Having your account blocked can be a frustrating experience. But, we assure you that Fi does this with the right intentions in mind. From time to time, we at Fi Money, along with our Banking Partner, do a security audit of all the savings accounts & take steps to ensure the safety of your money.

Usually, this applies to accounts involved in some kind of unusual activity. It could boil down to several reasons — including suspicious activity spotted by law enforcement authorities, actions that may threaten the security of your Fi-Federal Savings account, etc. 

Why are some Fi-Federal Savings accounts being blocked?

There are a number of reasons why certain Fi-Federal Savings accounts are blocked. Here are some of the reasons:

Min KYC account expiry:

Certain accounts are categorised as Minimum KYC accounts, and these have a one-year validity. To know more about Min KYC accounts, read our FAQs.

Routine security check: 

Banks are required to block accounts that have been involved in some security issue/suspicious activity from time to time. It happens periodically as a standard practice by our banking partner.

Unusual account activity:

Your account may have been the target or is involved with some form of suspicious activity.

Law Enforcement authority's complaint:

There may be a Law Enforcement authorities' complaint, usually concerning certain transactions in your account.

What does it mean if your Fi-Federal Savings account is blocked?

As we work with an RBI-regulated partner bank, we adhere to several legal regulations that ensure your account & the money within it remain safe. Sometimes, as mentioned in the Savings Account section of our Terms & Conditions, this involves freezing account operations. 

However, now and then, accounts that may not be involved in unusual activity may also get blocked. And in such cases, we will be available to unblock your account as fast as we can — after conducting a thorough investigation of your records & details.

My Fi-Federal Savings account is blocked. What to do next?

If your account has been blocked unintentionally, we apologise for the inconvenience and stress we’ve caused you. There are ways you can unblock your account. Here’s what you need to do:

Take a look at these steps:

1. Check your email inbox for a mail from investigations@fi.care, with the subject line “Your Fi-Federal Account is temporarily Frozen”.
2. In the email, you would have received a few questions about your Fi-Federal Savings account. You need to respond to those questions in a reply to the mail. 

How long does it take to unblock your Fi-Federal Savings Account?

In case of Law Enforcement authority complaints/unusual activities, it takes anywhere between 4-5 weeks for your Fi-Federal Savings account to be unblocked. This is because there may be pending investigations being carried out by our partner bank and/or Law Enforcement authorities on your Fi-Federal Savings account.

It is usually a manual process and takes time. However, now and then, accounts that are not involved in unusual activity may also get blocked for other reasons. And if we deem them legitimate, we will be available to unblock such accounts on a priority basis — after conducting a thorough investigation of their records & details.

What can I do, and what can I not do if my Fi-Federal Savings account is blocked?

What you cannot do:

You will not be able to close your account, unblock it, or withdraw your funds until the ongoing investigation gets completed. However, you may rest assured that any amount within your account is safe.

What you can do:

• Respond to the email from investigations@fi.care sent to your Fi-registered email ID. 
• If there is a Law Enforcement authority's complaint/unusual activity, we will get back to you in 4-5 weeks.
• If we believe there's no reason for suspicion, after examining your details & records, we will unblock your account at the earliest.
• In case there’s a Law Enforcement Authority's (LEA) complaint against you:

• You need to reach out to the respective Law Enforcement authority with the complaint number shared by our partner bank.
• You need to ask the Law Enforcement authority to send a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) directly to our partner bank.

Note: The Law Enforcement authority needs to send this NOC confirmation to our partner bank via the same mode of communication that they used while requesting an account freeze. 

• After these steps are completed, our partner bank will initiate the reactivation of your account or account unfreeze & share the details with us.