Today I recieved a notification from Citibank that my two credit cards interest rates will increase to 29.99%. This increase is basically doubling my current rate. I have been a Citibank customer for 14 years and have never been late on my accounts. When I called to speak to a representative to ask why this was happening I was told that it is an across the board increase. They said they have to increase their pricing due to the economic environment and it had nothing to do with anything I did. Needless to say I am completely shocked and honestly dont know what to do. I have a significant balance on my card and dont want to opt out of the program because they will close my account. That will tarnish my credit report. If I keep the card my monthly minimum payments are going to be so high I dont know if I will be able to afford paying it. I cant believe a company that is nearly 40% owned by the american people due to the recent economic bailout would treat its customers in such a horrible way. Furthermore, it is obvious that they are doing this rate hike now because of the new law that will go into effect in February 2010 banning such interest rate increases . Why isnt there more outrage out there?

It was nice to find out (by chance) that Citi cards had raised my APR on all 3 of my accounts without notification!!! I've never been late or not payed at least the minimum each month. 3 months had passed since they raised my rates! I verified with Citi and they confirmed that they had my correct address. Funny how they can get my bills to me!!! Oh and another convenient tactic for them, they have no way of refunding of the diff. sorry. Nice how we (as americans) can bailout (not by choice) the credit companies only for them to turn around and raise our rates without reason, just cause, or NOTICE!!

My complaint is against Citibank, or more specifically, their credit card division known as Citicards. Back in the Fall they came out with a promotional flyer for the Christmas season whereby you could sign up for a program and get 10% back up to $100 at purchases made at department, discount and apparel stores between certain dates.

The first hint of trouble was that their definition of what they consider to be one of those stores was at best vague. I needed to buy a new computer so I signed up for their program. I never was credited with my $100. Why? It had nothing to do with the item I bought but where I bought it from, Circuit City.

By definition that is considered electronics store and was not eligible for the discount. The bigger problem here was this. In that promotion flyer they listed three examples of how you could save. One was a cashmere scarf for $80, you save $8. Another was a snow blower for $130, you save $13. But the other was a HDTV for $790, you save $79. Now think about this! If you were going to buy an HDTV where would you most likely go to purchase one? That’s right, an electronics store such as Best Buy or Circuit City which doesn’t qualify for the discount!

At the very least this promotional flyer was deceptive. I have cut up my Citibank card and gone with CapitalOne, a much better interest rate as well. I will make sure this costs them more than if they just would have given me my $100. The problem is, they don’t care. Just do a search on this site under Citibank and watch how many complaints come up. That in itself speaks volumes about their customer service, far more than this letter ever will.

I have had a checking account with Citibank around 1999 and when I opened it my Checking Plus (overdraft) limit was $7000.
The other day I learned that they decreased my limit to $1800 due to the fact that I am behind on payments on a credit card because it is really hard to find a shift job since I am taking care of a disabled parent and the economy. Not only did they not send me a letter stating the decrease but they took $12.95 out of account every month for credit checks which I had no clue they were doing. Apparently they think this limit is for a credit card but it is an overdraft limit for my checking account. This company is being bailed out and they have the nerve to penalize me. They are a bank and are supposed to help me and not rip me off. The least they could have done was ask if they could charge me for the credit reports which has absolutely nothing to do with a checking account.

Today, suddenly, when trying to log on to my CITIBANK account on the internet the user name and password for my bank account were not good enough anymore and now a PIN had to be entered, as well as the bank card number??!!.

I have no need for a CITIBANK ATM card - just do banking in person at my branch.
So, I could not get at my account on line, do the transfers needed or set up a recurring payment, etc..

India wil MAIL me a PIN.

I am not joking - you have INDIA when you call CITIBANK.

Now, it means a week at least until I can access on my account!

!MY ACCOUNT!!


The guys and gals at 1 800 374 9700 IN INDIA "customer service" were laughing at me." You must have typed a number wrong or mispelled the "security question" sucker!! So we are keeping you away from your money for your own protection, for a while, say for at least a week ."

No warning, no automatic sending of a PIN by mail before implementing new "security" features, no nothin'.