branch and tellar with cash in hand to fix my daughters overdraft and put her 140.00 in the black. Apparently they dont put fees on the previous days actions until 7pm thus the info the tellar gave me was not truly up to date. If she cant figure out how to help a customer become current with your account how the hell is a customer supposed to. I have a local account myself with a local bank and have never in 28 years had a problem. Get your money out of huge corporate banks!!!! Then we will begin to control our money a little better.

  254. Let me state again:

    While I can certainly sympathize with your situation, the fact is that relying on the online balance is a mistake! If you keep your own records (Excel spreadsheet, Quicken, check register, paper napkin!) that is the only way to be sure of what your available balance is. Do I think this is fair? NO! Do I think this is right! NO! Does the bank have the capability to show pending transactions in real time? YES! But they won’t! They have rigged the system in their favor, hoping you will forget that one purchase, and bring your balance into the negative so they can charge insufficient funds fees, which can put you hundreds of dollars into the negative. So while it may seem “moronic” to have to keep your own records, I would rather do that than pay hundreds of dollars in NSF fees to the bank.

    Take control of your account and your money. Overdraft fees can be avoided!

  255. I would like to let you know that a new employee at National City in Birch Run took 1200.00 out of my checking account because she couldn’t find the deposit slip she NEVER wrote for me when we deposited the money, but she found a withdrawal slip from a week before “same amount”. It was a separate transaction adn the bank stood behind the employee. I complained to the Federal agency that is suppose to protect us. Guess what. No money back for me. The bank wins… They sent me a letter with a big “total recovery” written on the paper. We also have house morgage previously fully paid through this bank. NATIONAL CITY STAY AWAY FROM unless you want to loose really big.

    Their manager also gave me a car loan and then told me after we signed that there was no ealy payoff. Forgot to tell us before. Isn’t that lovely. Just another scam. I suggest keeping money in your sock and using money orders. There are still a few really reasonable places to purchase money orders. It is cheaper to pay 1.00 than to pay a 28.00 if you make a mistake. None of us have extra money for this kind of action in these times. Especially the banks that were given a bail out with our money. Doesn’t it make you absolutely disgusted with our representation in this lovely FREE United States. Not so much….

  256. To Tracy: Sad to say, but making a $1200 dollar deposit and then walking away without a receipt is a major error on your part. You basically have no proof that you made the deposit.

    Also, when taking out a loan, it is your responsibility to understand all aspects of said loan. Take the time to review all loan documents and make sure you understand what you are signing before your sign it!

    Banks can be very sneaky and predatory, so you must take on the responsibility of being vigilant about your money and your financial situation!

  257. Let’s start that law siut against them. Their fees are against the Consumer Law. I want to hire an attorney. Who is with me?

  258. I’m down with a lawsuit. I’ve suffered over $800 in fees in the past 40 days, mostly due to ‘soft holds’ and their dubious practice of posting transactions a week or later than when they were initiated. Seems to happen with transactions that would have been fine if they hadn’t posted so late.

    Where do we go to start this?

    Also, a law student friend of mine advised me to try and sue them for the fees in small claims court. No lawyer needed. Everyone should try it!

  259. I felt really good when I read all the problems with Citizens Bank. I thought I was the only one.
    I am not the greatest bookkeeper and I do go into the red alot of times and get charged the $39.00. And I agree with everyone about how they screw the ordinary customer.
    I received a Bank notice in Feb.2009 that the 18/65 LAW will change in March 2009. There would be no more $5.00 overdraft fees for this group. They will be charged $22.00 first one, $37.00 next one and $39.00 thereafter. Fine. oN JUNE 22, 2009 I went into the Citizens Bank, I read a PUBLIC NOTICE concerning the “laws of the bank” One rule caught my eye. The “18/65 Law” It read ALL MINORS AND PERSONS OVER THE AGE OF 62(YES 62)WOULD BE CHARGED A $5.00 FOR ALL OVERDRAFT FEES. REGISTER WITH BANK.
    I thought since the new law had gone into effect in March, and this was June, maybe the bank reversed the it back. Yeh right. The bank should have a responsibility to have the correct laws posted and up to date. a week or so, I can understand, but 3 months.
    Give me a brek. Well evidently the Asst Mgr was not brought up to date either. He told me the $5.00 is automatically put on your account. I told him no, because I just go charged $39.00 last week. He put all my info into the Bank computer and told me I was all set. A waiver was put on my account and I wquld pay $5.00 for all overdrafts. Great!! Then the nightmare began. Four dayes later, I was charged $78.00 for overdrafts, my fault, but it should have been $10.00. $5.00 for each overdraft. I called customer service on June 25 and told her my problem. She completely disregarded that the sign was out of date and she did not know why the Asst Mgr. put a waiver on my account. That law was changed. I kept repeating myself that the La I saw is posted in the bank. Well of course, they do nothing for you. Someone will call you back in 48 hr. Right. Next day June 26, because of the first $78.00 in fees they deducted, 2 more charges were overdrawn. I called cust. serv. she was a puppet for her supervisor that said THAT LAW IS FOR PERSONS OVER 65 AND YOU ARE NOT 65. I informed the puppet that the law’s heading says that but in the description, it says over 62. No it doesnt’ she says. I told her I had a picture of the sign. Then her supervisor said we don’t have that law anymore. I think she either hung up on me or we were disconnected but I never received a call. Meanwhile I have automatic bill paying for my bills. Of course they all hit at the same time 6 of them. Well, I was then charged $195.00. I went back to the bank and saw the Asst Mgr and told him what was happening. He told me YOU shouldn’t have used your card since you disputed these charges. I told him if someone would have gotten back to me this would not be happening. Now it became MY FAULT. Isn’t anybody concerned that the post laws are false and misleading in the bank.
    No one ever addresses it. He said I have to report to my regional office to see if they will approve the removal of the charges. He told me he would call me back, never did. I went in the next day and he was off for the day and NO ONE could help me because it was his case. I wonder if I was trying to deposit $10,000 into my account if someone would have taken over the case gladly. Meanwhile, I have 625.00 in fees, my paycheck has been used for these fees and I am still $400.00 in the red. He told me they did not approve my case because , get this, THERE WAS TOO LARGE OF AN AMOUNT OF FEES to be taken off. Again he said you kept on using your account. I told him if someone that new what they were talking about and LISTENED to my complaint, this would have been resolved with $78.00. I have contacted the NEWS MEDIA, BBB and NATIONAL BANK. I have not heard anything yet. I would really like to know if I am in the wrong. I feel 100% positive that I am right.Thanks for listening.

  260. Banks need a limit to how much a customer can be charged: Also customers need a limit to how many times they can overdraw before having their account closed!

    It goes both ways, people would take advantage of the bank if they could…SO the banks feels the right to take advantage of the people, and why not, it is profitable. Banks are for profit, people want profit, no one wins.

    Folks mistakes happen, once, twice, maybe three times in your lifetime, but if you keep making the same mistake over and over again, and it cost you money out of your pocket multiple times…what will it take for you to learn? Even I have learned by YOUR mistake, why can’t you?

    Soft holds, transaction posting, posted deposits… write it ALL down. I use my BOA accounts almost down to the penny, but as long as I keep track I am in the black. Citizens Bank is harder to keep track with, they thrive on your fees…why stay?

  261. I’ve heard a similar story to mines already on this website.I had 158 dollars left in my account after all payment cleared, I received a small check in the mail from some temp work I had did for the amount of 97 dollars.. I go to the bank and cash it and the teller did not tell me the 157 I had in the bank was to be on hold because I had cashed a check…so I go to the atm later on and withdraw 140 and go spend the additional left over money at the market… next couple of I’m hit with $195 dollars worth of fees… minus the 10 bucks I still had in the account making it $185 negative! The rep told me I was charged 39 bucks for withdrawing my money because I had to leave it in tere for 1 day, 39 dollars for cashing the check AND 39 for each tranaction which I had all the money in the ACCOUNT FOR ! Citizens never had to spend a penny on me because it was all my money! 185 dollars I have 2 pay because I cashed a check! I need 2 know who can I talk to????!!!!

  262. How about that lawsuit? File a formal complaint at the Federal Reserve. Citizen’s has now charged me $72.00 for a pre-authorization that I did not even know was happening. The thing is – the pre-auth never went through as I paid cash for the hotel room.

    This is after they charged us over $200 in fees for an automatic bill pay – when the money was in there…BUT – it was a direct deposit from my employer and they applied the debits first. They did refund HALF of the fees but told me to keep better records and not depend on money that I did not have “in hand”. It is my freakin’ paycheck – direct deposited every two weeks – my employer has NEVER missed a deposit!!!

    I’m tired of banks scamming the American hard worker. I keep immaculate records and depend on my bank to do the same. We have been with Citizen’s for 7 years and this has just started happening in the last 2 months. I left Fifth Third for the same practices. I would withdraw my money from savings (which by the way is supposed to protect us from overdraft fees and always has a positive balance of AT LEAST $500 – but alas, they lost the paperwork we filled out…TWICE) and checking – but in today’s world if you do not have a checking account – you are SOL.

    I’m tired of having to argue on the phone with Citizen’s for an hour – hung up on (oops – sorry it was an accident) and then told that I need to have more patience with them in the future!! WHAT??? Are you kidding me? YOU (client service woman) are here to be patient with me. YOUR employer screwed up my balance sheet and charged me fees when they should not have been. MY money allows you to be employed…don’t tell me to be patient.

    I will keep complaining until the government comes in and rectifies these practices. I am more than willing to get in on a class action suit. Sign me up!

  263. Well, I was going to open an account at citizens bank but NOT NOW! I will go somewhere else. Its sad that we bailed out most of these banks with our tax money and they also have to scam us by the way they RIG the debits around in our accounts with OUR money just so they can rip us off with overdrafts! I am with Bank of America and stay away from there also, Lets just say they too are rip offs!!

  264. Kim
    Please stop coming on this sight and telling people to be more responsible in their record keeping. You people have designed a system that waits for the customer to overdraft and in these economic times people are working closer to the edge than ever. If i go into the negative than shut me down. You can not tell me that in this electronic age that the POS systems can not determine the financial snapshot of ones account balance, please do not tell me you are doing me a favor by allowing overdraft and please forget about the pre auth BS.
    Because I feel this is blatantly designed to work the grey area I have written several letters to our state legislators and congressmen. Also because I feel that this is underhanded I will not stop writing these letters until I feel that the proper attention has been given to the issue.
    I suggest that all who read this post do the same.
    Thank You
    Ken Sheets

  265. I normally would be able to go on line and instantly have money transfered from one account to another, but in my period of overdraft it would not allow the transfer to occur until the next day, of course allowing several more transactions to post and go into overdraft. IS THIS CRIMINAL OR WHAT? who is the rocket scientist up in HQ thats coming up with this stuff?
    Citizens, definately not your typical bank

  266. I have had all of the above experiences and had a manager laugh in my face. When I had bounce charges added it was for three transactions that were deducted from my account the same day. They subtracted the largest sum first and then the two smaller amounts. In addition, I had sufficient funds in my overdraft protection to cover the two smaller amounts. She told me they always deduct the largest first, they did not use my overdraft because it would not cover the larger amount. Therefor I had $147.00 of fees (plus a $35 for not depositing the extra funds in 2 days) for a total of withdrawals of $25.00 with a balance in overdraft. I have experienced this so many times. BUT I cannot find a bank that doesn’t have the same policy. I have tried. But it is such a profit center that all the banks use it.

  267. Lots of frustrated comments here starting from the orginal ’07 post until now. I found this site because I received a letter from Citizens telling me that the overdraft protection fee that used to be $25 in MA is going up to $30. Not too bad, I figured. OD protection has been great for me in the past. A few pennies of interest paid for a couple of days and no fees. However, it looks like they’re going to charge $5.00 per day you have a balance outstanding to them. That isn’t much protection!

    By the way, when having Overdraft Protection ends up costing you like a mini version of no overdraft protection, it gets you thinking how to avoid it — I’d recommend controlled use of a credit card that doesn’t have any outstanding balance due – in other words a credit card which you pay off each month. You get the same freedom to charge small amounts, without the worry you’ll go into the RED. You have to pay your credit card off each month from your checking, and I guess a lot of Americans aren’t good/able to do that.

  268. I’m fed up with Citizens Bank. It appears that overdrafting is how they make their money. So even if you contact them in advance regarding a stop payment they won’t put forth their best effort to assist you. I’m switching banks and I hope that all who read this realize the bank’s true motive.

  269. Guess what? My card’s information has been compromised. I was charged three times for services/products I never ordered. Thee total was around $100, and this incurred $200 in fees.

    Now, the bank says all I have to do is go in, sign an affidavit, and in 10 business days I get all the fees + the fraudlent charges refunded back to me. I did this. It took 2 hours. The affidavit system was broken and we had to restart the process 3 times, eventually getting a faxed form sent over for me to sign.

    The affidavit NEVER WENT THROUGH. A week later (I should have been half way to getting back my money) the same exact form was mailed to me, to sign and mail back. I have no idea why my 2 hours spent in the branch were useless and I am so tired of talking to bank officials I haven’t tried to ask.

    Now, let’s get to my card. I obviously canceled it. Except they didn’t cancel it, they ‘put it on hold.’ I found this out, luckily, and had it TRULY canceled. Thank god I said, now at least /future/ fraud won’t happen to me. No, it will, they replied: for up to a month they will allow the companies that charged me to charge me more, and ‘there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.’ Short of canceling my checking account completely, which takes 10 DAYS. I am screwed.

    Is this even legal?

  270. This one is good. My husband and I have a small business. We have fallen victim to the snowball effect several times. It’s just the way it is in this day and age and every time, it sucks!! And every time the same BS from the bank and they treat you like your an idiot. Well not this time. We deposited a large check and waited for it to clear. Same as we always do. At 6 am went online and checked the account Balance. It was Balance 27 thousand and change, Available balance was 27 thousand and change. Hit print and have proof. Use atm card for $9000.00 purchase….it goes thru. Go to Home Depot for a $64.00 purchase, denied. What??? well check on line…Balance 27 thousand and change. Available balance…..-2550.00. WTF???? Call the bank and they say well, the check was cleared this morning, but because of the amount “WE” decided to only make $6000.00 available. Now throwing my $9000.00 purchase into the red. STOP RIGHT THERE. Who the hell is “we” and how id this decided after the money has already been made available??? We checked it before the purchase to be sure it was there. Now, they are going to charge me an overdraft fee??I don’t think so. Just so they can make money off of me? This is crazy. They act as though we are all uneducated people who cannot manage money, when the truth is they are preditors waiting for us to be in a vulnerable position. Our country is in a full blown recession and it’s getting worse. People are just trying to pay there bills. This is the straw for me. I will make a huge deal out of this episode because I am tired of all these fee’s and their rediculous attempts at making people feel as though they are stupid.

  271. In NY state our personal checking account with OD protection (never use it, never had to) used to be free unless it was used. Then we would have had some small fees to pay. Okay, fine. I agreed to have the OD account just in case we ever did make a mistake, or had a banking error. Several years have since gone by, we opened a few more personal, and some business accounts for our S-Corp and LLC operations for both operating funds and State Sales Tax withholding. We have a lot of money going through all of the accounts, do funds transfers several times a month, and have been perfect little customers.

    Well the other week I get a letter advising the OD account is going to now cost $25/year whether we use it or not, and if we do use it there is going to be a $5.00 per day fee, plus interest and other fees, for each day we have an OD balance. We had until August to close the OD account if we chose to do so.

    I called Citizens customer support and advised I wanted the OD account closed. I was asked why, and I said I refused to be associated with a company that was about to take such overt advantage of their customers. The rep said that it looked like I never needed to use the OD account anyway, so why not keep it. In fact she could even waive the annual fee because we were a certain class of customer (Gold Circle?)/ She totally missed the point. I advised we would opened new accounts with a regional bank since Citizens closed a local branch, and the alternate location did not have large enough safe deposit boxes for us. But we kept money in Citizens anyway, lots of it. I asked the rep to please send info to her manager/supervisor advising we are closing all of our Citizens accounts as a matter of casting our dollar votes against an institutional policy change that would undoubtedly be to the disbenefit of many of their customers.

    The rep told me I would have to go into the branch to close our accounts. “No, I do not need to do that,” I replied. I advised all I had to do is cut personal business checks from Citizens to deposit into our Five Star Bank accounts, and once the Citizens accounts hit a $0.00 balance they would close within a month or so. I then advised I was recording our conversation, and if she felt I was about to do anything that could trigger a fee I wanted to know right then. Silence. I asked for a response, and she told me I was well within my rights to close our accounts for any reason we deemed appropriate. She never did answer my question about getting hit with any strange fees.

    It has been a few week snow, all accounts went to $0.00, and no fees. It is over. They could have retained us as customers, with our direct deposits and business revenue deposits. But with a little bit of greed, and willingness to forego these annual fees to us because we were so special. What about the folks who can’t afford further fees? Our fellow citizens? Who speaks for them? My few accounts won’t bankrupt them, they may not even notice it. But I know I did the right thing for the right reason. I plan to do all my banking with regional banks, who appreciate our business. And with USAA, who never mistreated me in over 30 years of doing business with them for banking and insurance.

    Bye bye, Citizens. You may not miss me much, I will certainly not miss you.

    Mike

  272. Citizens Bank has stolen my money for the last time!!!! I don’t want to air out all my financial issues with the this bank but will only say this; That I have been a customer of Citizens for years and within the last 18 months, they have ripped me off for more than a couple thousand dollars in overdraft fees! Such as; $39.00 for a $1.88 transaction, $39.00 for a $4.00 transaction, $39.00 for a $8.00 transaction and another $39.00 for a $8.00 transaction all in one night after they told me that items posted for the upcoming period were ok !!!!
    IF ANYONE READING THIS SITE, WANTS TO START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT JUST LIKE THE ONES ALREADY OUT THERE FOR BANK OF AMERICA AND A FEW OTHERS; I’M IN !!!
    PLEASE CONTACT ME BY EMAIL AT gdellner@yahoo.com I WILL CERTAINLY JUMP ABOARD WITH A LAWSUIT!! OR POST CONTACT INFORMATION MAYBE ON THIS SITE. DON’T LET THESE SCUMBAGS WALK AWAY WITH OUR MONEY.
    Let it be known that those of you from Citizens Bank who are reading the comments on this site clearly understand that you stoled our money! I hope that everyone comes together and you are taken down hard! You people are nothing but a bunch of filthy low life thieves sucking up peoples hard earned money as you sit your ass behind a desk and knowing that anyone of us as an individual probably can’t take on the bank but, your f***king days coming and I hope I’m part of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU STOLED MY MONEY WHICH PUT ME FURTHER BEHIND AND THEN YOU CHARGE ME AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. I have file a complaint with OCC and will be filing an additional complaint with that as well. People reading this; lets get together on this please. There are a lot of people out there waiting for this lawsuit, much more than what you see here online.

  273. First off, Kim I’d love to see the part of your employment contract that allows you to speak on behalf of Citizen’s Bank. Secondly, Kasay you can cut the crap about being a neutral party. For all I care, you’re probably Kim impersonating a customer so you can glorify her sorry position at a disgraceful organization such as Citizen’s. As a long time customer who made a lot of money for Citizen’s bank, to be hit with a fee for every overdraft is unethical and bad business. Every other bank I’ve done business with will recognize a one time mistake and correct it. The fact that Citizen’s hits you for every transaction and crucifies you for every single one of them is the reason why the public hates big business… and I’m a Republican!!!

  274. Yesterday, I signed online to find my account -145.00, 3 transactions and 3 fees. I had made a transfer from another account to this account on Friday 6:00pm, however for whatever reason the transfer didn’t complete. I called online banking, and from behind the scene he couldn’t see the transfer, so it looks like the error could be mine. This morning on my way to work, I stopped in my branch, was greeted by the assistant manager. She showed me to her office, as I explained what had happened. I handed her my written ledger, plus the 3 receipts I had. Her exact words were, this is not a bank error that I can prove, but since you keep such good records and have never overdrawn before, I’m taking your word for it, and she returned the $105 back to my account. OH, BY THE WAY…MY BANK IS BANK OF AMERICA.

  275. To the person who posted a “Citizens Sucks”:
    No, I am a neutral party who has never worked for a bank. I am not impersonating anyone..I have been charged for overdraft fees on my account in the past and it has pissed me off. I really don’t care if people don’t believe me. I know the truth. And I know that if you simply keep track of your transactions and keep a running balance, you can avoid overdraft fees. I have done so for over a year now. If you will not take responsibility for your finances, that is your problem.

    Sure, banks are being thieves when it comes to how they take advantage of people who don’t have much money and get into trouble with overdrawing their account. I don’t dispute that. However, these are the people who MUST be the most careful about monitoring every penny that comes in and goes out of their account.

    And finally, in regard to Kim who used to post here, she was moved from her job as a call rep for Citizens because some jerk who worked there too reported the fact that she was posting on here and TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE! That is why she no longer posts here.

    So, to the person who posted as Citizens Sucks, whine all you want! I know the truth; overdraft fees can be avoided. “There are none so blind as those who refuse to see!”

  276. So I am leaving Citizens Bank after another round of overdraft fees (totaling nearly $500!) that occurred because my wifes Unemployment check was held up (I love the way they make their money off of those who are hardest up!). I was also told that my fee went up to $39 because I was a persistent offerer! How it costs more for them to process an overdraft fee for someone who has been overdrawn before (cause that’s what’s it’s for, covering admin costs right, not making money for the bank no!) I’ll never know.

    For anyone here who tells people that they should be more careful with their money and know what’s in their account etc. Wise Up! No-one keeps track of their account with little pocket books anymore. I use my online account almost exclusively to monitor my account balance, and guess what Holds on the account don’t show up making it very hard to monitor each and every payment and stay out of the Red. Plus the fee they charge is disproportionate to the amounts. I go overdrawn by $1 and get charge $39 wtf!

    The thing that really pisses me off is that Citizens Bank is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. I’m from the UK and have an account with Halifax bank, who are also owned by RBS and guess what no overdraft fees in the UK! In fact I have a $1,000 free overdraft that I covers any time I go overdrawn with no fees. Why don’t the banks offer a similar service here?

  277. Citizens bank is full of crooks. They made the mistake of not setting up my account correctly so I got charged $15 a month. Well they also “forgot” to put these charges in my statement. Well they totally drained my checking account of $500 with this monthly charge and they continued to charge me it even though there was noting left in my account so I was charged with overdraft fees also. How nice of them. When I talked with the manage he was very condescending and said it was my fault for not noting the fees which were never in my statement. After two months of arguing and wasted time they finally agreed to give me my money back only if agreed to not switch to another bank. Bullshit the hell I am these back stabbing idiots deserve to be locked away for their crap.

  278. Andrew, you need to wise up! When you know that you can avoid overdrafting your account by keeping track of your own transactions and not relying on the online balance (which has no way of showing checks you have written or purchases that have not been put in for processing by the merchant yet), why don’t you do it? Why would you rather pay hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees ? I just don’t understand. The banks want you to rely on the online balance! They make it easy to overdraw your account-don’t let them do it! I would rather use my silly “pocket book” and not be charged overdraft fees! It is really very simple!

  279. Just got off the phone with Citizens Bank….”overdraft fee” I Never over drew my account, I didn’t even have to use my “over draft protection” and I got a fee off, $117.00. NOTHING BOUNCED !!!! This is bullshit….
    They can not get away with that. Please tell me that someone got there money back. My account shows that I was NEVER negative.

  280. Sorry Vanessa you will never get that money back. My account also never went negative, but I have 265 dollars in insufficient funds fees. I went shopping Friday the 4th. I had a total of 5 transactions that day. I went away for the weekend. My account is negavtive. I look online and it doesn’t tell me why. I see my 5 transactions from friday. My account still shows positive. I make a deposit Tuesday and notice that I see a charge for 195 dollars in overdraft fees. 39$ times all 5 of the transactions I made on friday because they did not clear the bank until Monday. By the time Monday came I had a hold on my account from a bill that would post on the 18th. Since the money was on hold It was not available to pay for the transactions from the 14th. The insufficient funds fee ate up the remaining balance in my account so the two bills that also came in that day were also charged an insufficient charge fee of 79 dollars. They didn’t pay for my transactions, because they were holding my money for a bill that they never even paid and charged me insuficient funds fee for each one of them. After 9 years I too am leaving Citizensbank.

  281. Thanks! I’m searching for a new bank since Bank of America did the same thing to me (only they charge $35 per purchase now). This was VERY helpful! My goodness! What is the world coming to? It’s a damn shame everyone has to always be on guard all the time because of things like this! So I’m not sorry for you Citizen Bank for loosing this customer before you even got her!

    Thanks for looking out whitekid2!

  282. I live in mass. and I plan on picketing citizens for the 17 overdrafts in six days/with no phone call to warn me.Where is the trust?If any body wants to join me in the good battle leave a comment

  283. Wachovia does the same thing,

    I was an 8 year customer of theirs, never an overdraft, I even refered people to their bank,

    a few months ago, My car broke down and my wife withdrew 80 dollars for repairs, the ATM balance showed 96 dollars (I still have that receipt, showing them did nothing) I put 120 dollars in the bank the next morning, I had 9 transactions pending totalling only 36 dollars, (they were for coffee etc, small purchases) well, they seized the oppertunity and funded all 9 through on the same day, all before 9am, I was standing outside the bank when they opened, starting with my 22 dollar gas purchase (had only 16 dollars in the account) and finally ending with a 42 cent candy purchase. bouncing my account 9 times. that candy purchase was made 4 days before, meanwhile the 22 fuel purchase was made 6 hours before the ATM withdrawal. Every single transaction that day was, from highest to lowest no matter the date, including several coffee purchase from the same place on different days. I purchased a muffin on a friday orning, and it cleared before all the rest of the single cups did, for the previous 2 days)

    All scams. Banks don’t care, don’t keep your money with them.one day it may disappear and you will owe them.

    I paid Wachovia 425 dollars in overdraft fees and closed the account one day later. and opened an account with PNC about 20 minutes after closing my Wachovia account, they already had me listed as a risk, and PNC would give me only a restricted account.

  284. CEO IS NOT LARRY FISH BUT A WOMAN NAMED ELLEN ALEMENY WHO COMES TO US VIA CITIGROUP! THEY CHARGED ME OVER $500 FOR $36 WORTH OF OVERDRAFTS. ONE IS EVEN CALLED A $273.00 “MONETARY FEE” — THEY SAID IT IS A POLICY NOT TO OFFER COURTESY OVERDRAFT FEE REBATES ANY MORE!! I AM GOING TO DOLLAR BANK FUCK THIS BANK. I WONT GO INTO THE DETAIL, BUT I POINTED OUT TWO BANK ERRORS AND THEY STILL REFUSED TO REFUND.

  285. I just had the same problems as most of you and am disgusted with Cit Bank. $236 in overdraft and “service” fees for a $5.51 deficit. Obviously they have my tel number as they have been calling for “their” money. If they had not taken all of a deposit in fees w/o my knowledge there would not have been the domino effect. I will be happy to be a participant in the class action lawsuit that will inevitably happen. Hopefully sooner than later. Any business attorneys out there?

  286. I am extremely sad, worried, tired and angry at Citizens Bank. I am from South America but I went to US for winter (December-March) because of an exchange program. While I was there I got a debit card. I was going to receive money but I came back to Peru (my country) a week before so they deposited that money in my bank account. While I was here, at the end of March, I checked my account and I had $600 aprox so I took $200 out. I had left $400 so I used it to buy some apps for my iPod. I wanted to buy an app today but I couldn’t. I went to an ATM machine and that machine ate my card!!! I called the bank in charge of the ATM and they said I had to call the bank of my credit card. I called Citizens Bank and they said my card was overdrawn and that I owe them $150. You can imagine my surprise. It can’t be. They said on July I had 2 dollars left on my account and I don’t remember spending my money before July. I told them to tell me what had I spent my money in and they said they couldn’t go back that much, they couldn’t check my account transactions from April nor May nor June. They gave me another number and told me to call on Tuesday.
    I am really worried and scared, I don’t know what to do and I hate Citizens bank.

    I just want my money back 🙁

  287. Dear Public:

    I will be looking into a class-action suit against Citizens Bank (i have had preliminary talks with an attorney) and I strongly urge everyone to get together. You can e-mail me at cafesocietypublishing@netzero.com.

    one thing to know is that I am a highly responsible person and do not spend what I don’t have. the short of my story is that I was on the road for 3 weeks – and had opened another account in CA – with over $10,000 in it. I was simply trying to drain my citizens account to close it out and I unknowingly went over by $51.00

    after this, they allowed me to continue to make teeny purchases for THREE WEEKS and when i finally got back to CA and checked my account (thinking that there would be about $50 or $60 in it) – it was in the negative of over $1000.00. $800 of which were fees.

    these are egregious and unfair practices. no bank in the world would allow these purchases to go through in the name of “courtesy” which is what they call it. I offered to pay them every penny of what i spent and a few overdraft fees – and they could not have been more rude, bullying and insulting. they called what I did abusive and fraudulent – and my question is: if you suspected that I was being fraudulent or abusive – why would you not cut it off?

    this has never happened to me in all of my 40 years and I am simply not going to take this from them. they are up to their neck in trouble and I cannot wait to file suit.

    Please e-mail asap.

    thank you!

    diana

  288. and a little message to kim. i understand exactly what you are saying – which is why never in my life have i had a problem with any company. when i make a mistake – i own up to it. by you implying that when things happen and they are innocent mistakes that your bank allows for that – is total bulls*t. as i said, i had over $10,000 in my CA account – so why would i risk everything ($1000.00, bad credit and a report to chex systems in order to “steal” $51.00 from citizens bank? the answer is: i wouldn’t and i didn’t. i was on the road – with no access to computer – and when i explained this to a member of your ever-brilliant team and asked them why i got not as much as one phone call – one of them said “well how are we supposed to reach you then, if you were on the road?” um…a cell phone? if someone overdraws one or two times- its a problem. when someone is overdrawing for 3 weeks – there is a very serious problem. perhaps someone stole the card? i managed to get phone calls everyday from your collection agency once it was sent there – so please, stop acting as if this is all in the name of protecting a client when it is really is in the name of gouging people. had i overspent and been charged with $30 or $60 – that is totally fair because yes, if you put out money for me – it is a loan (but i think you need to check your math sweetheart – if you loan me $5.00 and charge me $30.00 – it’s quite a bit more than any lending institution out there.) this is not what happened. i clearly got an erroneous balance from an ATM, overdrew a dozen times and the fees just kept rolling and rolling. your company just assumes that you can take off a few bucks off the fees and gouge us for the rest. well, not in this case. it’s class-action time. people should not overdraw – and your company should not profit from it.

  289. Kim,

    For Keeping track of your funds would be much easier if Citizens also kept records in actual time. You seem to put all the blame on the bankers, citing “lack of self control” and “simple math skills,” and that is highly insulting, especially in light of your companies labrynthine rules and never ending loopholes.

    Here are some words I’d like to offer you: integrity, ethics, and predation. You and your bank do not exercise the first two, and you are an obvious propent of the last. How dare you come onto a messageboard and condescend to hard-working people, calling them such things as “habitual offenders” (as if they were criminals)? If you had the slightest inkling of the world outside your “happy banking” smokescreen, you would would hear the terms congressmen and women have been using for years: “predatory lending,” “deceptive business practices,” and “exploitation.” You, like so many other people at Citizens Bank have been among the rudest, most unethical, and most poorly informed I have ever encountered. But that must be beside the point, right, because Citizens Bank never makes a mistake, oh no. They would never exploit, misinform, or make rules so ambiguous as to trap people in endless overdraft fees. Here’s a thought, if you can wrap your mind around it: MAKE YOUR POLICIES CLEAR. Citizens intentional makes things ambiguous so they can prey on the poor.

    I happen to work for a lobbying firm on behalf of people who have been exploited by banks such as Citizens. You only need Google “citizens bank complaints” to realize you are one of the most hated and exploitative banks in the United States (and we all know you are RBS, and a foreign-based bank using the term “citizens” is beyond disgusting).

    I promise you this, Kim. The laws will change. More and more people are demanding it. Citizens Bank is already in the hot seat. Your pseudo-intellectual grade of classism will end. Citizens Bank will be the first to fall at the hands of the US Government, and you will be out of a job. Bills going through Congress right now will ensure that.

    Happy Unemployment Collecting, Kim.

    Paul Wilburn
    Advising Department
    American Coalition Against Banking and Financial Exploitation

  290. NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Wednesday that it was eliminating some overdraft fees altogether and trimming others, after Bank of America Corp announced a similar move on Tuesday.

    The changes follow U.S. congressional leaders’ criticism of bank account fees and come as the banks digest rule changes for credit card fees.

    New York-based JPMorgan said it made the changes, which include removing overdraft fees if a customer’s account is $5 or less overdrawn, in a bid to help its 25 million debit card customers amid the recession and rising U.S.

    unemployment levels.

    The second-largest U.S. bank is also ending overdrafts for debit cards unless the account holder opts into an overdraft service, and it will start recognizing debit-card transactions and cash withdrawals as they occur, according to the statement.

    Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank, said it was reducing overdraft and other account fees over the next year.

    **The tide is beginning to turn**

  291. My teenage son opened up a checking account with a Citizens Bank in the grocery store where he was working. He did a very good job of keeping his balance, and never overdrafting. He got a letter in the mail, saying that the bank was instituting a $30 fee for overdraft protection. He thought that he would never overdraft and did not want to pay the $30, which is a lot of money for a hardworking teenager. He stopped using his account, and it had a balance of 11 cents. The bank charged him $30 for the protection (which made his balance negative), then charged him two different overdraft fees, so now his balance is a NEGATIVE 99 DOLLARS. When I went to complain at the bank, the teller said he understands my frustration, but he and the manager did not have the authority to get rid of the charges so my son could close his account. How can they charge you $30 without you signing up for they service? Then it was their charge that caused the overdraft, and then they charged my son two fees for THEIR overdraft. Then, if he had overdraft protection, why did they still charge the fees. The teller said all he could do was write an email to the person who does have the authority. I wonder how long it will be before I hear back from that person. And we wonder why banks are going bankrupt. No one from my family and none of my friends and anyone that will listen to me will ever do business with Citizens again.

  292. Jane that is such good news, I also believe that things will change for the better for banking customers. People have a choice now, with pre paid debit cards and all, so banks will be missing customers if they don’t change their fees.

    Paul, who is Kim? Doesn’t look like Citizen’s is any concern of hers.

    I bank with BOA, and not all transactions are shown in real time, but my written ledger is in my “real” time. It works well for me and my accounts.

  293. Citizen’s Bank are nothing but theives. I am all for owning up to my mistakes and if I need to pay a fee than so be it. My gripe is with the amounts and the reasons. How is it they can charge an overdraft fee when my statement never showed a negative balance. I called and asked. This is what they said. I overdrew because I purchased while there was a hold on my account. Now keep in mind that a deposit what made before they ever withdrew the amount the amount they had put on hold, thus never actually resulting in a “real” negative balance. Just doesn’t make sense. Well I’m in the process of changing banks. In the mean time my direct deposit from my employer changed to the new bank a week earlier than I had intended, not giving me enough time to change my automatic monthly payments. Well they all hit. citizen’s paid 82.89 and has charged me 215.00 in fees. I will be paying back every dime they paid for me. As for their fees, they can shove them up their a$$. Let them file suit, the way I look at it, it will be years before anything happen because the courts are so backed up right now. As for my credit score. Who cares, nobody is lending money anyway, even if you have perfect credit. I refuse to give them anymore of my hard earned money. I am a single mom that lives paycheck to paycheck and I’ll be damned if I’m going to hand over my money to theives.

  294. I just got banged for over a grand by these punks. I had my accounts set up to put 50 bucks a month from my checking to my savings account every month. Well I had one bad month where I had to go to the hospital and I don’t have insurance and I had to pay cash for what I needed to get done. This took me down to about 40 bucks in the bank.

    I Put a check in several days later then pay my bills and thought all was good. the next several week I go about my business using my card to by things like lunch, coffee, dinners whatever. I keep pretty good records. well here it turns out They tried to move the 50$ from my checking account to my savings account. BANG 39$, and during that time I tried to make some small purchases thinking in my head I had 40 Bucks in the bank, well I had 1$ now and they nabbed me for another 200 ish dollars. now I am unaware of this because I am on the road allot trying to get my own business going so i my mind I have 240$ more then I really have.

    The next couple weeks proceed to kill me because of using my card. I did call and got a little back because they acknowledged the mess up with moving money to my savings, but they still blamed me for the rest.

    I questioned “Why do you let someone use your debit card when you don’t have money” they said “it is a FEATURE in case you have an emergency” yeah right. For every 1 person who might need that FEATURE, there are probably 10,000 people who just suck with money or have crazy hectic lives and can’t sit and worry about the bank robbing them every transaction you make.

    In the future I will be requesting this feature be turned off to the next bank I go too, and I also don’t ever remember being offered this feature ever be turned on when I signed up. Be nice if they explained that part to new customers in detail.

    Just wish banks and all businesses would stop trying to make a buck at any cost, that’s why we are in this rut as a country to begin with, greed run rampit. There are human lives tied to those silly little numbers you companies try to make grow to crazy amounts.

  295. Hey!!!

    Here is a new trick! Every time your Overdraft Protection account transfers money to your Checking Account to cover and overdraft, Citizens Bank will charge you $5 for each transfer. Aren’t they supposed to transfer it for free? Isn’t this the idea behind an Overdraft Protection account? Nope, now they charge every time they transfer money to your checking account. No wonder people are dumping Citizens Bank, they have lost a lot of money on these outrageous fees.

  296. It goes like this. If the money isn’t in the account, the bank is “not” doing any favors by letting the purchase go through. Although it’s played off as a service to the customer, it is really a service to the CEO. Just consider how a few years ago, purchases were denied if money was not available in the account. I wonder why they changed this policy? Maybe Larry need a new boat to sail around in off the coast of R.I.

  297. This is John again from a few comments up. Got the second notice for my son’s account, so there is 24 days before it goes to a collection agency. For an account that had 11cents balance. The person I talked to today was willing to credit the overdraft protection fee, but could not credit the penalties because there was no bank error. So if they wouldn’t have charged him the protection fee in the first place, there would not have been any penalties. This whole thing just doesn’t make any sense to me. Does anyone else out there see my point. So my teenage son owes the bank 100 dollars for an acount that had 11cents (always) POSITIVE BALANCE.

  298. I just wanted to add. I posted earlier about Citizens not returning fees caused after a merchant withdrew the charge in less than an hour.

    I have been doing a job with a client from overseas. The UK to be specific. I get paid once a month via wire transfer in GBP (British Pounds Sterling). This is a good deal for me because the pound is higher than the dollar right now.

    My wire transfers always seemed to be a little low so I started watching the exchange rates religiously. When I saw my latest deposit was $800 short I called up Citizens to find out what their exchange rate was.

    Per their website: “The Bank’s foreign currency exchange rates are based on market conditions and are provided by sources such as Reuters and Bloomberg. Foreign exchange rates will vary from bank to bank and depend on many factors such as the type and the amount of the transaction. Exchange rates for retail transactions are not the same as exchange rates for large foreign currency transactions among banks. Foreign exchange rates are available to customers at their request. These rates are provided as an indication only. A firm rate is applied once the transaction is executed.”

    While I was on hold, I looked up the Reuters and Bloomberg exchange rates and they were at $1.683 and 1.685 respectively. (1 GBP = $1.68 US) It took over 10 minutes for a Citizen’s rep to tell me their exchange rate was at $1.53. A fifteen cent difference! That might not seem like a big deal to you, but when you consider that a transfer of 8,500 in GBP (And by the typical exchange rates should be getting somewhere along the lines of $14,280, because of Citizen’s low exchange rate I was getting $13,005, being shorted over $1200!!!

    The service rep couldn’t tell me how they arrived at their exchange rate, or where I could find it. Only that it is “Based on the current markets and can fluctuate, plus all banks carry different rates”. I am not stupid. I know this. I full expect a +/- .05 discrepancy from the average whenever I deal with exchange rates, but .15 is outrageous.

    I asked to speak with a supervisor, who was very rude and condescending. He told me the ONLY way that I could know what Citizen’s exchange rates were would be to call their customer service department or to go into a branch. He told me that the rates are configured “in house”, and that they can make the rates whatever they want.

    I have called several times a week to get the rates from them, and each time they are severely below average and each time it takes no less than 10 minutes for the rep to find the information.

    I will be changing banks next month (After a few big life events happen), as I find this ridiculous, and doubt it’s legal. While I’m sure they won’t miss it, they won’t have my money to play around with anymore.

  299. THEY SCREWED ME 2 TIMES FOR HUNBDREDS IN THE LAST CPL WEEKS
    THEY TOOK MY LAST TRANSACTION AND PUT IT BEFORE TRANS ACTIONS A WEEK AGO FOR 4 OVERDRAFTS
    THEN LIE AND SAY THEY WERE ON HOLD??? THEY HAD BEEN POSTED FOR DAYS
    SCAMMERS AND CROOKS

  300. Same old with CItizens bank. Citizens bank has the worst customer service ever. People are rude can;t speak english to even tell why they are charging you over and over when you account is already over drawn. This is what wrong with this country people and banks like this. No use making this a long drawn out story this bank is a sad excuse for a bank.

  301. I have also had problems with Citizens Bank. On October 2, 2009 I received my Social Security Direct Deposit. Also on that date there was a check from 7 months ago that was cashed by the bank. This check was to an old landlord that I used to have, and way back he told me that he never received this check, so I stopped payment on the check and got a bank check for the money and sent that on to him. Now after 7 months he managed to cash the check. The bank never called me to tell me that a “stale Check” was being cashed, and I didn’t know that “stop payments” were only good for 6 months, so the bank paid out this “old check”. Now because this happened and I didn’t know about it, it overdrew my account and I bounced a bunch of other checks. It was only after calling customer service that I found out that “stop payments” were only good for six months and that the bank shouldn’t have cashed this “stale check”, but I was told that it was up to the bans descretion.
    Now the fees that came in due to this amounted to more than $900. I was frantic. I got hit with fees on top of fees. My wife’s direct deposit ended up going into our account before we could stop it, and it paid all of their fees off and left us very little money for food to feed our family of 5.
    Also during this time I was running out of Insulin (I am a type 1 diabetic) and I also have Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Well I needed Insulin for my pump and the bank refused to free up any of the charges that they had on our account. I ended up have an MS flair twice and ended up in the ER. I also received 2 perscriptions that needed to be filled in order to get over this flair.
    I called the bank and a very nice customer service representative named Madona helped me out and freed up $78. so that I could get the prescriptions filled, and then when I went to the bank I was told that I could not take the money out because citizens had put a hold on my account and the one person who could take the hold off was not in that day. I was then escourted out of the bank and was told that Corporate Security was going to be I would not get back any of the fees that I have paid if she had anything to do with it.
    I then contacted customer service and lodged a complaint with them. Nest thing I know the claims department is sending me another affidavit in the mail, and this time they want me to try to locate my old landlord so that he can sign it saying that he did infact take money from our account. Can you believe that? I’m sure he’ll sign that?? right?
    I was told by Citizens Bank that I can not close my account at this point because it is now back to being negative again, and when I tried to open another account with a different bank I was notified that because of citizens bank I would have to wait for that account to be settled before I can open another account anywhere else. So now my wife is stopping her direct deposit and I have to call Social Security in order for them to stop their direct deposit.
    I’m thinking about not having a bank account at all, I’m thinking about getting a safe, and then just getting money orders for all of my bills.

    Thank you CITIZEN’S BANK for encourgaing me to not trust banks!

  302. For many years I have been a happy customer of citizens. However due to recent events I too have changed my opinion of this company.

    As many of you know Citizens is a subsidiary of RBS. This bank is hurting and in dire need of funds. As a result they have decided to screw its customers with these outrageous fees. It is a short sighted plan that will only hurt the bank in the long run. This is what happens when officers of a company compensation is based off of the performance of the stock. Go for the quick buck and F***K the customer.

    The reason for my anger is that due to recent changes on the website I accidently transfered money from the wrong account. I then proceeded to overdraft by very little and was charged outrageous fees. What angers me the most is citizens had my money all along and if they cared about customer satisfaction and loyalty they would have forgiven this one little mistake.

    This is what is wrong with large banks. Support your local banks until they get greedy then switch. I am never doing any major banking with Citizens ever again and I look forward to the British government breaking up RBS and selling off its subsidiaries.

    It is a little sad to see a good bank destroyed by greed but they definitely deserve to be put out of business.

  303. Citizens bank really dont care about their customers. I recently have an overdraft issue with them. In one day its amazing how many overdraft fees one can have. I am saying that they should not charge overdraft fee, but there should definately be a limit to what they charge in a day. I tried calling customer service to see if they could take some of the charges off. Thats a big mistake, they get you more agravated, basically calling you incompitent for not knowing your account ballance. Bottom line they simple dont care.

  304. Kim, I don’t know if you’re still commenting on people’s situations, but I have a strange one. Here is what my account activity looks like for the past couple of days

    Debit Credit Balance
    11/02 14.20 28.34
    11/02 8.86 19.48
    11/03 3.20 22.68
    11/03 78.00 insufficient funds fee

    I don’t understand why I would get a fee like this when my account clearly has money in it. I swear to you this is what my online banking transaction history looks like exactly. What happened?? Thanks for your response.

  305. Joe, I’m not Kim, but my best guess is you had something on hold on 11/2 when the 14.20 & the 8.86 posted, causing those two to overdraw your account. Unfortunately that is Citizen’s biggest issue, customers cannot see holds on their online banking. This is 2009, and if a bank can’t have real time online banking, then it must only be so they can drop the fee bomb on customers. And now unless it’s a bank error that the bank will admit to, you’re out of luck, no more rebates on bank fees is their new non-advertised logo.

    Looks by the dates of these comments…bank fees never change, and Kim hasn’t commented in over 17 months, looks like her co-workers ratted her out and she got canned by Citizens Bank.

  306. Based on what I’ve read from a lot of these comments, the vast majority of you do not have serious grievances. You expect to be babied and pampered. You expect someone to call you and run behind you for something you should be doing in the first place, which is be responsible with your accounts. You play with fire and cry victim when you get burned. And you expect to be compensated for it. Regardless of online banking or what some customer service rep tells you, only YOU know what you spent. If you didn’t spend it and it’s fraud, then cool, take the necessary steps to keep it from reoccurring. But all this stuff about call me! Change posting order just for ME! Tell me what I spent because I don’t remember! Break the funds availability regulations for ME(they are public knowledge folks and are public domain)! This stuff is on a kindergarten level. Seriously. Like I said, if you have a serious grievance, then I commend you and you should be corrected. Mistakes are made on a bank’s end sometimes. If you’re too lazy to actually keep up with your account and expect others to do it for you, then I don’t know what to tell you, except maybe keep that cash in a mattress so that once its gone, its really gone, since keeping tabs on how much of it is left is obviously someone else’s job in your eyesight. And for the record, I am not affiliated with this bank. Just someone who had to learn the hard way. One can’t learn if they can’t own up to their mistakes, though. Side note : I will admit that the amount of the fees does seem a bit steep, but playing with fire, which is what some of you really seem to be doing, is still unnacceptable. I understand that some serious situations call for serious decisions, but it’s still a decision you made(man up!). Too many here are playing the victim when the truth is anything but.

    Look up Reg CC Compliance on Google. Public knowledge, folks. 😉 Got to be up on things no matter who you bank with. Got to read or at least skim the disclosures(skimming will allow you to at least grab something you might really need to actually read 😉

    Knowledge is power. The right knowledge at least. And what you don’t know CAN hurt you!

  307. Why do these Big Successful Banks need so much money anyways!!!! Do they not have enough for 20 mansions and a lavish life to live happily for themselves??? What about others?? I mean i’m not saying it’s not the consumers fault for going under but the accumulations of all the access overdraft fees are unreasonable and completely unnecessary. It IS wrong to get charged like 5 times the amount you went under by.
    I recently closed my savings account with citizens bank because I realize it’s completely unnecessary. My interest adds up to 0.02 cents a month.

  308. I can pick up every single penny I find on the floor for the month and still have 10 times as much interest as a savings account. It’s not worth seeing hundreds of dollar lost from not transferring money into your savings. I suggest everyone close their savings if they have one too. Keeping up with just the Checking is easier than juggling $500 between two accounts. All my accumulation of interest will NEVER add up to the money I lost from overdraft fees. All my fees total is probably around $100. My situation is not NEARLY as bad as those who lost thousands of dollars. It’s sad.

  309. All i have to say is Citizens Bank is the biggest Scam of them all. They just keep charging you overdraft fees out of the blue when you even have money in your account. I just don’t get it. Its time we the customers to stand as one and fight this because they are killing people with unnecessary overdraft fees which really is not fair.

  310. They did this same BS with me. We had three linked accounts at Citizens with a total of over $200,000. My wife transfered into the wrong account and then made several online bill payments. Total charges? $174.00 Our requests to reverse the fees were rejected by three different people.

    I closed the account and will never be doing business with them again.

  311. This is the most disgusting bank in the whole world. They charged my 170$ overdraft for a 37$ usage on my checking card. After battling with 3 customer services, they politely redirect to their “account closing” dept. I’ve been with Citizens for 11 years and my family has 5 members all of who have an account with them for over 15 years and this is the first time I ever overdrafted.

    This is quite a disgrace.

    The representative’s name was Jenna Stunkard, who calls herself a “manager” in the North Phone bank Branch. If I were a human, I would be ashamed to have this job and work for such an unethical company.

    I’m closing all my accounts today and if you have any friends, please share the same with them.

  312. This bank disgusts me. I had gone to a Citizen’s Bank ATM to grab $200 from my account. Everything had gone through and the ATM made the noise like it was counting the money, only nothing came out. So I went right inside the bank to get this matter straightened out quickly. They told me that the ATM would have to be all tallied up, which would not have been until the end of the week at which time it would show that there was $200 over. Then after that, I would have to wait 2 weeks while it was investigated where the funds whould have come from. After it was all said and done 3 weeks later. When my money was refunded to my account, I went and closed them that day. I hate Citizen’s Bank. Who knows this Kim person might have been the manager that “helped” me with my situation. She was all fat and tried to act as if she were better than someone. Knowing deep down that she is repulsed by her own being and needed to be laid. Anywho, I would advise anyone who is still dealing with this bank who “feels”, they are being wronged to end the relationship with them.

  313. I hate this bank as well. They charged me $180 worth of overdraft fees when I had money in my account. The money was deposited in a separate account that they had opened up for me without my consent and when I spoke with a representative they said they couldn’t do anything about it and suggested I take out a loan from them to pay off the fees…I’m in college, I don’t need another loan to deal with.

  314. This bank just ruined my family’s x-mas. These people hit me with “$156 insufficient fund fee” when it was not under. This is a what my account read;
    The ( ) means negatives
    Balance
    11/30/2009 DBT Purchase $2.38 $68.76
    12/01/2009 Insufficient Funds Fee $156.00 ($87.24)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $15.00 ($102.24)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $14.61 ($116.85)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $14.05 ($130.90)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $10.32 ($141.22)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $8.69 ($149.91)
    12/01/2009 DBT Purchase $4.01 ($153.92)
    Then it dates to 12/3/2009, were is 12/02/2009. We use it daily. If you add everything purchased under the insufficient fee charge it will total to $66.68, correct? Now look at 11/30/2009 before these charges. Balance $68.76 see anything wrong here?
    Balance 11/30/2009 $68.76
    Total charges for 12/01/2009 $66.68
    Difference without $156 Fee $ 2.08
    Correct me if im wrong, but i should be in the positives. Now my account is at a negative $400.40 just in time for x-mas. Can someone talk to me please.

  315. I wish I had found this site before I opened an account with Citizens Bank. I was charged $117 today for going into the negative by $1.21. And when I brought it to their attention, they tried to justify it and would do nothing to fix the situation. Single mother of three little boys that will not be very happy when they get $117 less in Christmas presents. How can they expect anyone to live with $78 extra fees for no reason!!!!

  316. Wow- I’ve completely had the same experience as the rest of you! I am going to file a complaint with the BBB and the Federal Reserve. They should not be getting any bailout money when they can charge these types of ridiculous fees!

  317. I HABE JUST HAD AN EXPERIENCE WITH CITIZENS BANK AND THEIR OVERDRAFT FEE SCAM. WHEN I OPENED MY ACCOUNT THEY FAILED TO IFORM ME THAT THEY WILL AUTHORIZE DEBIT CARD CHARGES WITHOUT AVAILABLE FUNDS IN ACCOUNT. THEY HAVE CHARGED ME 450. IN FEES. I TOLD THEM I AM FILING COMPLAINTS WITH EVERY BANKING ORGANIZATION, (IE FDIC, FEDERAL RESERVE, ETC). I ALSO EXPLAINED TO BY ALL MANS REPORT ME TO A CREDIT BUREAU I STILL WILL NOT BE ROBBED BY A BANK. I WANT TO KNOW IF THERE IS A MORE PUBLIC DOMAIN WHERE WE CAN POST COMPLAINTS ABOUT CITIZENS BANK SO MAYBE THE MEDIA CAN FIND OUT.

  318. I’ve been victimized by Citizens Bank as well. I just don’t understand how they can morally justify a $38 (or more) overdraft “fee” for an overdraft of $1. Stating that “it’s our policy” doesn’t make it right.
    THE BOTTOM LINE IS WHY CAN”T WE OPT OUT OF THEM ALLOWING AN OVERDRAFT…JUST DECLINE THE CHARGE LIKE A CREDIT CARD!!!! I’ll tell you why not…THEY WILL LOSE THIS CASH COW!!!

  319. Bottom line is this…whether you keep an accurate register or not you will eeventually get screwed because the real problem is that they manipulate te order of your transactions. You can not read the mind of the banking gods so no matter how long you have been banking with them or how fast you write your transcations in a register, your sequence is not their sequence. Transactions that should have cleared days before will remain pending until the least opportune time (large transaction posting, deposited check that appears available isn’t, overdrew you acct by .06, etc.). They hold transactions in this supposed digital real time age for no other reason tan to line their pockets. Best solution I can think of is withdraw cash and use it each pay period. Buy money orders if you need to (.80 is cheaper than a $35 fee). Sure its inconvenient, but is the cost of convenience truly worth it?

  320. How about this. I just opened an account a little over a week ago depositing a few checks and some cash. The balance for my account reads 1226.43$. I write a check for 500$ bringing the balance to 726.43$ and then deposit 200$ bringing it up to 926.43$. Here is where everything goes to hell. First I notice a Deposited Check Returned Fee of 20$. Then a Deposited Check Returned which brings my balance down to 319.43$. So instead of waiting until the money goes through, they post it like it has. Wonderful! Besides the fact that they charged me like it was my fault the check bounced. Even better, the plot gets thicker. I write a check for 243.02$ which brings my account balance to 76.41$. Oh but wait! I get a 25$ ISF fee. Bringing my balance to 51.41$ So not only do they lie about the money you actually have in your account, but they set up traps to steal money from your account before you actually spend it. This is demonstrated by the fact that I was charged an ISF fee before I have even over drafted. Thank you Citizens Bank and see you in court.

  321. One more detail. They have 100 mysterious dollars on hold for a week. This is the reason they give as to why I have been charged an ISF fee. So why I am seeing that money available, no one knows, and no one wants to refund me.

  322. PEOPLE READ THIS PLEASE!!!!!
    I am complaint #282
    Just got word of a class action lawsuit in progress against all this. I don’t work for this firm or have not been asked to do anything for this firm. Just got off the phone a little while ago with the firm and instructed them to this site. However, there are no emails on most of the comments.
    Please forward your email address to me at gdellner@yahoo.com and I will forward to them. I’ll let them contact you because it is not up to me to advertise their firm. I don’t want to take that upon myself.
    It’s our first chance to fight back!!!!
    Well Citizens Bank, you ought like reading this comment!!
    You stoled my money a number of times and I will do everything I can to make sure you compensate the people you have ripped off!!!!!!!
    I struggled all summer long to pay my own bills as you kept sucking my account dry. Well now it our turn!!!!!!!!!!!’

    Again, my email: gdellner@yahoo.com
    just put a notation for; Citizens Bank

  323. This bitch Kim has to find another job. 😀 RBS is the worst scammers ever and i am sure lots of us, customers, can just leave their bank and help this kind of bitches like Kim lose their job and be on unemployment and feel the way all of us feel right now.

  324. Kasey, I’m new to this blog, and spent some time reading through it. I just had a question. I am an antique dealer which is not the best business to be in during economic crunch. I get a call at 6am from my biggest client, a dealer in NY. He wants me to go to an auction and bid for him on an item for a potential commission. I keep exact records and sadly have $15 in my bank account. I only need $10 in gas to go round trip. It is too early to go to my bank for cash and bank machines dispense $20 at the minimum. If I get the gas I get pre-authorized for $75, and I get boned by Citizens for $39. How do my ledger and math skills help me here? Shouldn’t I be able to buy the gas I need when I know I have the money.

  325. I completely agree with the statement above… We’ve been hit with the same excessive charges from Citizen’s. One thing that has been giving me a little bit of pleasure and provided some satisfaction is that I’ve committed to calling customer services and having them on the call for at least 20mins each time they hit me with a charge….. I want this company to have a least some cost associated with the charges that they are hitting me with… If we can get enough people calling customer service (It must be over 20 Mins) they may reevaluate the charges… although more than likely in the wrong direction…

  326. Maybe its because I’m more of a saver then a spender but I actually like Citizens. I used to have a credit union and they used to charge me two bucks every time I used my debt card so I always had to run my card was credit (i didn’t learn that in till after they charged me over 50 bucks worth a of fees I never knew about). But anyway, I like the greensense program most of all =]

  327. I’ve had enough of their nonsense too. Should have read the fine print of $39 overdraft fee and then another $35 if not covered after 7 and 11 days. 3 transactions my fault cost me an additional $187 in bank fees. Never again closing my accounts as soon as I can get direct deposits and automatic debits turned over. Being a loyal customer for over 21 years means nothing to them and the thousands of dollars they have made off my savings and then turned around and lent out for a minimum of 5% more than what they pay in interest. I will go with a local bank or my credit union and spread the word to family and friends not to do business there.

  328. I have been a customer of Citizen’s Bank for well over 15 years. This is outrages how they can get away charging these over draft charges. I went to a restaurant and made a purchase (Originally I had a positive balance in my checking acount of $32.88. When the purchase was made the clerk made an error the amount was 19.28 so she voided that amount. When she rung it up the second time it came to $16.54. Now she gave me the voided receipt and the new receipt. Now i did not worry about overdrafting my account because when you deduct the $16.54 I still had a positive balance left of $16.34. When i checked my account
    the bank had charged me an overdraft fee of 39.00 . .they TOLD me i was responsible for the overdraft fee Now they told me that they put the 19.28 on hold plus the purchase of 16.54 and which they deducted a total of $35.82 which meant i was overdrawn by $2.94 and ofcourse they charged me
    $39.00. I told them why should my account be charged $39.00. I had voided that first purchase of 19.28. Why would NOT they deduct this amount from my balance when it should of been voided. THIS IS HIGHWAY ROBERRY

  329. Washington DC attorney has filed a class action suit against Citizens Bank in January 2010. Just google Citizens Bank Class Action Suit and jump on board.

    I was told that “Good Luck” writing a letter and no need to speak to manager Citizens bank will not work with you.

  330. I hate citizens
    ..I left Soverign bank to join citizens,i went in opened the acc they told me i had overdraft protection .i overdrafted my account a few weeks later for a total of 22 dollars ,separate small amounts and got charged over 300 dollars in late fees ,i rang to sort it out thinking it was just a mistake,they told me i did not have it .it took 3 months of me fighting with them to get my money back ,,i was told i can have half it back or nothing…

    stay away from this bank they suck …..

  331. I agree with all the comments Ive read on this posting site. I joined Citizens bank about a year ago and have had issues with overdraft fees since day one! The biggest frustration for me is the way they choose to post POS purchases and checks.. for example: I start with a balance of $300.. make 5 POS purchases that total $100, then write a check for $225, Now this total is obviously over my $300 balance but instead of processsing the 5 POS purchases they cash the highest amount first,that being the $225 check – they tell me it is bank policy to process highest amount items first regardless of which was done first, which results in 5 overdraft fees (@ $39. each this totals $195.00!!) I have tried to explain this to the customer service dept and they are by far the most insensitive people Ive ever dealt with. Im sure they’re used to hearing it and probably just tune it out at this point.
    This bank is the worst!!!

  332. I have a question ,the bank teller at Citizens got an attitude like I’m dum or something while trying to explain 117.00 in overdraft fees to me.maybe someone here can tell me where did I go wrong.Ok here it goes.My husband had 15.00 available balance in his account.There were some POS purchases that were on hold.The money was already on hold for those items and not available to him. My husband used his card by mistake instead of mine to take 20 out of atm.Ok I know 39 overdraft fee for that mistake(he only had 15 available balance),so how come when the POS posted to the account, he was charged 39 3 times overdraft fee when the money was already on hold for those items?I’m not understanding this. I feel we were scammed but I’m not believing it is so easy for them to do that.Its not like he used his card 3 times after the first overdraft,the money was put aside for the POS(which only got posted when he was overdrawn)so how can they charge those fees?

  333. Hi I too have been charged outrageous overdraft fees by citizens more than once, the most recent being today, yesterday I checked my account on the phone and online my account said 290.95 was available at 11:30am, so i ordred my son delivery totaling 21.38, and i made a coffee purchase for 1.40 i went online at 9:30 pm and my acct.balance showed 268.17, today i wake up go the bank and i dewposit my paycheck for 798.26 i get to work and look online at my account,( which YES I DO DAILY NOW DUE TO THE LAST BIG ERROR CITIZENS MADE WITH MY ACCT. TO COME LATER IN THIS POST.) when i checked online this time right after i made my deposit my acct. said negative 7.49, so i immediatly called cutomer service and Eric tells me that the delivery i ordered the night before for 21.38 and the 1.40 overdrew my acct., and i asked how that was possible seeing how my acct. te night before said I had 268.17 and I only spent 22.78, and I hadnt used my card for 2 days prior and he said he didnt understand it either, but if I took the 7.49 over before 11am then i wouldnt be charged the overdraft fees so i locked the place up where i work and ran down the street to citizens and deposited 20.00 at 10:38 AM, I just checked my acct. again at 1:45 and my acct is now overdrawn 63.49, so I call customer service again and I speak with Jill who very nicely apolagizes and says she will put me through to a supervisor to try and get those fees taken care of since i put the money in before they hit me with the fees, Well, Keith the supervisor was very rude and said that Eric should have not told me that and he wasnt removing them it was my error not citizens and i explained to him about what the internet banking said and he said well there is nothing I can do for you,so i proceeded to tell him I called the pizza places corporate store where i ordered the delivery from and they told me they werent even paid yet so how could citizens charge me a fee, then Keith tells me the rep earlier misinformed me because the fees were for 2 totally diff. transactions made 3 days prior and i explained to him that wasnt possible because i debited them transactions and they showed posted the next day he said I was wrong and I know I wasnt because I check my acct. everyday, so im guessing they changed the date on my transactions, but it will be the last hard earned dollar citizens gets from me fradulently, and I told keith if the fees werent removed I was closing both of my accounts with citizens and he said that was fine just to go to the branch where i opened my acct. so citizens as of Monday will have lost another customer of 9 years, I will be banking with my local credit union.

    Now as for the other mistake they made, about 6 months ago I deposited 2500.00 cash into the citizens bank ATM, and two days later I had overdraft fees for 570.00 for 1700.00 dollars in purchases and and i had innsufficiant fees from totaling 300.00 from 9 of those transactions rom the actual places i purchased from, i called citizens and they claimed they had no such deposit, so i went into the branch and the teller i talked too who takes care of the atm says she remembered the atm deposit because of the amount it was so i disputed it and after a week they found it and only reversed some of the fees and none of the fees i recieved from the merchants, yea i know i shouild have left then, but they wont get me again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as far as having to post highest amount first regardless of order coming in i consider that fraud, so i will be filing a complaint with the FDIC!!!!!!!!! STAY AWAY FROM CITIZENS, GO WITH YOUR LOCAL CREDIT UNION………THE ONLY REASON I WENT WITH CITIZENS IS BECAUSE THEY ARE OPEN ON SAT. AND SUNDAYS TOO BUT ITS NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  334. The same thing happened to my son. He over drafted by $4. the way the re organize the order of the purchases over the weekend it ended up being over $200 in overdraft fees.They apply the largest purchases first creating more overdraft fees. we met with the manager who explained how it is our fault. We made a deposit to even up the account and then closed it.

  335. Ditto comment of no 346. We are squaring up and moving on as far away from Citizens as possible. They have no idea how much money they are loosing from us in the long-run. their pompous attitude and me being on hold for 90 minutes to talk to their “elevated supervisor” is such a scam and complete waste of time. This is a horrible bank for young people. PLEASE STAY AWAY from CITIZENS. I would be willing to fight Citizens as a group if anyone is interested. As a single person they DO NOT CARE but as a united group it might raise their attention.

  336. Citizens really screwed me over, with overdraft fees, and the worst is it wasn’t even my fault. I had 14 dollars in my account (I’m a college student and its the end of the semester, so my funds are quite limited) I bought a soda at a burger place for 1.50, and then spent 10 dollars at a convience store.I received a check for 50 dollars but that in my account and was thrilled to have enough money to get me through the semester. I made three small purchases after the 50 dollar check had cleared. However, it turns out the burger place charged me seven dollars, overdrafting my account. Even though, the place refunded my seven dollars and admitted their error, citizens would not reverse the charges. I am now 150 dollars over drawn and have no money to cover the charges, until I start my summer job in two weeks

  337. Citizens Bank has robbed me of over $200.00 in the past several weeks all due to Overdraft fees. The exact specifics are similar to the posts above. My overdraft protection account has been depleted by these ridiculous fees ($37.00 a pop). The tellers at my local branch have advised me that they can file a form but can no longer help me reverse charges directly. The next time these banks have the stones to approach Congress and ask for a a bailout, we should deny them and furthermore charge them for being over drawn. May they rot in the bowels of hell!!!! My hard earned money is safer in my mattress.

  338. I, too am a victim of the Hi to Low scam. I made multiple DEBIT purchases on a Friday(early afternoon). On Saturday, I made an auto payment using the card. This payment would reach my bank on Monday morning(which it did). On Sunday however, I had use my debit to fill an emergency prescription (20.00 co-pay). OK so now here comes the scam……My auto payment was processed by the bank BEFORE the debit card purchases, which resulted in multiple debit purchases overdrawing my account. Did I expect an insufficient funds fee…yes I did after using the card on Sunday for debit pay of my prescription, I knew that I would be approximately 4.00 overdrawn. What I did not expect was the credit payment to be processed before the debit purchases(which were all 25.00 or less). So instead of one insufficent funds fee I received FOUR. This is truly a scam and I wish I would have saved the timed receipts from my purchases so I could prove the bank wrong. Instead I am closing my account and going to a Credit union.
    Kim, I am very glad that you like your job enough to defend this tactic however as more and more people are scammed…and the bank looses customers, eventually downsizing will occur and I hope for your sake that the bank you are so loyal to is just as loyal to you!

  339. http://www.citizensbank.com/services/optinflyer.aspx

    STANDARD OVERDRAFT PRACTICES ARE CHANGING
    What are Standard Overdraft Practices?

    With our Standard Overdraft Practices, Citizens Bank may, at our discretion, authorize and pay ATM and everyday debit card transactions as well as other transactions even when you do not have adequate funds available in your account.

    These practices are separate from our Overdraft Line of Credit or Savings Overdraft Protection plan or other products that you may add to your account. There are no changes to those plans.
    What the new federal regulation means for you.

    Citizens Bank will no longer be able to apply our Standard Overdraft Practices to your ATM and everyday debit card transactions unless you provide your consent. You must let us know if you would like the Standard Overdraft Practices to continue to apply the way they do today by “opting in”.
    How can I benefit by opting in?

    We may, at our discretion, cover your ATM and everyday debit card transactions when you don’t have funds readily available.
    We may likewise provide access to funds in advance of a deposit becoming available later the same business day.
    Standard Overdraft Practices can work alone or as a backup if you exhaust the funds available through your overdraft protection plan.

    Is there a fee?

    Yes, standard overdraft transaction fees* apply each time we pay transactions on your behalf that overdraw your account.
    You may avoid the fee if you temporarily overdraw your account but then a sufficient deposit becomes available that same day.
    There is no monthly or annual service charge to have Standard Overdraft Practices applied to your account.
    When does this change go into effect?

    Effective July 1, 2010 new account customers will make the Standard Overdraft Practices opt in preference when opening their new account.
    Existing customers will have until August 15, 2010 to opt in to Standard Overdraft Practices in order to avoid any interruption in their services. It’s important to understand that you need to take action if you want to authorize Citizens Bank to allow you to overdraw your account at the ATM or when making an everyday debit card transaction.

    “If you do not want to be able to overdraw your account you can simply do nothing and thereby choose not to opt in. Effective August 15, if you use your debit card for everyday purchases (for example, buying groceries) or ATM transactions, but do not have sufficient funds in your account, your transaction will be denied even if you plan to make a deposit later that business day.” [why are they advocating over drafting?]

    ….
    This is what should of been happening to begin with (transaction denied if you don’t have the cash).


    http://www.citizensbank.com/moneyhelp/budgeting/what-you-should-know-about-overdrafts.aspx
    “How and when are transactions deducted from my account?

    At Citizens Bank, we do not process your transactions in the order that you make them or when we receive them. Rather, we post transactions from high-to-low, meaning that at the close of each day, we deduct your highest-dollar transactions first, before deducting your smaller dollar transactions. With this “posting order”, you are at a lower risk of having an important item returned, such as a mortgage, rent or car loan payment. However, these larger items will cause your account balance to be used up faster, and, if it falls to zero, you will incur overdrafts or returned items and related fees. As a result, overdraft fees may be incurred more frequently than if we had deducted the transactions in a different order. Remember though, if the available balance in your account does not fall below zero this “posting order” does not matter.”


    “If a merchant obtains an authorization for your debit card, but then your purchase is paid for by other means, the merchant must submit a reversing transaction to remove the debit card authorization. If they do not do this, the available balance will be reduced until the hold expires, normally two business days.

    Example: Jane has $250 in her account and uses her debit card to pay $175 for theater tickets. She decides, after the card is swiped, to pay by cash but the theater operator does not reverse her debit card authorization. Because they did not reverse the transaction Jane’s available balance is reduced by $175. That night, a $200 check that she had previously written posts to her account. As a result the account is overdrawn and a fee is charged.”

    well, reading does clear it all up. education is a beautiful thing, been there, done that with the overdrafts (I mean, bank fraud, which is what an overdraft is). It’s bad business on both parties fault (those knowingly spending money that they don’t have, and the bank for allowing those customers to spend the money instead of giving immediate short term loans (at a reasonable interest rate), akin to a cash service).

    Who’s really at fault for the overdrafts that shouldn’t be charged are the merchants and the bank. The bank for allowing the merchant to ‘hold’ the money, and the merchant for ‘holding’ the monies (which is just another way the banks make daily interest on your cash).

    Remember, for every ‘hold’ on your account, the bank gets just that much more in their #’s to increase their profits from interest and in the stock markets (similar to how insurance companies work).

    What should we do? It’s a felony to ‘spark a bank run’. So I vote we stop depending on this privately owned paper (cash), and go back to a simpler bartering system (which the government does not like et all, as it’s very hard to tax a bartered item, or to assess the ‘value’ of a chicken traded for a duck)

    Burn them down, and start over.

  340. I work for Citizens Bank and they treat their employees worse than their customers. Not to mention that the other employees at my branch are like working with two year olds. And the branch manager is spineless. She’s so afraid of making someone mad that she lets the two year olds do what they want and treat their co-workers so badly that I for one will be soon putting in my notice. And as far as fees, the only customers they care about are the doctors, lawyers, etc. They always get their fees rebated even when its their own fault. The more you have the more you get with this crappy bank.

  341. dont let citizens bank fool you. 3 times I have gone into the office to reset My optout to prevent allowing my ATM card to issue funds when I have insufficent funds in my account. ALL 3 time sthe card is reset and the finds are issued. I have hundreds of dollars of fees charged. Even when I colosed the acocunt a late check came and the account was NEVER colsed. Still yet an other $75 in fees. Fortunatlye I have a Copy of my ATM rejections from when the opt out was working. I plan to present to Atorney General.

    MY advice EVEYone go to small calims court with a copy of Your statemnetn and file a case againse citizens Bank.

  342. Several months ago I visited my daughter in the hospital and withdrew money from an ATM that charged NO fee. I would not have withdrawn anything were it not for that fact since I was low on funds. The receipt I received showed a balance of 1.97. Subsequently, upon checking my balance at citizens I was surprised to find they had forced me into overdraft by withdrawing a 2 dollar ATM fee. This is another of their machanisms to scam people out of their money by forcing them into overdraft. They did this before in the previous year by charging me 30 dollars for overdraft protection and forcing me into a negative balance; for which they charged me an overdraft fee. These people make money the minute you deposit money in their bank and there is no reason they need to charge extra fees – other than pure greed and malicious intent. These people are scumbags and thieves. When they get in financial trouble, they get a bail out to replace money they stole from us. When we get in trouble we get nothing but hot air.

  343. overdraft fees are murder.
    9 dollars on a free netflix trial that was an accident on netflixs behalf turned into a 75 dollar fee that i was not notified of in my online banking statement…which turned into a total of 150 dollars in fees.

  344. EVERYONE, STARTING AUGUST 21ST I THINK, ITS BEEN SIGNED INTO LAW THAT YOUR DEBIT/CREDIT CARD SHOULD DECLINE WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THE FUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT. PLEASE, CALL YOUR BANK AND MAKE SURE YOU SIGN UP FOR THIS. YOU ARE BETTER OFF GETTING EMBARRASSED BY A DECLINED CARD THAN GETTING SCREWED $37 FOR A $10 PURCHASED OVERDRAWN. THEY WONT DISCLOSE THIS TO YOU BECAUSE THEY MAKE SERIOUS MONEY FROM OVERDRAFT FEES BUT CALL YOUR BANK AND ASK FOR OVERDRAFT PROTECTION. (ITS NOT REALLY A PROTECTION, ITS JUST LIKE A CONDOM WITH HOLES IN THEM)

  345. CITIZENS should be called “SHIT”IZENS because they treat their customers like shit. They make all their money by screwing over those who are trusting and just trying to make an honest living. Banks in the past have never been able to charge such outrageous fee’s (40 dollars and then 7 dollars every day they don’t receive a paym
    ent) for taking out 2 dollars more than you currently have. 2 dollars over withdrawn here, 10 dollars there, can quickly become over 200 dollars in fee’s, and if you can’t immediately pay them off, they literally add more daily, until your so far in dept that all your money is going directly into the banks pocket. I mean they are supposed to be a bank for citizens, not a manipulative company that scams people into believing they are protected from overdrafts, only to have to find out later that the protection promised runs out without even a courtesy call or letter from the bank who says they “treat you like a neighbor”. A couple days worth of small purchases quickly becomes a couple months worth of piling dept. In this difficult economy, these businesses should be doing everything they can to help people stay out of bankruptcy. What is so hard about stopping authorization of an overdrawn card, or giving even a computerized phone-call suggesting that the customer review their account or call their “friendly neighborhood Citizen’s bank” to prevent the continuance of “surprise” fee’s or to give them a heads up about how to most efficiently regain control of their account.

  346. NEVER NEVER AGAIN Citizens bank is the worst !!! my wife and I have been customers for 9 years all good untill now We just got wacked for 900.00 in over draft protection fees..We have sense closed our savings acct..Made sure we took it out in cash so they could actually watch a large stack of money leave their bank..Also closed our security box..As we can no longer trust them…We will be closing our checking acct just as soon as we can get set up with a SMALL LOCAL BANK! free advice…CITIZENS BANK JUST STAY AWAY!!

  347. ive had the same thing happen to me recently and its happened to me before there was a hold on my account that hap put my account under and ithought i still had access to my funds so using the cars and i used it aproximately 9 times and ive racked up with all the charges and its been under for fifteen days so all the interest they add every 3 day $626 last timme this happened to me i sold my car to make up for the defecit and im only 18 i made a com[plaint through the bank and they refunded the initial hold with was 38 dollars total but they will not refund all the overdraft fee caused from the unauthorized hold worst part is i got no jobto pay any of it back

  348. I am going through the same thing right now with Citizens Bank. They keep charging me everyday. So no matter how much i deposit, they take it. They totally SUCK. I leaving them as soon as this is over.

  349. citizens bank has scammed me and stolen my money countless times. this weekend was the last straw. im closing out my account this week and going to the credit union across the street.

  350. SCAM ARTISTS!

    $160 in OD fees on Friday plus the $40 on my purchase. By Sunday the charges sky rocketed to $269. They continue to add $69 dollars a day in imaginary fees; these people are delusional. Dont even bother trying to call for service, the people are scarier than the fees.
    I’ve heard other banks like Bank of America dont give their customers nearly as much hassle when it comes to fees. I feel like this account was targeted towards college kids like myself in order to take the little I try to put in my account. I’m going to start banking far from Citizens Bank.

  351. Citizens bank is VERY Aggressive with their over draft system. They look for every possible opportunity to trigger overdraft on checking accounts and also charge
    the maximum $37 for EACH overdraft. The new law requiring banks to allow customers to OPT out of their overdraft machine, was written with banks like Citizens in mind. They manipulate transactions so even when you have enough to cover nine out of the last ten transactions, their manipulation insures all ten will overdraft.

  352. “Not Your Typical Bank”, you can say that again. Twenty year customer, five accounts and a small business account. Suddenly in last six months, one account is being charged “Maintenance Fee”, but not the others. Why? “We just caught up to that one and we’ll get to the others”, says customer service. Is that a threat?? Many calls to customer service to straighten out. Never did I have an attitude. The first line defense gave advice that only caused more fees. Get through to the “manager”, only to be talked down to and told the exact opposite that the front line people and the branch persons told me. Certainly I wasn’t important enough to provide adequate service to. I wasn’t looking for extras and I wasn’t complaining. Just looking to to be treated fair and consistent across the board. I’ll take my measly pittance somewhere else as Citizen’s has shown me that I’m no longer welcome. Too bad, I tried my best to stay, but the arbitrary fees, unhelpful service and the prospect of a relationship with a “neighborhood” bank with friendly, helpful, and TRUSTWORTHY, service pushed me right out the door. Thanks for nuthin’ Citizens.

  353. I hate Citizensbank so much!!!!!! I just switched over from Bank of America about 5 months ago and wow what a bunch of thieving idiots! I WISH I HAD NEVER LEFT BANK OF AMERICA AND I THOUGHT THEY WERE BAD. Long story short I overdrew my account on my mistake so then I make a deposit on friday to cover the balance. I look at my balance on sunday and see that it is still overdrawn and am curious. I call them this morning and ask why I was charged another $6.99 fee today when I made a depsoit on friday to cover the overdrawn balance. They tell me that I made a check deposit and that it hasn’t cleared yet and will not be available till tuesday and that I will get another $6.99 charge on tuesday morning. They tell me that I should of deposited cash. The best part of the story is that the CHECK WAS A CITIZENSBANK CHECK OUT OF THE SAME BRANCH, SAME STATE! They will not refund my $13.98 in charges and will lose my business for that amount and they didn’t even care. PRICELESS!

  354. sooo aggrevated by this bank. I thought they were thinking about passing a law saying they can only charge you an overdraft fee of the amount you ovrdrafted- Overdraft by 1.50- they charge you only 1.50. That is more appropriate i think than what they are doing now. I currently have a charge waiting to be processed still but yet my account is -55.00 because they are taking that charge out first before my direct deposit. its crazy and if that chick “kim” replies as she did above, i’d like to see her in a dark alley. YOUR FEES YOU CHARGE ARE CRIMINAL. charge me a fee for spending more than I have, i get that- but 38$?!?!?!! especially if its only $1 you are off by. give me a break. Its crazy.

  355. I too have had a bad experience with Citizens Bank. I was overdrafted over atm withdrawls. There was some kind of mixup at the bank and I was not the only one experiencing problems in my area with their atm balances. I had make 2 withdrals of 20 dollars.. checking my end balance every time. I made two more 20 dollar withdrawls and should have had 5 dollars and some change. When I got the bill saying i was over drawn by 40 or 50 dollars I was angry and called up the bank to see what was going on with my money. I brought in my recent atm slips.. with the TIME AND DATE AND END BALANCE of my account. Somewhere between my four transactions 30 dollars was missing from my account.. which made my last transactions overdrawn. This was no way possible as I had the slips.. with times.. and dates.. and how much was left in the account .. and the statements from the bank itself… and they still refused to fix the situation.. closed my account.. and still can not open another without paying the late fee. What a rip off.

  356. I was scammed also. Overdrew by 42 centsone night at 11:00 then the next day I deposited an 8,000+ check plus60 $ cash tocover the overdraft 12 hrs later.Never once did it show over on line banking. After a 37$ fee I accept that I messed up. The check I deposited showed on hold online for 2 days then showed available funds on day 3 so I used the debit card twice thinking it was ok and then hit me with 2 more fees of 37$ for a total of $111.00. THis is definately devious,deceitful and immoral practice by already wealthy greedy execs although somehow legal.I”m going to the cridit union down the street.

  357. Citizen’s Bank has also been completely unreliable with me. Their workers, even their managers, are incompetent. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to send a wire to England.

    I paid the amount of money in pounds, and the money was immediately withdrawn from my account. Everything was fine until a week later when I received two letters in the mail. One said I was paying a bank in England the amount of money I sent out, and another said that the bank in England wired the money back to me because of an incorrect IBAN number.

    Because of the changing international exchange rates, I lost a few hundred dollars. Believing there must be some mistake, I called my branch of Citizen’s Bank, which then directed me to their wiring company. The woman immediately pointed out that whoever had done the wiring (the banker) had added “IBAN” to the beginning of the IBAN number, making it wrong.

    I called the banker, who claimed that it was my fault because I had signed the paper, letting him send the wire. I was unaware, at that time, that “IBAN” had been added in front of the correct IBAN number. I thought it was just the place where they were putting the IBAN number, and the rest had been typed correctly.

    The banker said that I had presented him the IBAN number like that, which was a complete lie. I had typed out “IBAN :” (with a colon before the number, nonetheless!) so that I would know where to point when they asked me for the number. Also, my question to you: shouldn’t a person who banks for a job KNOW the correct format for sending a wire? Why would I tell you the correct format? That’s like a doctor needing to ask you which scalpel to use when you ask for a surgery!

    The banker (who turned out to be the manager of that branch) was extremely rude and began to string me along. It was not until I called the regional manager, who was also rude to me, that I had things sorted out. Only after I hassled them twice a day for a week did they grudgingly agree to give me back the $10 outgoing wiring fee, $13 incoming wiring fee, and the several hundreds of dollars of mine they lost due to their incompetence.

    Good riddance, Citizen’s. I’m going to get my money tomorrow and close my account with you!

  358. Same crazy stuff happened to me… Had plenty of money in my account, went grocery shopping, picked up coffees, swung by Mcdonalds, etc… All of these things I had money for. Later that day my account went in the red for an ATM withdrawal. Instead of just being charged the overdraft fee for the ONE overdraft, I was charged about 7 times, totalling up to like 270.00 dollars!!! crazy huh?

  359. I forgave them TWICE when they paid my mortgage as $18,000 instead of $1,800 and bounced a lot of payments. However, being charged $10 to use less than $2.00 on an overdraft protection account withdrawal (plus MUCH MORE in other fees) is a bad business practice for a good, long standing, responsible and loyal customer. I am gone as soon as I can set up my new account. Ridiculous!

  360. My father in law had 93 dollars in his account. He had three charges that day on his account. Two ten dollar charges and then $100.00. The practice of Citizens bank is to take the largest amount first, then down to the lowest. Even though the ten dollar charges were first. This way they were able to charge 3 penalties of $39.00
    each, instead of one. My father-in-law is 74, and all his income is automatically deposited each month to the total of $1,700. This has been the same for 10 years. He was six days away from is next automatic deposit when the overdraft happened. After three days from when he bounced the three amounts citizens started to charge him $6.99 per day., until his automatic check came in. This error on his part for having citizens for a bank cost him, $138 dollars. I have an account there, my son has one and my father-in-law. I am closing all our accounts as well as anyone else I can find who has been screwed by Citizens.

  361. I started going there because the company I work for uses Citizens Bank for their Payroll; that is all their paychecks are issued by Citizens Bank. Every two weeks (I get paid bi-weekly) I’d go in there and pay the $7 to cash my check. I’d walk out, cash in hand, every time.

    Then I made the mistake of getting an account there. I deposited my paycheck in full and figured “Hey, I’ll just use the bank card”, right? WRONG! For some reason, I have to wait until next week for paychecks to clear, even if it’s from their bank in the first place??!! What a bunch of crooks!

    I’d understand if, you know, I was told about this at some point before the fact… but no! Not a darn thing on paper said anything about this. Nor did the teller warn me when I handed over that stupid piece of paper I wish I still had in my hand.

    But get this: If I’d have just asked for cash instead of a deposit, I would have had cash in hand. And no, it has nothing to do with whether I have money in my account or not.

    Apparently everyone who banks at Citizens gets paid sometime around Monday-Wednesday instead of Friday. Unless they ask for cash…

    I don’t know whether to laugh or drive my car though the building. Oh that’s right, my car RAN OUT OF GAS because I wanted to be “responsible” and use a bank account instead of straight-up cash for once.

  362. Im still pissed off at them, as far as im concerned they stole $900.00 from us in outrageous overdraft fees. I posted here 8 months ago (post# 358) I have changed banks. Citizens still ripping folks off!! And still sucking. Everyone who posts, please leave the Citizen bank location you were screwed at..Mine was Main St in Nashua NH…. STAY AWAY!! I still want my money back they stole.. How the hell can they still be in business? Jerk offs.

  363. It absolutely amazes me sometimes how some people can be.

    First off, I have citizens bank, I have only used them for about a year, and prior to that I had a united bank account, which I have had for about 8 years, and still have.

    I have not had any problems with overdraft, late fees, etc, not because I meticulously write down every penny that I spend, but because I pay ENOUGH attention that I don’t overdraft.

    One thing that keeps amazing me is seeing everyone here point out one after another about their largest to smallest charging policy.

    You all complain that this is wrong, and while maybe it is, why don’t you think about what you would do as a business, or even just as a consumer.

    If you have three coupons for 25%, 75%, and 10% off, and they cannot be combined as a whole, but can be applied one after another, on a 100 dollar purchase, would you take 10% off of 100, then 25% off of 90, and then 75% off of 67.50, or would you take 75% off of 100, then 25% off of 25, then 10% off of 18.75?

    I’m pretty sure that every single person here will do everything in their power to earn, or save as much money as they possibly can.

    This would seem to me to be even more critical as a business, so I personally would arrange things the same way if I were able.

    Then we have everyone complaining about being penalized on a free account, therefore making it no longer free.

    So are you telling me first of all, that you should be able to take money from someone without having any penalties, because by all means if thats true, then point me to the nearest 0% interest lender so i can get a loan to buy myself a new car.

    Let’s see where should I go next.
    Holds on checks perhaps?

    I set up my first bank account(united) When I was about 13 years old, back then I only deposited cash, and only withdrew cash, no card, nothing, so obviously there couldn’t be an issue there. I started getting checks for various jobs I worked at over the years when I was around 17, and every time I got a check from somewhere new, or for something different, i went down to the bank, deposited the check, and ASKED if there would be a hold on the check, and if there was how long it would be. Now keep in mind I’m no prodigy, did terrible in school as I’m assuming most of you here did as well, raised by lower/middle class parents, both of which have no high level of knowledge with banking or anything, and yet at 17 years old I was apparently more responsible and competent than the typical mid 20’s person who seems to be posting on this board. That’s truly sad, and gives me alot of worry about where this world or hopefully only country is going.

    Let’s move to some more specific things(If anyone is still bothering to read that is)

    You charged 20 dollars with your atm card, you had 10 dollars in your bank account, and then went and deposited 50 dollars into your bank later that day, the next day there is a transaction for 20 dollars, with a late penalty attached to it because of the order of events.

    You feel this is unfair.

    But if you ask me, it kind of looks like you decided the bank should loan you money for free.

    And this is the same as “I’m strapped for cash, and I have a paycheck tomorrow, so I’ll just spend 20 for gas even though I don’t have it yet”
    ^That is pretty cut and clear spending money you don’t have, that you are borrowing from the bank.
    I have never seen any bank contract, or advertisement that says “You can borrow all you want from us for free, and if you don’t have enough money to cover your purchases, it’s okay, we’re here to play mum and dad since you can’t seem to grow up”

    Maybe you can go and borrow twenty bucks from your big sister and pay her back tomorrow, but when you are dealing with a business, you really are a fool for expecting this.

    Do you go into a supermarket, buy yourself a bundle of groceries, and say “Oh, I’ll stop by tomorrow and pay you back if that’s all good and well”

    No, because you know they are a business, and it is ridiculous to expect them to allow that.

    At this point I know I’m ranting, everything is out of order, and most of you will probably just be replying with “Oh you must just be lucky because I got completely f*****d by the bank when I spent more money than i had because I was at work, or school, and wasn’t paying attention”

    When I first came across this little gem of a blag(several hours of amazement and laughing earlier)
    I was thinking “Wow, it’s amazing how much people bitched about their own incompetence just a few years ago”
    And then I scrolled down to a year ago, and here I now see even just a few weeks ago people are still as clueless and incompetent as ever.

    For example we have Steve here post #358

    I personally enjoy the fact that you are complaining as vaguely as possible to get as much anger out, putting as much blame as you can on everyone else, and probably hoping for as much sympathy as you can get.

    This is pathetic:

    NEVER NEVER AGAIN Citizens bank is the worst !!! my wife and I have been customers for 9 years all good untill now We just got wacked for 900.00 in over draft protection fees..We have sense closed our savings acct..Made sure we took it out in cash so they could actually watch a large stack of money leave their bank..Also closed our security box..As we can no longer trust them…We will be closing our checking acct just as soon as we can get set up with a SMALL LOCAL BANK! free advice…CITIZENS BANK JUST STAY AWAY!!

    So you got 900 in overdraft fees, for what?

    I will assume, just going out on a limb here, that you overdrafted. And then I will also assume that you didn’t pay off your overdraft fees right away.

    Am I right so far?

    Then I will assume that you decided that it isn’t your fault that you spend fifty dollars more than you had, or fifty cents, or fifty thousand dollars, really doesn’t matter, you overdrafted x amount of dollars and cents, and you therefore broke the terms of your agreement, and had a contract in place with set rules in regards to amending that breach of the agreement.

    So here’s what you’re going to do now.

    You will complain to high heavens about citizens bank.

    You will switch to another bank, a bank that most likely has almost the same practices.

    But you probably won’t have any problems there, why you ask?

    Because you messed up big. You lost a ton of money due to your own incompetence, so hopefully you will(as human nature would cause)be significantly more careful, so as to not let the same mistake happen again.

    You could have exactly the same luck at citizens if you stayed, or you can live in your fantasy world where it was entirely their fault that you made the mistake, and that no other place in the world would do the same.

    But there really is no reasoning with you, nor is there reasoning with the hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people just like you.

    It’s kind of sad honestly, that we live in a world today where you can’t have good faith and nice practices from every bank you go to.

    But it’s even more sad that there are hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people who are not so incompetent that they make mistakes, but so incompetent that they will make mistakes, refuse to accept that they are their own mistakes, put blame on everyone else, and try to go to as many extremes as possible to slander businesses, and people, to get money they do not deserve back, for mistakes that they willingly made due to their own negligence.

    I really hope someday people might be the slightest bit more competent than half of you, but unfortunately many of you will indeed produce children, who will unfortunately be raised by you, so it will be an endless cycle.

  364. In response to #376 by “Amazing”….I too read some of the posts here. Maybe some were incompetent, maybe not. But, when I checked my own account online on 5/18/2011, my account was in the clear for over $200. And the ONLY payment made from it that day was an automatic payment of $83.21, which should have left a POSITIVE balance roughly over $100. On 5/19/2011, my check from work is deposited, so, that should have still kept me in the positive. Right? Wrong! All of the sudden, I’m charged $36 in overdraft fees 3 times for a total of $108!!! Explain why. Please. I’m really interested in hearing this. And please explain why Citizens doesn’t want to take responsibility for this error and refund those fees.

  365. Same thing happened to me. They charged me overdraft fees on their overdraft fees. I filed a complaint with the president, Cathy Schmidt @ Citizens (left 3 calls never got a response), faxed her backup 3 times, (never got a response). I have contacted the newspapers, the tv channel, BBB, and banking commissioner of NH. They are going to love the publicity.
    Anyone in for a class action law suit?

  366. I understand overdrafts. I understand I do not have a right to the bank’s money for free. But riddle me this. Why is it that Citizens “projects” a certain profit from overdrafts and fees that cannot be pre-calculated?

    Here’s how: They re-arrange the order of transactions to their advantage. That is wrong!!! They should be posting transactions in the order they occur and not in any other order. I believe they call this “fee generation.”

    What they say about being “a good citizen” is pure bunk. They don’t expect to make a fair profit with good services. They want to take as much of your money as they can possibly get a hold of. They are crooks. But then, most banks these days probably are too.

    Friends, all I can say is this: watch out for yourself, because nobody else is.

  367. My bank, “H”appy “S”am “B”uys “C”ars would pull all these stunts. I was so fed up with it after too many times. So I asked the CS rep what the total was for the year and it just so happened the very next day I deposited a check that some1 gave me for the very same amount. Unfortunately above said bank would clear my deposits instantly – nonetheless the check turned out 2 b no good after I withdrew the money and closed the account. Funny how things work out.

  368. Citizens bank has been playing all kinds of games with my account. I swear they are re arranging the transaction dates to make me go into overdraft. If you do go into overdraft they won’t let you access your account on your smart phone because they can’t charge the fee until the end of that business day. If you go into overdraft at 3:55 pm, and they close @ 4:00, you’re screwed. I check my account several times a day and I know they are moving transactions around, and hiding info from me so that I will go into overdraft. If you try to access your account from your citizens smartphone app, and it says you can’t access account at this time, run to a computer because that means you’re in overdraft.

  369. Gosh I wish I would have read this b4 I went with them!!! I was charged $236. I have NEVER had this much rouble with a bank. Im closing my account out TODAY!

  370. Learn the difference between a scam and a bad deal. You fell for a bad deal with the over draft fee’s you should have known better. Hopefully you will learn from your mistakes.

  371. CB started charging $3 atm fee if you use some other atm. So to get this straight . If you withdraw $20 from another atm will cost you 23 + 2.50 fee of the other bank. I can live with the 2.50 fee because I am using the others bank atm but what I cant live with it is why is CItizens charging $3 for an electronic transaction??
    Just lost another costumer


  372. Kevin:

    I started going there because the company I work for uses Citizens Bank for their Payroll; that is all their paychecks are issued by Citizens Bank. Every two weeks (I get paid bi-weekly) I’d go in there and pay the $7 to cash my check. I’d walk out, cash in hand, every time.

    Just the fact that they’d charge you to cash a check drawn on their own bank should tell you all you need to know. You could take your paycheck to Walmart and it’d only cost 3 bucks.

  373. just so you know I overdrafted my regions bank account by $42.90 and recieved TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN DOLLARS IN OVERDRAFT FEES!!!!

  374. I had several 4-6 dollar transactions go thru and they charged me 36.00 dollars for each one. All banks are a total rip-off

  375. @Amazing post #376 Oh come on now …We know you are working for Citizens Bank, with your pathetic post. So all the folks here are wrong and you are right?….Citizens Bank are as crooked as it gets. We never asked for this kind of “overdraft protection” mabe we should of inquired about protection against their overdraft protection scam! We never(20 plus years) had an overdraft incident until the laws were set to change against the Banks.. We payed enough attention to our account and so to did they.. Holding the smallest and running the largest charges not in chronological order is the practice of manipulating the overdraft fees in order to maximize a benefit to them and to the great detriment of the parties who are their account holders.

    Its unethical and manipulative. and borderlines criminal behavior.

  376. I used to have quite a few personal and business accounts with Citizens in Rochester, NY. A few years ago they changed to a new fee structure for overdraft accounts, and we had the OD feature lit up without our consent. Nothing bad happened to us, no fees for OD, but I did let the branch manager know I never asked for, and never signed up for, their OD feature. She told me it was provided as a courtesy for the “better customers”, and because I was a Gold Circle member (huh?) in their bank I would never be charged the standard OD maintenance fee. I was quite irritated at the implications re: me being so very special (yes, we had a lot on deposit), and how the rest of their “regular customers” were a bunch of deadbeats. I closed my accounts the next day, after moving all cash into two Demand Deposit accounts (one business, one personal) electronically so they could not prevent me from removing all funds from any of the savings accounts for a few more days (legal for a bank to do, but I knew that and gamed them on that). When asked why I was closing the accounts I let the branch manager know I was not willing to work with a bank that treats “regular customers” in such an abusive manner as I have seen, and now heard first hand. The regional bank that got our deposits was told why they got our business, and in the event they ever began to play games I would leave them also. Never have had a problem with them (Five Star Bank). I do not wish evil for Citizens, but I sure do not wish them well either. They do not deserve to have hard working, honest customers.

  377. i will close my account today- 111.00 in fees even though my account was already over drafted- i did not know but they keep letting use my card even though my balance in was -85.00

  378. Yup they just got me for $150.00 in fees!!! I overdrew my account while using an atm out of State….. got back and they racked up fees galore!!!! This is the Worst bank I ever did business with!!!

  379. something similiar happened to me. but I still love citizen bank. my husband used the wrong bank card for a purchase wich resulted in over 200 in overdraft fees. I went to bank. I explained the situation. I got every penny bank. it’s all in how you talk you people. and that preauthorization info IS AVAILABLE TO YOU. it’s on my mobile banking app. pay attention to ur money people. nobody is going to do it for you!

  380. Please if anyone out there is or knows an attorney willing
    to take on Citizens Bank in a civil law suite please e-mail me. I have 5 years of on-line transactions which proves
    that all overdraft fees are bogus.
    This could mean millions in rewards.

  381. Who the fuck charges 37 dollars when u used 5-20 dollars , i deposit a check on friday my whole pay citizens usually deposits next day but didnt happen till tuesday i use my credit card to buy couple thing and when tuesday hits i had almost 250 dollars on fee for very small purchages not even 100 dollars , 6 fees total , they are robbers without guns i totally wanted to go on the cops and press charges

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