Citigroup will reimburse customers around the country more than $4.5 million as a result of a settlement with the state regarding overcharged fees on investment accounts, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Wednesday.
Citigroups subsidiary Citigroup Global Markets allegedly overcharged customers when it didn’t reimburse customers’ accounts after periods of inactivity.
The company found the charges were being taken after an internal review was completed along with an investigation by Schneiderman’s office.
About 15,000 customers will receive the reimbursements, Schneiderman said. Initially, about 31,000 customers received a total of $16 million in principal and interest back.
“My office will work with any financial institution that identifies and wants to correct an error that harmed its customers,” Schneiderman said. “In this case, Citi’s cooperation with our investigation will result in $20.5 million being refunded to tens of thousands of Citi customers in New York and elsewhere. I want to thank Citi for its continued cooperation with our investigation, which has ensured that Citi customers are getting back the money they deserve.”
Schneiderman said the bank typically charges its customers various fees, however, if an account is frozen during a particular period of time the fees shouldn’t be taken out. About 2,700 New York customers will receive a total of about $657,000.