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Citizens Review

Reviews 413

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Citizens

Poor

Reviews 413

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Michael Graw

Sep. 14, 2022

2 min read

Citizens Summary

Citizens is a national bank offering private student loans for undergraduate, graduate, law, and medical degree programs. International students can qualify with a US-based cosigner. You can choose your repayment plan, including whether you want to make interest-only payments or defer your payments. Citizens also offers multi-year loan approval, so you can get a new student loan each year of your program without a new application.

Pros

Flexible repayment plans
Multi-year loan approval
Loyalty discount for existing Citizens account holders

Cons

Rate not locked in for multi-year loan approval
Most branches are in the eastern US

Citizens at a glance

9.2

Editorial score

Online experience

Has learning resources, access to rates, mobile app

10.0

Customer services and support

Multiple ways of reaching lender, wide range of hours

8.0

Repayment flexibility

Offers multiple repayment plans- but no special repayment programs

8.0

Eligibility

Loans available to all credit types, income levels, and students

10.0

Variety of Loan Types

Offers all loan types

10.0

Citizens Visit Site

Overview

Citizens is a Rhode Island-based bank that has been in business since 1828 and has more than 1,000 branches across 11 states. The bank offers private students loans for degree-granting programs across the country, including undergraduate, graduate, law, and medical programs. It has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Suitable For?

Citizens is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled at least half-time in school. Its student loans offer competitive interest rates, especially if you already have a Citizens account and qualify for a 0.25% rate discount. Loans are available for undergraduate and graduate students, including students in law school and medical school.

Citizens serves not only US citizens and residents but also international students with a US citizen or resident co-signer. Since the bank accepts cosigners and allows deferred payments on private student loans, it is suitable for students with little income while in school.

Loan Features

Here are a few key features of Citizens’ private student loans:

Multi-year approval: You can be approved for annual loans for up to 4 years, so you don’t need to reapply and undergo a hard credit check at the start of every new school year.
Flexible repayment plans: Citizens enables you to choose between making payments immediately, making interest-only payments, or deferring payments until after you graduate.
Cosigner release: You can remove a cosigner from your loan after 36 months of consecutive payments.
No prepayment penalty: Citizens doesn’t charge fees if you pay off your student loan early.
Rate discount: Existing Citizens account holders receive a 0.25% rate discount.

The Application Process

You can request a quote for a private student loan online. Getting a quote does not impact your credit score.

If you want to proceed, you can apply at Citizens online or in person at a bank branch. You will need to submit proof of residence, proof of income, and proof of your enrollment in an eligible degree program. If you have a cosigner, they will need to submit proof of residence and income. You and your cosigner will also need to undergo hard credit checks.

Eligibility Requirements

Citizens requires borrowers to be US citizens or residents. International students can also apply but must have a US citizen or resident cosigner. All applicants must be enrolled for at least half-time in a degree program and have no previous student loan defaults.

Loan Rates

Citizens offers rates from 5.39% - 15.21% APR, and existing Citizens account holders receive a 0.25% rate discount. Your rate will depend on various factors, including your credit score, whether you have a cosigner, how much you need to borrow, and what repayment plan you select.

Repayment Terms

Borrowers have 3 options to repay student loans from Citizens. You can start making payments immediately, make only interest payments until after graduation, or defer all payments until after graduation. Citizens offers flexible repayment terms.

How Safe Is It?

Citizens has been in business for nearly 200 years and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The bank uses encryption and biometric tools to keep your online financial information secure.

Customer Service

Citizens offers customer support by phone, email, and live chat from 9am-4pm (ET), Monday-Friday. You can also visit one of the bank’s more than 1,000 branches to speak with a loan officer in person.

How Citizens Compares

	Citizens	College Ave	SoFi
APR	5.39% - 15.21%	2.94%-12.99%	2.99% to 10.66%
Minimum credit score	N/A	640	None
Loan amounts	$10,000-$350,000	$1,000-Full cost of degree	$5,000-Full cost of degree
Accepts cosigners	Yes	Yes	Yes
Suitable for	International students	Students with good credit	Students who want flexible repayment options

Summary

Citizens offers private student loans with rates from 5.39% - 15.21% APR. This bank’s offering is unique in that it’s open to international students with a US citizen or resident cosigner. In addition, you can be approved for an annual loan for up to 4 years, so you don’t have to reapply at the start of every school year. Citizens offers a selection of repayment options and doesn’t charge prepayment penalties, and you can manage your loan online.

Methodology

This review was created using information from the Citizens website and the Better Business Bureau.

Citizens Visit Site

Disclosures

Written by

Michael Graw

Michael Graw is a Bellingham, Washington-based writer focusing on finance, tech, and science. His work has been featured in print magazines and high-impact websites. He writes for BestMoney and enjoys helping readers make sense of the options on the market.‎

Trustpilot reviews

See what some customers are saying about Citizens

Poor

•

Reviews 413

Excellent

Poor

Bad

94%

richardson/l

2 months ago

Singing praises to Citizens Bank and…

Singing praises to Citizens Bank and Raphael who helped me with a technical issue. My main branch is in Waterford and Sharon has also been a wonderful help whenever we have had questions. Have been with Citizens since they merged with the bank I began with, in Mystic, decades ago. Wonderful customer service at each branch of Citizens - have always met lovely people at all of their branches, regardless of where I lived, regardless of where they are based. Am deeply grateful.

sean

4 days ago

Customer Service reps LIE or hang up on…

Customer Service reps LIE or hang up on you and are not helpful, this bank is a dumpster fire of a mess. if you are on the account and close it because of the extreme fees they charge, if your name is on the account but not the primary you're out of luck, this dumpster fire of a bank will only make the check out to the person who is the primary even if your name is on the account too. its a dumpster fire of a bank. avoid it like the plague!

robert stone

5 days ago

Citizens Bank disappoints on multiple…

Citizens Bank disappoints on multiple fronts. Their IT department seems stuck in the digital dark ages, causing frequent disruptions and inconveniences for customers. Combine this with a customer service team that appears oblivious to problem resolution, and you have a recipe for frustration. It's disheartening that a bank in the modern era struggles so profoundly with basic technological competence and fails to prioritize customer satisfaction.

adde

6 days ago

My account was transferred from HSBC to…

My account was transferred from HSBC to Citizens. All of a sudden the bank decided to charge me 25 dollars monthly maintenance fee without letting me know. Since I wasn't using the account I wasn't aware. Now my account shows negative balance and the bank doesn't give my money back. I will close my account and will never work with this bank.

wendy

8 days ago

waited over two hours for customer…

waited over two hours for customer service in fraud dept. I never got to speak with anyone in fraud dept. 🤬

robert

11 days ago

Citizens Bank tried to rob me

To say that Citizens Bank is the worst bank I’ve ever worked with would be a gross understatement. To say that Citizens is the worst vendor of any type I’ve ever worked with would still be a gross understatement. After opening a High Yield Savings Account, and making two deposits totaling $11,500, they froze my account. I was unable to access my money. Why did they do this? They never gave a reason. My wife and I are current on all our taxes and always have been. We owe no back payments to any creditors. We even pay off all credit card bills in full each month. All this can be verified. The path they gave me to unfreeze the account was pure bull. It involved getting a Hold Harmless Letter from one of the financial institutions from which I deposited money into the savings account. What the hell is a Hold Harmless Letter? Good question. No one knows. Not even those involved in banking! But here’s the thing. I had to be the one to contact that other institution. And Citizens refused to provide a sample letter or further information. They even refused to provide an address to send that Hold Harmless Letter. Under duress, I did as asked and contacted that financial institution. They did not know what I was talking about. They even tried to contact Citizens but they could not get acceptable information. They concluded that Citizens was likely involved in fraud, and thus, the other institution could not do anything. So there I was. Citizens was indefinitely holding a substantial sum of funds that belonged to my family, and I had no way to get my funds back. I contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, my state attorney general, and my congressperson, among others. After they put me through hell for over ten weeks Citizens finally returned the money they owed me. They gave neither an explanation of their actions nor an apology. I always believed the safest place to put money was in an FDIC-insured bank account. Doing business with Citizens destroyed that belief. Their treatment of me went beyond incompetence. It was outright cruelty. And all I did wrong was having faith in the United States banking system. I cannot find the words to fully express the depth of my rage at Citizens.

some dude

11 days ago

Frequent online login issues

Frequent online login issues, convoluted login process, local ATM issues, lousy local locations since they withdrew from inside the grocery stores, etc.

b gunes

13 days ago

It is an absolutely disaster and there…

It is an absolutely disaster and there are many reasons why they have 1.2 rating already. Trust me this is a one of the very last bank you would like to go with because it's very easy to deposit your money but it's not easy to get that money out of the account and I had a girlfriend who was trying to withdraw some money we tried many different ATMs it did not work we try to sell the money and it was asking some additional ID information on the website should be added and then we try to do that you weren't able to because we couldn't figure out So eventually she gave up she closed the account they draw the old funds that she has and but the thing is she was stranded because she wasn't able to withdraw any dollar the day before he was embracing for both of us to be stranded like a broke person and I can definitely tell they don't give at F about any bad review that is from here and you should take it serious so

michael godwin

13 days ago

I have gone to the Bloomfield Branch…

I have gone to the Bloomfield Branch 15B-0099 in Pittsburgh PA for a re issue of a debit card. I'm being told I needed a cell phone on me for security code. I have never needed a code sent before when being in a branch. I only have a few thousand dollars in this bank, so I will be moving this change over to Bank of America. The customer service wanted me to pay $12.00 fee for faster service. This institution is really getting sloppy. Citizens bank also given out my personal information at a Market District to a employee there. Watch this bank at all cost!!!!

dave kravitz

20 days ago

No help from the help line

Needed their technical support for online bank account. Could not understand the 3 people I spoke with. Told me to change my password which I did, did not solve problem. Told me to clear cookies & cache, I did no solve problem. Asked for someone in the U.S. and was transferred and hold for over 5 minutes before being disconnected!! Now on hold for 8 minutes for technical in the U.S. Wish I could give "0" stars!!!

tex wheeler

24 days ago

0 star rating from me

0 star rating from me! I traveled out of state to make a purchase. When I arrived at the purchase site the seller wouldn’t take anything but cash. I called customer service to raise my ATM limit and with the Citizens employee on the phone I go to make a withdrawal for $500. No cash came out of the machine. The employee says “ let me try something “ and again no cash for $500. This happened 3 times to a total of over $1500. The employee on the phone with me puts a dispute in for me. Almost 2 weeks later I get my money back. The account showed the money was distributed, the freak it was. It was not. A month later I go to get fuel and my card was denied. I look at my account and it’s overdrawn. These thieves took the money back and said to me there was no error. Yes, the freak there was an error at that ATM. I disputed it again and Citizens sends a letter saying it stands. Now my account is overdrawn and bills are being shown as returned payments. DO NOT USE THIS FREAKING BANK!!!!!

kiaren hardy

a month ago

Oh how I wish there was a zero star…

Oh how I wish there was a zero star option. I also wish I would've read these reviews prior to opening my account. The account was open less than two weeks, when I received a letter stating my account was closed. I had received the debit card in the mail just 4 days prior, and the pin number the day before. When I reached out to the so-called customer service, the rep was rude and had no answers to my questions. When I requested his superior, I was placed on hold and then hung up on. STAY AWAY FROM CITIZENS BANK

mike coulombe

a month ago

They wouldn’t mail me my debit card I…

They wouldn’t mail me my debit card I had to go to the bank. The bank wouldn’t give me a debit card. I had to get it mailed. This is a joke, ridiculous. I have bills I have to pay.

diane webster

a month ago

Horrible customer service

Horrible customer service. Just had 1200 dollars stolen from me from a car rental place in Dubai. Citizens said there's nothing they can do except go "through the process" which takes 10 days before I get my money back. I'm supposed to receive alerts when anything suspicious happens and got nothing. In the meantime I don't even have enough gas in my car to get me home from work. I only have a debit card that I can't ever use. Worst bank I have ever dealt with.

michael choruzek

a month ago

Dont go there with your money….

Dont go there with your money….. They will steal it from you!,,,,, Worst banking experience in my whole life! Im 62! Customer service is completely TERRIBLE!! Better if you hide your money in STONE WALL out back! CREEPS!!!!!

tony pakasto

a month ago

Worse bank EVER

Worse bank EVER! They have horrible customer service and ppl skills. Their machines break on you and take your money. They freeze your account for anything! Bad experience... I left the bank recently!

lynda baker

a month ago

I had a payroll check deposited on…

I had a payroll check deposited on Sunday at a ATM I left for work as I’m a RN traveler. Thry told me payroll check deposited on a Sunday is 24 hour hold, it is now Wednesday and I’ll have to sleep in my truck since they still haven’t released my funds from a hospital payroll check from sundays deposit, so a 24 hour hold has turned into a 72 hour hold. And of course just thry way thry like it it occurs overdraft fees daily they won’t left my funds become available. When I get back home I’ll be closing this account and hopefully find a bank that doesn’t lie and hold payroll from their patrons

nyc socal

2 months ago

One star is generous

One star is generous. Absolutely the worst bank ever. Abysmal customer service. They will lie about the status of your account and hang up on you if you question them.

veronica mckay

2 months ago

Citizens sent me an E Mail notice that my User ID and Password may have been compromised. Really? Do you think that maybe the disaster that is your new Online Banking application has anything to do with this? Back in July I posted a complaint about their revised Online Banking website. Specifically, there is no option to update your User ID and Password. There is a disclosure document called "Digital Terms and Conditions" that states “You may change your Password or User ID at any time using the “Login & Security” Setting under “Profiles & Settings.” This option does not exist. This is a problem for two reasons. One: I cannot modify my ID and Password in order to secure my credentials. Two: Online disclosures do not match what the user sees online. If you tell me to call Customer Service to do the update then you are NOT providing the customer with cyber security. How is it possible that this version of Online Banking was allowed to go to production without there being a way for the customer to secure access? The language in the disclosures is a problem. I don't understand why this is not a Compliance violation. It is NOT OK that the statement in the document does not match what the customer sees. How is it possible that Compliance signed off on this? I don't have a lot of money with Citizens, so moving my accounts will not make a dent in their financial profile. However, I WILL be securing my accounts by MOVING them to a different bank.

allison e. distefano

2 months ago

Customer Service - that's NOT it!

Woah...Such Rude people work at the Citizens Bank in North Wales, PA. You want to lose my account because you won't let me use your restroom? You got it! I have a had an account with Citizens Bank for more than thirty (30) years. I went to the branch in North Wales to deposit checks. I really needed to use the restroom badly. The branch manager lady was very rude to me and told me that I would have to go over to Starbucks because they are the closest place with a public restroom. It was emergency but she didn't care. I left the bank without depositing my checks and I am going to close my account with citizens ASAP. I don't need to be banking at a place with people with horrible attitudes towards their customers. The branch manager lady shrugged like she didn't care when I told her that I was going to close my account ASAP. UPDATE: I am slowly moving my account to American Express. She was telling the bank teller how the bathrooms were "their safe space" and not for anyone else. I also have had so many issues with the Citizen's banking website and their banking app. They really need to consider testing their banking app and website a lot better before having them go live.

jerry gaita

2 months ago

Asked for a payoff figure -

Asked for a payoff figure - Paid the amount was told title would come 7-10 days A month later no title . Received a bill for $11.54 Called and wanted an explanation . After speaking to person after person to get an explanation - it was like speaking to an idiot - managers supervisors were no help no explanation- But the reason - certain employees can’t do their job and no one can take responsibility. Incompetent managers.

tet abrenica

2 months ago

Representative hung up on me because he…

Representative hung up on me because he couldn't answer my question.

em l

2 months ago

Worse Bank in Existence

Everything about it! Everytime I try to do something with this miserable bank, there's a problem. I just wanted to change my password and there's no way to do it while you're logged in. The moron i got on the phone tells me the only way to do it, is I have to LOG OUT. Then telll it I FORGOT MY USER NAME & PASSWORD. I got a very bad feeling about this. So I hung up. Just seems anything I need to accomplish with this "BANK" you're forced to do Many Unnecessary steps to accomplish this. Thank GOD my main account is with PNC Bank, which I never have any problems with.

user minus

2 months ago

After 20+ years bye-bye because you suk

I am a 20+year customer, ready to make the switch to Capitol One after their latest marketing stunt, which has now cost me a half our of searching for the opt-out, and now waiting on hold for 20 min with their support/fraud line (what a joke). I just want to opt out of their recent email-spam campaign "Your money has arrived early". They don't include an unsubscribe option. Who does that nowadays? Only sales-crazed jerks with no regard for their customers. Their web site says they have chat at 7am, that's wrong. I am on hold with their support/fraud line and 20min on hold at 7:20am. Are they helping customers in China? More likely the 1 person tasked to do this is still asleep. Good thing I don't have a fraud issue lol. Well I guess you don't need this review to tell you that this has become a 1-star company.

claire dinger

2 months ago

This is the worst bank I’ve worked…

This is the worst bank I’ve worked with. I recently purchased a new alarm system through Vivint and the equipment was financed through Citizen Bank. I put a card on file for automated payments so there would be no issues. I found out that the payments didn’t go through and they NEVER bothered to call or send me anything notifying me that there was a problem with my payment. I found out by a credit bureau notification that my score went down by 45 points. I was really confused and found a late payment on my report for Citizen Bank. I’m seriously pissed off. All they had to do was call and leave a voicemail when they saw a problem and I would have given another payment method. The original card is not maxed out so I have no idea what happened. I’m just upset that they don’t have the decency to call a brand new customer when there’s a problem, but have no problem ruining the credit score that I’ve worked to maintain for so long. DO NOT WORK WITH THEM! I may even look for another company to take over this loan. You guys suck!

julie bower

3 months ago

I have had three fraudsin the last six…

I have had three frogs in the last six months customer service is not even in this country and they’re rude they lie to you they tell you one thing and then you’re still waiting to three weeks to get your money back three 999-1299 doesn’t really matter they act ridiculous I have to go to my branch that’s local to me and I’m sorry about the typos I am extremely upset right now the guy was rude I could barely understand his broken English I was with this bank for over 20 years and I’m two seconds away from being done with them they don’t even have the dates right I’m having withdrawals taken out of my account that are fraudulent and they’re saying they’re from January when it’s damn well September.

kevin ballard

3 months ago

Incompetent people

Someone used by business card to charge a bunch of stuff. It overdrew my account and I got slammed with overdraft fees. They credit me back the money for the charges and did not reverse the overdraft fees. It has been 6 weeks. I called again to take it off and I am hold now for 35 minutes and still no resolution. They see the reverse charges due to fraud and still can't reverse the charges the first time I called and now I have wasted 35 minutes with no resolution. There was no reason why the initial claim was not honored. I am closing my account and taking my business somewhere else.

vincent p

3 months ago

Multiple issues. Unacceptable

Multiple issues that are just unacceptable. Several weeks ago I tried to transfer money from my Checking account to pay down my Home Equity Line of Credit Online, but was not given the option as the dropdown did not populate, so I called customer service and was told they have been having a technical issue for 2 1/2 WEEKS! The CS rep offered to do the transfer over the phone so I agreed to complete it. Today I tried again to transfer from checking to HELOC and again the same issue all while being charged 8.10% on the HELOC. I AGAIN called CS and the rep told me they she can't access my account due to some technical issues and to call back in 1-2 hours. In addition, during this period Citizens has decided to charge a $3.00/month Paper Statement Fee. I won't go into the transfer times and limits for transferring money from Citizens to other banks which can be anywhere from 2-5 calendar days if you happen to process it on a Thursday or Friday. Other banks have shortened their transfer times without limits while Citizens makes it more difficult to access your money. Unacceptable with so many choices in the Marketplace!

ev gar

3 months ago

Calling Citizens

When I opened an account with Citizens, they notified me that distance would not be a problem. Early September someone access my information from citizens. I reported the incident via phone and email. I was provided a new account number. I made my payment as it didn't come out as it usually does monthly due to the fraudulent actives on my account. A few days later I logged into my account just to confirm there were no more problems only to find out the payment was reverse due to the routing number being incorrect. I attempted to call citizens as I had no email, no phone call and nothing on my portal stating that the payment did not go through. Citizens refused to give me any information over the phone because of the pass fraudulent activity. They stated I would have to step into a bank which is 6 hours away. I was transferred numerous times to different reps, given at least 4 different numbers to call. Finally, I spoke to TOM. who of course refused to give his last name. I explained to him my circumstances and he was the rudest person I have spoken to. He states I changed my routing number when I made it clear the only thing on this account that changed is my account number everything else remained the same. The only resolution he gave me was to deactivate my account, which if I don't have then I will not even be able to see the activity on my account, and no one is willing to give me any information. It's obvious that the breach came from there end, but citizens refuse to take any accountability. Citizens is not the only bank I bank with so if it were on my end, I believe more of my accounts would have been compromised. Tom was like maybe you should change your password or something, all this was done when I got the new account the only thing that was not changed was the payment method. What got me through all this was his nasty attituded and his "oh well". Citizens would have much rather charge me late fees then to notify me of the payment not going through. Citizens already had received the screen shots and been notified of the calls showing that something had affected my account, why not let me know there was a problem with the payment I just made. And oh Tom was acting as if he had better things to do then to deal with a customer, who just wants to make a payment and needs to know why it didn't go through. He refused to give me his last name, making me wonder is he the only TOM that works with citizens because not providing your last name or your ID number is not professional. I am so angry right now I can go on for days. Anyone has a problem with this Citizens recording " for quality assurance and training purposes" can be played so WE all can see how nasty Tom is.

customer

3 months ago

The bank located on 52nd Market is the…

The bank located on 52nd Market is the worst branch ever. The card machine never works and there is only one teller on Saturdays. The customer service sucks

catherine yoshi smith

3 months ago

CITIZENS BANK IS THE WORST

This BANK is the WROST bank to ever bank with. There employees are super RUDE an unhelpful. When you make a mobile deposit the system lies to you an says your funds will be available the next business day but it is not I deposited a payroll check an the bank put a 10 day hold on a $400 check after telling me my funds would be available the next business day which would be Friday so I called customer service an the told me I had to wait 8 days for my funds to be released to me crazy thing is they didnt care that I needed my funds to pay for my HEART MEDICATION before I run out they stated to me I HAD TO DEAL WITH THE HOLD UNTIL MONDAY cause there was nothing anyone could do I've had problems with this bank since I opened it I will be closing my account permanently MONDAY I SERIOUSLY suggest NO ONE to bank with CITIZENS BANK ever

madi

3 months ago

The woman Robin who was on the phone…

The woman Robin who was on the phone with me for over an hour was so patient and kind and really tried helping me through my issue. It was tough and annoying but she was truly kind and helpful and fixed the issue.

3 months ago

Chat mess

Bad. Never answered my question. Kept insisting that I go online but I can’t as I’m getting error message that I don’t have phone no on file. Disconnected me twice before answering my questions. BAD

aspartine

3 months ago

Web site availability is very poor

Their website is down or inaccessible (logins fail) about 50% of the time.

friendly neighborhood reviewer

3 months ago

Not A Customer Friendly Bank

Worst bank. Please bank elsewhere. Endless fees, constantly adding additional fees and conditions that initiate new fees. You have to be vigilant and constantly check your account balances to see if you are being charged one of Citizens’ various service charges. Customer service is pointless and is incapable of handling basic problems. Reps and supervisors claim to have no ability to rectify/credit situations and, even worse, service calls typically take over an hour with no results. I would not recommend this bank. Less than 1-star rating if I could. They are way behind the times. Not customer service focused.

ross husted

3 months ago

Customer service is pointless

Customer service is pointless. 1hr 26minutes holding for a supervisor to find out they cannot help. I apparently did not read the fine print, on line, when signing up for a bonus if Iopeneda checkingaccount. I direct deposited over $500.00 in 42 days. Fine print states a one time direct deposit of $500.00. No one was willing to work with me or help me out. I will be closing my banking ASAP. To bad I have direct deposit going to this horrible bank.

ryan golhar

3 months ago

Trying to reconcile a HELOC statement…

Trying to reconcile a HELOC statement where the numbers don't add up on their page 1 summary. She had me on hold for over 30 mins trying to figure out the discrepancy. She literally said to me "Its only $3. I'm not very good at math, but it doesn't seem like a big deal."

jhnivy ivy

3 months ago

This bank is pure aweful

For the last 2 days I was trying to contact someone without going to the bank. Well that is nearly impossible! Online chat only work on mobile, and it signs you out every 15 minutes. So, you call, do the call back option. Well when they call you back, you have like 2 seconds to answer before they just hang up. You deposit a large check? (but not giant like 100k) You are going to wait a week to see it. Your online account is never correct. They also think that everyone is going to commit a federal crime like check fraud or wire fraud... Like who does that and doesnt get caught with a full paper trail behind them?

chi lin

3 months ago

Serious problems with culture, policy, and training.

Dumpster fire of a company. I brace myself every time I have to call Citizens. Every call is 20 minutes of holding, talking for a brief second to an agent who knows nothing, waiting for another 30 minutes while they ask their supervisor, then the call dropping. Calling back again, waiting another 20, brief conversation, another 30 minutes of waiting, and then maybe talking to someone else who has an answer, all of which leads to having to call back at a later date and doing the whole thing over again. The last call I made was to transfer my entire balance to another bank so I could close my account. I had to call because my account was locked for an unknown reason (no one I talked to knew why). It took the entire morning, multiple calls dropped, multiple holds, in the end almost 3 hours. I don't blame the agents. I blame training, culture, policy, everything that is going on behind the scenes. I don't consider any bank necessarily invested in their clients, they're all profit-driven corporations after all, but this bank is particularly egregious with its terrible customer service. And at times outright lies. I was initially told I couldn't transfer to an outside account unless I maintained a balance of $750 in my Citizens account. An absurd and impossible requirement considering I was closing my account. I did the transfer online while on the phone with them after they unlocked my account. It went through no problem. No error message, nothing about a minimum balance following a transfer. The next and final call I make to citizens will be to close my account for good. Go with a local credit union, or if you need to go with a large bank I recommend literally any other bank besides this one.

mark case

3 months ago

Please read ALL previous negative reviews!!…

Please thoroughly read ALL previous negative reviews!! I am an old guy that is a one finger typist so I cannot really give alot of details or I would be here all day. ABSOLUTELY the worst mortgage processing experience of my entire life!! Owned over 30 properties over my lifetime and numerous processing experiences. If my realtor, whom I trust had not sent me down this path I would not have done it. Over 3 months, hundreds of problems, even up to the time of driving to the closing!!

tcbranger

3 months ago

Worthless everything!

1) They told me it would take two weeks to get a line of credit, but it actually took 4 months. 2) Couldn’t set up wire transfer online due to website sucking. Constantly having to reset password. …so I… 3) Called customer service three times, waiting for a total of 4 hours, and nothing got resolved. Twice they put me on hold to “speak with a supervisor”, and after an hour, my call would go to the automated system. I then called back and kept getting the same “supervisor” routine and after 2 hours they came back and still didn’t help me. I asked to talk to the supervisor and they told me she just left and they would put me back in the call cue with a hour wait time. I gave up. They need a class action lawsuit filed against them.

christina quinn

3 months ago

Literally the worst customer service I…

Literally the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. My car was stolen and my insurance company covered the entire cost of my loan. They wrote a check to Citizens who claimed they “lost” it. My insurance company sent another check via FedEx so they could track it. Again, customer service reps claimed they “could not find the check” even though there was proof of it being delivered. I’ve called customer service over 12 times trying to get this situation straightened out and my insurance company has as well. On 2 different occasions customer service hung up on me mid call. They then processed the original check that they claimed was “lost” even though they were fully aware that it was voided and have continued to be incompetent and refuse to close my account.

unsatisfied customer

3 months ago

I don't know how this bank is still in…

I don't know how this bank is still in business. They sent my debit card to an incorrect address, then placed me on hold for OVER AN HOUR just to tell me that they know it's their mistake but will charge me $12 to rush it to me. I asked for a manager, I was placed in hold for another 45 mins. The agent finally came back on the line, with No supervisor and stated they showed him how to waive the fee. He then placed me back on hold for another HOUR!! Stating he was submitting the request. To say the service is terrible would be a compliment. RUN as fast as you can from Citizens bank!

matt

3 months ago

Would you like to never be able to access your account?

I have my business checking through Citizens and I didn’t know it was possible for a bank to be this incompetent. The in person branches are fine, but the rest is worse than I ever knew a current bank could be. The app is beyond useless. Constantly logs you off and your passwords stop working. You’ll then get locked out of your account. Same thing for the online account. Never keeps your information. Even when you save it in Apple Key, it says it’s incorrect and locks you out. Even something as simple as calling the number on the back of the atm is broken. You enter your atm card number then it asks your for the last 4 of the tax payer id number. Your enter it, and then it won’t register that you entered the 4 numbers. It then kicks you off the phone call. How this bank is still in business in 2023 is beyond me. It’s pathetic. Run as far away as humanly possible from this dumpster fire of a “bank”.

count_c

3 months ago

Beyond doubt worst financial institution I've deatl with.

Beyond doubt, the absolute worst financial institution I have ever dealt with in any capacity. I hope some larger bank gobbles up this pathetic excuse of a mess of a disaster of a junk bank. I closed my checking and savings accounts, and only keep the credit card because closing it would cause a hit on my credit score. I curse HSBC for shifting their consumer banks to this godawful mess. I've never seen such incompetence and problems like this before. One small example ot of dozens: I am charged by subscription service for monthly charge. No issues. When I go to supermarket and proceed to pay, the card is blocked. After 15 minutes on hold for customer service, I was told that a block was put on because they wanted to know if that subscription charge was ok. IF THEY HAD ASKED ME via text, call or email like normal banks do, I would have answered yes , and not had the mix up at the supermarket. Absolutely pathetic bank.

dan gingras

3 months ago

Impossible to get customer service

Impossible to get customer service. Their connection to Quickbooks wasn't working.... for weeks. I'm going to change banks. Hire some customer service reps!!!

customer

3 months ago

Horrible bank

Horrible bank, hour long waits for customer service and they do not back up their debit cards. My husband’s card was compromised twice and our checking account was emptied. Still waiting four days later for access to our FDIC insured funds. Over 80% of banks provide next day access, Citizens is not one of those banks. Customer service agents, supervisors and bank and mangers are ill-equipped to resolve issues and are only able to offer scripted apologies.

noname

3 months ago

Incompetent company

The company changed platforms and moved all the accounts recently. Apparently they didn't test anything to make sure it worked beforehand. Now my bill payer is missing and I have no idea when it will be up again. I had several things set up to automatically pay and now that's gone and I never thought I needed to keep track. I can't order checks online now, that function is gone and who knows when it will be available again. And I can't export my transactions to my Quicken program. They can't or won't tell me when that will be functional again. Then they have the nerve to say their sorry for my inconvenience. If they cared, the platform change would have been seamless. I am disgusted with this company and will be looking for a new bank.

jenn

3 months ago

Terrible

I should never walk into a bank, withdraw money and be asked by the teller, these exact words what you paying rent or something! I said why, (which I wasn’t, but wanted to know why he ask) he said because what you are withdrawing is an odd number to take out! Umm excuse me sir! If i want to walk in the bank and withdraw $1.00 that’s my business! He had one job and that was to assist me or try to assist me not tell me I’m withdrawing an odd number of money! I just felt disrespected. This experience that day was just the icing on the cake! Citizens over all is a terrible bank! I’m currently in the process withdrawing all my money and closing my account as we speak!!!

kai hsieh

4 months ago

HORRIBLE SERVICE

I have been using Citizens Bank for nearly 10 years. They've had their up and downs, but overall they weren't bad. However, for TWO months now, I have not been able to connect my transactions to Quickbooks. As a small business owner, this feature is extremely important to me. I call, weekly, since the first week of July and week after week it's the same thing, "we're working on it". Last week when I called the rep told me to find an alternative. I find this answer to be appalling because unless he's done QB, he knows entering each and every single transaction, manually, is hell on earth. I did that for February's transactions and it took me over 8 hours!! I can't be the only business owner experiencing this with Citzen's right??

brandy banal

4 months ago

Citizens bank stole a refund from me…

Citizens bank stole a refund from me for $110.17 and aloud my mother in law to be ripped off 4 times in 6 months. Do not use citizens bank

rahath mohammed

4 months ago

I have a checking account with citizens…

I have a checking account with citizens and a savings accounts with Axos online bank. I added this Axos account in citizens online and verified by 2 deposits made by citizens into Axos. Then, I requested Axos for transfer of a specific amount from citizens checking account. This request is on hold. I called Citizens rep - online support who could not help and suggested me to call branch. I called branch and the rep said she is with customer and will take an hour to call me back to look into this issue. I never had to call any central help desk or branch for such online transfer between banks ever when dealing with CHASE or Bank of America. I suggest people to avoid CITIZENS wasting their time dealing with issues like this and visiting branch to resolve the issues. These days, all financial transactions are possible to deal by sitting at computer, never ever have to call/visit branch. I called banker at branch and to my surprise, he does not even see online transactions on 'Hold' and he referred me back to Online Help Desk. I called online Help Desk and guy says after verification of my profile to visit Branch. Then, I asked to speak to supervisor of Help Desk. It took a while and Manager came and spent with me about 15-20 minutes and cleared the 'Hold' on my transaction. I don't know if same things would happen and bounce counter to counter!!!

anita grant

4 months ago

Awful billing system

Had a situation where I received a credit from a merchant with my Citizens Bank credit card against my autopay under one statement. Since the credit was in the same billing cycle the credit reduced my autopay amount which was correct. However that credit still carried over as a payment due which I should not have had to pay. Citizens is telling me that if I wasn't on autopay the credit would have been applied and all I would have had to pay on the next statement were the charges less the credit. Because my autopay payment was reduced before the next billing period I was still obligated to make that payment. That credit should not have turned into a debit which it did and I am now out $98.

naomi

4 months ago

Money Access Locked

This bank locked my mother's online access and ability to transfer money from her accounts to others. It started because she didn't verify on time a message regarding a wire transfer. When she did call and verified all the means they use to verify her identity they still refused to unlock her account. They stated she has to go to a branch in person and show ID. Here is the kicker, she lives in another country and even if she was still stateside, the states she'd be in have no branch. So, riddle me this Citizens One Bank: what methods are in place for those account holders who cannot come in physically to a branch or do you expect them to buy plane tickets to the east coast every time? It is 2023 and you don't have some sort of video chat verification option. My mother is currently unable to access HER MONEY.

mills family

4 months ago

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE

High overdraft fees. Customer service is terrible! There is supposed to be 24hr fraud department but they don't answer their calls after 10pm. I was stuck in New York over 1000 miles from home with no gas or way to pay for a hotel because they froze my card due to using my card out of my home state even though I confirmed the purchases through an alert email the day before. No one helped me, the only person I could get was customer service who said she couldn't do anything and that it was up to Visa. She lied, kept transferring me to the fraud department who never answered, I waited on the phone for 6 hours to end up hanging up and having to resolve it when they felt like waking up to answer my calls at 9am. Not to mention their automated call options do not have an option for speaking to a live agent, and in order to get to one you have to select the lost or stolen card option even if that doesn't apply to you, in order to get a real agent on the phone

jack

4 months ago

Over draft charges when account was not…

Over draft charges when account was not overdrawn. Holding onto my deposit so they can charge over draft fees.

joel mack

4 months ago

This bank is really screw up

This bank is really screw up. I close my account three months ago. They starting service charging a closed account now for the last two months. I called the customer service number and they told me I need to go into the bank. Really?

shawn bell

4 months ago

Two months and still no answers

Two months and still no answers. Citizens did an online banking upgrade which no longer allows transactions to be downloaded in Quickbooks. The say they are working on a fix, its been 2 months. We will be looking for a new bank to do business with.

maryann pallow yaeger

4 months ago

I wish I could give less than one star

I wish I could give less than one star. Customer service sucks!!! The whole corporation sucks!!!! We can’t get our title from them. Someone says it’s been sent and then the next rep says it hasn’t but doesn’t why. DMV will accept a statement on letter head saying the car has been paid off. Citizens said they’d put in request for Fax for that which would take three days. Guess what?! the request was denied. No one knows why, so they’ll put in a request to find out. Mean while our van has been sitting in the garage for over a month because we can’t get a tag for it without the title or letter. And we see no end in sight. Heather, the branch manager at Dover DE is no help either. She says we have to allow for the process to work. Not one of their processes have worked. We are going in circles. NEVER use Citizens!!!

nova sadra

4 months ago

Non secure system and rude customer service …

I am disappointed from the complected rules of your bank policy . I have fraud on my account from Amazon and I am in Egypt I was pregnant and my baby died and I go through miscarriages and I can't come United States now until my condition it's getting better. I called customer service from Egypt and the phone calls very expensive too many times to dispute all the transaction from Amazon I didn't make it and the problem it was the old mobile in the file not working and they told me you have to go to the branch. How I can go to the Branche and I am in Egypt and every time I call the customer service, I ask them the Same question supposed to do to dispute the fraud there's no one help me and could you tell me if there is no option or choice to help ( your application online very dame there no secure message between the customer service and the client and there's no email I can contact with you and my old phone it's not working for I can receive the code and when I talked to the supervisor after 3 weeks I keep calling finally someone listen to me and helped me to update my new phone and when I called the customer service yesterday he was very rude just repeat himself without any solution and told you can dispute the transactions until the new phone activate it after 30 days! So, after 30 days and the phone activate, I can dispute the transactions they will take the money already so the bank can return the money back ? He didn't answer my question and hung of as the others all of them very rude doesn't deserve to be in their job because if they can help us at least they listen and give others options . Every time I call I give them all the information and they refuse even to send me the code to my email that ridiculous if you have a good secure system I wouldn't had any fraud on my credit card. I sent to many emails and there's no one answer but I will go to the Media to explain to the people how dummy your system and not helpful and not have a good secure system to safe our money and your service to contact with us very limited options and your customer service not polite and not helpful.

mac allan

4 months ago

I cannot believe this bank is allowed…

I cannot believe this bank is allowed to operate. Other than the awful customer service and the fact that every representative says a different thing, they are completely inaccessible. Our cars title is held at the bank, and in order to register it in the state we just moved to, we need the physical title to be send to our respective states DMV. They said it would take 2-3 weeks, it has now been 4. After calling them multiple time a week for a status update on the title (since it’s time sensitive via parking pass, ticketing/towing, etc.) the first representative said it needs to go through our previous home state and that they “can’t do anything about it.” After calling our previous home state’s DMV, the very kind lady informed us that that is 100% not the case, and Citizens Bank needs to physically mail the title to our new state’s DMV. We called Citizens Bank back with the new information and they said they, “don’t know the status, it’s not their job, and it has nothing to do with them.” This is a LEGAL document. Absolutely incompetent individuals. In the words of Tyra Banks, “It is so bad, I want to give you a zero, but that's not possible, so I give you a one.”

linda giles

4 months ago

If You Like Abuse, Here's Your Bank

Why would Citizens randomly place a fraud alert on your debit card without first notifying you? You do not put an alert on someone's card for them to find out when they get up to a gas pump after waiting in line for 20 minutes with a ton of cars behind them. Whoever came up with this idea should be fired. A better idea would be to send an alert directly to the cardholder. A good security team could help figure out how to do this. I have actually had a call come to my phone before, but again it was while I was at the pump. Also, use purchase history. It is rare for someone to use your card in the exact same pattern. I gave Citizens a chance after my bank switched hands, but this happens way too often, and I will be letting Citizens go. Never happened when they were First Federal.

e.k.

4 months ago

Their redesigned website made my 84-year-old mother cry.

Whoever approved unleashing the new personal banking website on the public should be fired immediately and the old website design brought back. The new website prioritizes trendy design (unbelievable amounts of white space, page formatting optimized for cell phone with *no* fallback for desktop, light-gray-on-white design elements that older eyes can barely see) over functionality and usability. The old website showed the date, info about where the money came from or went, the amount, and the resulting balance, with reasonable spacing and good visual contrast. The new website puts the date in tiny text at the top of the entire block of each day's transactions (which are on the left side of the screen) and then puts the dollar amounts at the far right, making it excruciatingly difficult to use (you have to scan left and right across the screen constantly with almost no help from the gray-on-white design, and must scroll up and down to try to find the transaction date). If you resize the entire browser window to get the info closer together (so the proportions are like a cell phone screen... why did they do this when they already offer dedicated cell phone applications???), then there's still a hideous amount of white space between lines so you're constantly scrolling, and the available balance at the top of the screen vanishes! All this assumes that you can even log in, which is not at all guaranteed. My elderly mother had used the old design with no problems, but called me in tears asking for help when she couldn't even access the new website (and when we finally got her logged in after lots of problems with pages loading correctly, she found the new design to be tremendously confusing and slow to navigate). The web designers even had the nerve to show "cute" messages ("Putting everything in place. A little to the left...") that are unnecessary, unprofessional, and seem to be mocking the user since the site is a complete dumpster-fire when (if!) you finally manage to log in. The mandatory two-factor authentication is a royal pain as well, and it's laughable that they would require this while refusing to allow special characters (non-letters/numbers) in passwords (which would massively increase password security)!! Both my mother and I are now looking for new banks because we can no longer reliably, quickly, and easily access our financial information, and because any company that would think something this terrible is a good idea must have a whole lot of other problems behind the scenes and clearly shouldn't be trusted handling our money.

a. rodriguez

4 months ago

They froze my personal One Deposit checking account…

They froze my personal One Deposit checking account. They did not explain why at their online banking dept. After three months before having to pay out a bonus they froze it. Their online website always had password issues, so I had to reset my password over and over again. When I called them to explain why they were freezing my account their did not explain. They just said I will be receiving a letter and to ask my bank branch. I went to my branch and they didn't know the reason. They are totally rude for this.

amir qureshi

4 months ago

Awful service.

Awful service.. don’t waste your time. Very unorganized. Lack of communication and clarity. Took over 30 days just deny right before closing.

randell knight

4 months ago

Don't Bank at Citizens

First off ASK customer CASHING CHECK IF THEY NEED FUNDS AVAILABLE dont assume customers just want a check deposited so you can hold it for 24 hours When a Citizens Bank check is drawn on a Citizens Bank there should be absolutely no hold no reason for it all that is is a rip off to the customers I'm going to be withdrawing all my money down to a dollar and you can work that dollar for the next 50 years good luck I'm going to put you through the torment you put me through the last 7 years nothing but torment here no ATMs when you do have an ATM it don't work you go to the tellers they are not trained they don't even know how to cash a check it's really really really really sad check your local bank people you'll be a lot better off Citizens time to close shop By the review score I won't be much longer

4 months ago

Citizens Access stopped withdrawal and froze my account with no access to my money

DO NOT BE LIKE ME AND TRUST CITIZENS ACCESS WITH YOUR MONEY- They stopped my withdrawal from their HYSA to my BoA account with NO reason/explanation and when I called was repeatedly told they don’t know why and they can’t do anything about it. Then I get an email saying they FROZE AND TERMINATED MY ACCOUNT AND TRANSFERS THEREIN- they literally froze my account with my money in it and are refusing to give me access to MY OWN ACCOUNT for NO REASON. I called 6 times and every time they say they don’t know why but can’t fix it. IF THATS NOT STEALING YOUR MONEY I DONT KNOW WHAT IS. I submitted a CFPB complaint against these LITERAL THIEVES. Citizens Access will LOCK YOU OUT OF YOUR OWN ACCOUNT FOR NO REASON WITH NO RESOLUTION. DO NOT USE THEM. IM WITHDRAWING EVERY CENT AS SOON AS CFPB AND MY LAWYER IS DONE WITH THEM.

veronica mckay

4 months ago

Online Banking Application

I can confirm what others on this site have experienced with the new online application. It's terrible. Apart from bad design, there are issues of greater concern. On the log-in screen, if you look at the document entitled "Digital Terms and Conditions" you will find a description of how to change your ID/Password using a function that no longer exists. In addition, this document refers to challenge questions that have been dropped. The document "E-Sign Disclosure" tells you to go to the Service Center tab to update contact information. That tab does not exist. For me the issue goes beyond problems with password changes, terrible display design and erratic browser performance. How is it possible that this the bank's Compliance and Information Security departments allowed this update?

linda backus

4 months ago

I always have a very good experience…

I always have a very good experience with the staff at Citizens Bank,Branch 2 in East Harwich, MA Yesterday, the Branch Manager, took such good care of me in my quest for a wire transfer. She is always knowledgeable, accommodating and pleasant. She goes out of her way to meet my needs. It is a busy branch, but the team works together and it runs smoothly! It is always a pleasure to do business with a fine group of professionals.

lisa

4 months ago

SELLS YOUR INFO. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLR!!!!!!!!!!

I OPENED A BUSINESS ACCOUNT WITH CITIZENS ONLINE. THAT SAME DAY THEY SAID IT WOULD TAKE 2-3 DAYS TO PROCESS AND THEY WOULD REACH OUT ONCE EVERYTHING WAS CONFIRMED I HEARD NOTHING! NO EMAIL, NO TEXT, NO PHONE CALL. A FEW DAYS LATER INSTEAD OF HEARING FROM THEM I GOT CALLS FROM 3RD PARTY VENDORS SOLICITING ON BEHALF OF CITIZENS FOR ADD ONS. I THEN CALLED CITIZENS AND THEY TOLD ME MY ACCOUNT IS OPEN AND ACTIVE. I LET THEM KNOW ABOUT THE CALLS I RECEIVED AND THAT I NEVER RECEIVED ANY INFORMATION ABOUT MY ACCOUNT OR THAT IT WAS UP AND RUNNING. THEY JUST REPLIED "WELL THEY SHOULD HAVE SENT YOU AN EMAIL." SO I GOT MY ACCOUNT INFORMATION AND WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO REGISTERING MY ACCOUNT ONLINE AND DOWNLOADING THE APP. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A TOTAL NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!! THERE WERE SO MANY LOG IN ISSUES ON BOTH ONLINE AND WITH THE APP. I MADE UPWARDS OF 6-8 PHONE CALLS AND SPENT 4 HOURS DEALING WITH THEM AND THEY STILL COULDN'T GET IT RIGHT. AT ONE POINT I WAS ON HOLD FOR 45 MINUTES. I NEVER GOT TO DEPOSIT MY CHECKS AND THEIR FINAL ANSWER WAS "WE DON'T KNOW WHY BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL YOUR INFORMATION HERE. THERE'S NOTHING MORE WE CAN DO. I COULDN'T EVEN USE THE ACCOUNT AND CLOSED IT THAT SAME DAY. I HAD A PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT WITH THEM A COUPLE YEARS BACK AND LEFT BECAUSE OF THIS KIND OF STUFF. EVERYTHING WAS ALWAYS A HASSLE WITH THEM. LONG HOLD TIMES WITH ISSUES NEVER BEING RESOLVED. I THOUGHT I'D GIVE THEM A SECOND CHANCE AGAIN SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY OPENED ONE JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME. BUT NOW I KNOW WITH THEM NOTHING HAS AND WILL NEVER CHANGE. I WOULDN'T GIVE CITIZENS 2 PENNIES TO RUB TOGETHER, LET ALONE HOLD FOR ME. NEVER!!! EVER!!!! AGAIN!!!! I'LL DRIVE THE 15 MINUTES INTO TOWN AND HAVE CHASE TAKE CARE OF MY BANKING NEEDS. MY SUGGESTION TO CITIZENS... "GO HANG YOURSELVES" YOU HAVE GOT TO BE ARE BY FAR THE WORST BANK NOT JUST ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH BUT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. YOU SUCK!!!!

stephen hotchkiss

4 months ago

Citizens bank allowed fraudulent…

Citizens bank allowed fraudulent accounts to be opened in my name. Impossible to get anyone in customer service to help. Their system needs to be completely overhauled. I had customer service reps HANG UP ON ME MID CALL multiple times instead of helping me close the accounts.

kevin kelly

5 months ago

Sucks

Sucks. I was a Mellon bank customer and have been with Citizens for basic services since they took over Mellon's retail operation. Well let's start. Right now a competent bank is offering 1 year CDs at 4.5 percent. Citizens? 2.5. So it must be the velvet glove service you get? We have 6 banks, most of which are online banks. Citizens is by far the hardest to get in touch with. You have to key in your whole debit card number or account number even to get through! When my debit card was stolen in Athens, I couldn't get through at all! OK, the next is that they limit transfers of your own money to your other banks to just 15K per MONTH. Because I guess they are desperate to keep deposits by whatever means, since they don't pay any interest. Fortunately Ally would TAKE the money from the account for free in one transaction. Once I tried to use Citizens to do a foreign currency transfer. That is where their in-office service should shine, no? Wrong! I had to schlepp into the office 3 times to talk to a great man banker. Always a procedural block! I finally did it for 1/4 price online. This company has the smell of death. Some old farts are papering their retirements while the company slowly dies due to absolute absence of a plausible business model. A pure service company with no service. There is a growth industry for you.

joe hennessey

5 months ago

Poor customer service

Poor customer service. Closed multiple locations meaning I have to call in for service. Long waits on the phone 2 1/2 hours only to get a rude rep that was useless. I tried again today and was on hold for 2 hrs again. I have a business to run. Can’t deal with this type of customer service.

catherine cashman

5 months ago

Dear god this app is bad

Oh my god this app is so f***ing annoying. Every single time I try to log in- without fail- whether it's with face ID or my password, i always get the same "Login Failed: Your account cannot be accessed at this time, please try again later" popup, then the app starts glitching and reloading the login page every second or so. Every. Single. Time. The only way to successfully login is to delete the app and redownload it, and even that didn't work today. I can't take it anymore, i'm switching banks. A piece of sh** on a plate would be better than this.

jane figueiredo

5 months ago

Beware-You may not be able to withdraw your money at all

This may only pertain to Citizen's Access-I had a large amount of money with them and tried to withdraw some cash, not a large amount. They absolutely refused to allow me to withdraw a dime if I didn't have my smartphone with me. I showed my passport, driver's license and other credit cards to prove Identity. The banker there also told me arrogantly that the US Constitution is "just a 250 year old piece of paper." Is this the new regime where they must check your social credit score through your smartphone before you can have your money, like in China?

mike maguire

5 months ago

Horrible can't get through to anyone…

Horrible can't get through to anyone for mortgage. Been trying to get ahold of someone about my mortgage payment

david riccio

5 months ago

They decided that the online systems…

They decided that the online systems needed an "upgrade". Now, every time i try to access my business account it won't accept my password. And you can't change your password online. You have to CALL them and be put on hold for a half hour followed by a tech walkiing you through changing the damn password. I did everything and it worked. Now I logged off and went to go back on and the password is not being accepted AGAIN! citizens! I can't take 1 1/2 hrs out of my workday trying to get into my own damn bank account! DONE!!!!!!

5 months ago

New Website a Nightmare

Wow, where to start? I completely agree with the previous review. They turned on mandatory 2 factor authentication with no option to turn off. The Account transaction pages used to show 15-20 transactions per page with the date for each transaction. Now there are only 6-7 transactions per page with the date as a header shown once for all transactions on that date. It takes WAAAYYY to much scrolling and navigation to look through the list of transactions. Too many clicks / button presses required for any activity. You used to be able to specify 'since last download' as an option for downloading transactions - not any more. And as of today a file downloaded for import to Quicken in the .QFX format does not work and causes an error in Quicken. Time to start looking for a new bank.

alyson wahl

5 months ago

I called customer service yesterday at…

I called customer service yesterday at 5:00. After a half hour on hold with really loud music I started a chat help. Another half hour on hold to be immediately transferred and be on hold for a half hour. No response from the chat either. Gave up on everything. Next morning at about 7:00 am I get a text from Citizens chat “How can I help you?” !!!!!

annette bush

5 months ago

I have been trying for a week…

I have been trying for a week 7/10/23-7/14/23 to reach customer service on the phone. No matter what time of day or evening most waits are 20-30 minutes long. Reviewing their contact and Help screens you cannot send and e-mail. I tried many times to use the call back system and when call came to my phone it was disconnected. The customer service automated is not for everyone. I have been customer for over 30 years. Citizens you need to have more humans on the customer service lines. I would send an e-mail but dont see where you can send one.

fiveyear user

5 months ago

tech downgrade

The new online banking website is horrible. Everything about the design and interface is far worse than it was. They turned on mandatory two-factor authentication, and the workflow has far too many steps. The majority of my online banking time is now slogging through the torturous login process. My search for a new bank begins today!

fanny cha

5 months ago

Never put money to the Citizens Bank

Never put money to the Citizens Bank. It has been taking monthly fees without letting you know even you have set up automatic transfers. When I called, Mr.Walter, the customer services from Citizens bank, he said he can't give my money back. So I closed all my four accounts with Citizens Bank. Because I scared that the Citizens Bank customer services made mistakes not do one of my account to transfer fund between my accounts and blamed on me. Past 6 months I have never received email, mail or text or a call from the bank for these charges. Six months ago i trusted the customer service that he set up all my accounts into automatic transfer, my accounts would not be charge any fee. The sad thing was he told me not to worry because he did set up, unfortunately the Citizens bank's customer service didn't do his job right. So one of my account got keeping charging fee until i walked into the bank and found out. 😒 Bad customer services from the Citizens Banks. I closed all my accounts because they took my money of their mistakes. Don't trust their services, I will not do business or put money into this bank. 😤

patricia

5 months ago

Insensitive and Intolerable Credit Card Treatment

My husband passed away June 15,2023. Citizens Bank found it prudent to REVOKE our jointly held Citizens credit card and place it in COLLECTIONS, even though I had made a significant payment towards our outstanding balance on July 5, 2023. All without even having the courtesy to inform me of their actions. After holding for 20 minutes on their customer service line, I was told they could not help me. We have been Citizens Bank customers for well over 20 years. I will be cancelling all Citizens held accounts. Not only was I widowed, I had to endure Citizens Bank's insensitive and intolerable handling of my situation.

scott

5 months ago

Terrible

Terrible, terrible online portal and customer service. Password "incorrect" EVERY time you log in; links to allow change frequently don't work giving "account not available; start a chat to get that fixed" error - no chat. This time found my SS# associated with a totally different username. Waited 35 mins for rep; cut off after 3 minutes. No return call. Currently on hold again.

william griesser

5 months ago

I cannot stand Citizens Bank

I cannot stand Citizens Bank. There is no functionality to the online banking portal. I can never reach a representative by phone without waiting on hold for 30-60 minutes. There is no service available by phone or chat on weekends, which is super archaic. I just want to get rid of my account and not renew a CD, but it’s proving very difficult.

becky

5 months ago

If I could give zero stars I would

If I could give zero stars I would. My husband and I have a joint checking and a joint savings account. I’m trying to buy a house and need to provide bank statements but they only reflect my husband’s name. I’ve called Citizens customer service and they have advised that on their end, they see I’m the primary on the account and “don’t know why the statement on reflects his name” but can’t change it. They said they can send me a letter that confirms I am an authorized user of the account to which I agreed, which was over a week ago now, and I still don’t have the letter. They told me we would have to contact the branch where we opened the accounts to actually change the names reflected on the statement. I called the branch today as I still haven’t received my letter and need this resolved so that I can close on my house. The useless woman at the Manchester CT branch told me though I am reflected on her end as primary on the account, she can’t change anything about how the statement reflects and that she nor anyone else at the branch could help me or know the right direction to point me in order to get it resolved. Useless bank and employees. I’ll be taking all of my funds and banking elsewhere.

aron wagner

5 months ago

If it could be a negative rating it…

If it could be a negative rating it would be. I've had over 100k in deposits since opening my account. I recently deposited a check for less than 10k and they chose to "hold" my funds for verification from my bank. Although the funds were cashed and verified already by citizens. They came up with several excuses and basically flat out lied to me and held my money hostage for almost 2 weeks. NEVER USE THIS BANK!!!!!!!!!

lee smithson

5 months ago

I bought some furniture from…

I bought some furniture from Wayfair.com Seemed like a good idea at the time. I used Citizens Pay for the purchase. I paid the loan amount off before I received the first statement. So what upsets me is that I returned an item to Wayfair and Citizens will only send me a check for the refunded amount and that takes a month to receive it. That is unacceptable in my opinion. I would strongly take into consideration that you should read the hundreds of bad reviews about this bank and how they treat their customers before you allow them to treat you so poorly that brings you back here to write a bad review for them also. BEWARE of this company!

adriana h caroli

5 months ago

Amazing customer service

I am so glad that the Ladies who work there actually care about you. I go there at least 2 times a week and i am thankful that they always welcome me with a smile.

that.guy.there

5 months ago

Bad services and contact options, and woke

This has to be the worst bank I've dealt with. First, their services pallet is limited. For example, there is no way to do IntraFi (formerly CDARS). Second, there is no way to contact them outside of calling them on a phone. It's 2023 for god's sake. Who has time to wait on hold for half an hour? They claim to have chat option, but it NEVER works. The button to start the chat is not even there. Third, they went full woke. Only women and specifically black women are depicted all over their Web site. There is ample evidence that large commitments to social justice adversely affects the quality of services, customer service, and investors. I will be moving elsewhere.

hannah s

5 months ago

Random System Updates

The bank will randomly run system maintenance and will lock you out of your account. Good luck if you need to transfer money, or check your funds. It’s terrible.

wiley williams

5 months ago

How can you improve

How can you improve? Turn yourselves into the authorities, and throw yourselves on the mercey of the court. You try to say that you're a great bank. You say that you go after fraudulent reviews. Improve by firing your BRAIN DEAD EMPLOYEES who pretend that their human, shut your doors and never open them again. A one-star rating is being generous. Now, this is what you did to us. You loaned us the money for our Vivint account, okay no problem. This is where your rating goes down. We setup an account to pay you back with a credit card " the card is in my wifes name, because I don't have one", well for 6 to 7 months, no problemo. Your getting your money all looks good, we're happy to pay you back. You call us to tell us that you didn't get your payment, we ask you what information that you have, correct information. Well a couple more months fo bye, and no problem. Again you call and say "We didn't get our payment" Your BRAIN DEAD employee tells my legit Wife that " Oh we can't take your payment because your name isn't on the account, and your going to have-to-use your husbands credit card." You've been already using my wifes credit card for about 10 or 11 months, no problemo. Now there's a problem? My wife says " Well he doesn't use credit cards, and he doesn't have one." Your bank stops working with us, when we wanted to get this worked-out. You sent us to an equally brain dead collection agency, we paid the CABRONS. They claimed to work directly with the bank as their employees. They stole our money and then sold it off to another. Collection agency, who also claims " We work direcly for Citizens bank" they sell to another and they sell to another one, all claiming they work for the dam bank. Those other people who reviewed your bank wasn't to far-off, crappy brain dead employees; when you ask for a supervisor, they think your speaking Martian or extint language, 40 to 50 min on the phone trying to get these people is about right. My Americans, if Vivint walks-up wanting to sell you a security system, kick him in the balls, and please don't let these people finance your equipment. Vivint puts in someone elses information and sends that to Citizens. To the bank, drop giving Vivint anything, read what they do. You had my phone number nothing else, but someone elses information and there address. The latest credit collection agency doesn't know where I live or have my correct name, they show-up as SPAM. They will never get me, because of your Screw-up. Save your bank......before it's to late drop those people.......You don't care about your employees or your customers.....It would serve you right if the bank regulators shut-you-down. over 329 people giving you one star cant be wrong. Can they?

buster

5 months ago

HORRIBLE customer service

HORRIBLE customer service. Wait to talk to someone on the phone is typically 30+ minutes. Online Chat is also painfully slow. Once you are a member you find that they have terrible communication with customers. No email verifications for important account info, and transactions made online are often not able to be seen for days. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BANK.

muffin duffy

5 months ago

Worst on line banking I've ever used

Worst on line banking I've ever used. I'm familiar with at least 4 other banks online functionality, and this is by far the worst ever. No running totals on the line of credit. Worst yet, money transfers disappear for days and they know it as they tell you to screen shot it until it reappears. Same with some bill pay, it disappears!??!

melanie walls sullivan

5 months ago

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE

I called to see if my loan which is now double because of the interest rate could be lowered (thank you Joe Biden and your inept incompetent administration). Got bounced around from one CSR to another who had trouble speaking English. And were also Clueless clueless clueless. I hate this bank! No record of my SSN! What??

concerned contracted employer

5 months ago

Try being the one who works as a contractor for this Crappyy Bank

Try being the one who works in the debit fraud department as a contractor for this company,y'all are a joke of a company,you overwork us,underpay us and under train us and I have to sit my ass here till 11pm at night taking phone calls getting yelled at by cx about there account being blocked because someone dumb ass system thinks Julie's 9.99 doordash is fraud,y'all are a joke of a company and anyone who sees this please leave citizens bank fully, this is horrible and I wouldn't wanna work on my own bank account for this place so you definitely don't want me or anyone else working on your account, this bank should be closed down, investigated and sued!

jessica byfield wilson

5 months ago

I have had the worse experience while…

I have had the worse experience while using this bank, from inadequate staff and misinformation, to downright rude employees who don’t provide decent customer service. My account is missing money and I’ve been waiting days to hear back, I called with a case number today and was told my case number was not found. I spend 40 minutes on hold to speak with a representative and Christine Sou was rude but her supervisor Corey Gee was disrespectful and in no shape to be in his position. I was told that a bank account that I no longer have access to was in the negative, but I never received notification, nor have I had access to this account to see negative funds. Literally the worse encounters with customer service agents and the worse bank that has ever held my money.

sue l

5 months ago

Citizens Bank removed all secondary security

Citizens Bank updated their online app today (6/28/23) and removed all secondary levels of security. The security question was eliminated and there is no option to have a code sent via email or text. So if your password is compromised - YOUR MONEY IS GONE!!! I called to verify this and was told that no secondary level of security was available (1-877-229-6428). Best option is to move your assets to a responsible and security conscientious bank.

5 months ago

For months now I can't access online…

For months now I can't access online banking for my business account. If I call the system is down. If I try online it tells me I don't have an account. The branch officer doesn't hear what I'm asking him. looking for a new bank.

jennifer hr

5 months ago

Banking is great. Merchant Services horrible

Opened an account strictly for Merchant Services at Citizens Bank Annex 430 Forbes Avenue New Haven CT. Manager: Manuel. Huge mistake. Buyer and business owner beware. Our business involves large payments from clients for services. Our banker knows this and our high charge amount was set up on the application as $20,000 per transaction because that is based on the payments visibly received and substantially proved from our bank statements. Citizens Bank Merchant Services are managed by FIS Worldpay who decided to approve our account for only $10,000 total per month. We weren't notified and our Citizens Bank Merchant Services FIS Worldpay representative for our account Mark Lacafta was reassuring when he set up our account. But when an issue arose Mark Lacafta was totally useless, krass, rude and sounded like a baby having a tantrum on the phone. One credit card transaction was held by Citizens Bank Merchant Services via FIS Worldpay. They would not release the funds to us and required additional documentation for our business which we provided everything. After waiting 10 business days for the Fraud Prevention Analyst Kelly Cobb to review our documents (their policy is 3-5 business days, but Kelly only works 3 business days/week and no one covers her work when she is off...) Citizens Bank Merchant Services FIS Worldpay decided they did not like our business model and that they were terminating our contract. And that they would not be releasing the funds to us. Our only option is to refund the client or wait 6 months for FIS WorldPay to put the funds in our account. Any business big or small can't survive with a payment processor abusing them with these practices. We ended up refunding our client from monies we hadn't received. We had to call Citizens Bank customer service (not merchant services) who obviously reversed all NSF fees which were of no fault of our own. They were awesome - wish they had chosen to partner with a better payment processor. We were charged by Citizens Bank FIS Worldpay both when we took the payment and when we refunded the payment $400 each time (Mastercard fee). Totaling more than $800. Thankfully we didn't have to pay the cancellation fee when they terminated our contract with them. Ultimately small town bank which is great but they don't have the experience. And instead of choosing First Data as a merchant processor they picked the wrong one. Hoping Branch operations and Merchant Services can gain the capacities, skills and experience to make sure this doesn't have to happen to another local small business.

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