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Citibank

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Diane of Philadelphia, PA October 10, 2009

I have had a credit card with citibank since May 2007. Without my having made any late payments or missed any payments, Citibank bumped my interest rate up from 13.9% in July to 29.9% in August. (This is basically the "default rate" that people have to pay if they miss payments or pay late.) When I called, they told me that they had sent an "opt-out" letter in July, and that I had the choice to sign it and continue with my interest rate as before--which would have meant closing my line of credit. They told me that I still had the option to close my account, but if I did so the interest rate would remain at 29.9%. The sole explanation I was given for the interest rate hike was that they needed money.

Philip of Belle Plaine, MN October 5, 2009

Citibank claims they have ATM Rebates for some of their customers, but they make is so hard to get these rebates that it is not worth the effort to pursue. Below is Citibank's ATM Rebate Policy.

To qualify for reimbursement of the fees other banks may charge you for using their ATMs, you must: (1) be a new client with a mailing address that is outside a county where Citibank operates a Financial Center three months after opening your account online; and (2) have established your banking relationship online. You are not eligible for ATM reimbursements if your banking relationship was originally established at a Citibank Financial Center or through Citi Phone Banking and you subsequently open additional accounts online.

After several years of following up to see why I was not getting rebates, I received the following answers from countless Citibank employees, including Call Center Reps, Team Leads and Supervisors. I was told I opened my bank account is more than three months ago online, so I don't qualify. I am too close an ATM that Citibank does not charge a fee to use, so I don't qualify. I was told my account was opened in 2006, so I don't qualify.

ATM fees charged by the other financial institutions are not waived. Fees charged by other institutions for your transactions on non-Citibank ATMs are beyond Citibank's control and are in addition to the fees listed in the terms and conditions of your account. You must meet the 1,500.00 minimum balance requirement to have the ATM surcharges reimbursed

In the end I was told that I need to meet an average balance of 1,500.00 each month to be refunded fees. This information was not in their client manual and was conveniently added to their online help section at a later date after I pointed out there was no proof I needed to have a minimum balance.

Citibank makes it extremely difficult to get ATM rebates. I feel they are misleading their customers by saying they can get rebates and not notifying the customer at the time they sign up for a bank account of the 1,500.00 minimum balance, assuming this is actually true. Stay away from Citibank if you are looking for a bank to provide ATM Rebates.

There are too many hoops to jump through and they are not up front with the requirements to get such rebates. Citibank has waisted my time over the last three years by not being truthful about thier ATM Rebate Policy which has forced me to look for a new primary bank account.

Krishna of Fremont, CA October 5, 2009

I have had more than 65,000 US in my savings account, which was linked up to my current account, i also do make direct deposit for last 12 years in to this same bank and branch, Recently, i was charged a 10 US fee for an over draft fee for 2 times

Few months back , i did talk to one of the accountants and confirmed that i am protected by over draft protection from my exisiting money / savings account, When i called the banker asking for an explanation, now they are telling me that it is a fine print, and cannot refund the fees, pls let me know what needs to be done.

I have had my own money 65000 and above and the bankers lie and rip me off to make me a deposit of 80,000 US promising a 2% APR on money market account after i have opened and deposit only one month. they gave me 2%. after that it is mear 1% every month on top of it, they also protected my current account with my money market account, Bottom line, whatever intrest they paying, they rip it off by way of Over Draft Fees. pls advice

Kevin of ft. mohave, AZ October 3, 2009

20 year old credit card maintained, card over the years paid off. Recently, reactivated carrying a balance. EVERY PAYMENT MADE AND ON TIME! 10-09 raised my interest from 14% to 30%! Lowered my limit 10,000.00 to within 500.00 of the balance! Then refused to remove the "credit protection" until speaking with the primary account holder, my husband. I was the one who activated the "credit protection". I spoke to 3 cust. reps. none could help.

1 supervisor and was transfered to the president's office. Not one person could justify or satisfy the greedy actions to me. I ended up closing the acct. to maintain the 14% rate. None of these banks should be allowed to do this. When limits are lowered and rates increase to 30% this causes credit scores to drop, damageing our ability to borrow in future. If one has more than 2-3 cards and other major banks are doing the same Chase and GE have done this to us as well. This is damaged our good name and credit. No acct. is in default. We are talking about every payment made and on time.

Thomas of Miami Beach, FL October 2, 2009

I own a high end furniture company. I have been with Citibank for more than a decade.cI have 16 accounts, both personal and business. A line of credit of 100G and 20K Overdraft protection for the business in question. I applied for a total of 250K including the 120K I already have (so 130K more). We have had slow sales in the past 4 months and we want to expand.

We were encouraged by our branch manager to apply based on our history and excellent credit as well as assets both personal and business that exceed 4 times the amount of the line of credit. I have over 1 million in real estate in Miami, not to mention between my partner and I, 1.5 million in life insurance and credit scores that exceed 750/780.We were denied based on not enough accts receivable and possibly net income. We have enough assets and insurance to personally guarantee the additional amount and yet the branch manager tried to talk to the underwriters or above and they would not change their mind. We would have to come up with additional accts receivable.

So I am gearing up to go to another bank that might want our business. I want to tell the world how a Citibank gold member with excellent credit and assets cannot get additional assistance from our bank. This is why we will not come out of this recession quickly. Small businesses are the main stay of our country. We bailed Citibank out twice and yet they will not help their loyal customers. It didn't seem to bother them when they gave mortgages out to unemployed people with low credit scores.

Here we are honest, ethical,100% financially responsible with a great business model and a small business that up until this year has done great and will again with a little bit of time and financial assistance. I am ready to go on national television and tell in detail just how despicable this is and how unfair this is to anyone like me who has demonstrated their entire life just how financially responsible we are, We r paying for the banks past mistakes and those that were irresponsible financially. I am ready for some justice. Thank you.

Sharon of Paterson, NJ October 1, 2009

The interest on my credit cards went from 16.99 plus prime, to 29.99 plus prime... putting the interest over 33%! If that is not robbery...no idea what. When I first got those cards, my credit score was below 650. Now it is 720 as I've been making payments on time and trying to pay things off! So I would think the interest would go down?

I tried to get another card with lower interest to tranfer the balances but no one will give me one! Do I have any rights? If I go through consumer credit counselling, my credit score will go down where it was and I will be screwed again. I will never pay these credit cards off at this rate, which makes me want to jump off a bridge. They don't know what kind of stress they give people. Obama should NOT have given them a window where they could raise rates! B/c what they are doing is USURY!

Stephen of Brooklyn, NY October 1, 2009

I've been a Citibank customer since 1972 (when it was First National City Bank) and a Citibank Mastercard holder since 1979. I also hold a Citibank mortgage in good standing. And I've had several Citibank loans and lines of credit over the years with no blackmarks. As a freelancer, my cash flow depends on my clients' payments to me so my payment history with Citibank has always been irregular, i.e. late payment last month, an over-payment the next. Nevertheless, the card rarely carried a balance over half its rather puny 8800 limit. On average, the card carried a balance of 2200+ from month to month. It's always been this way. Citibank happily took its late fee and extra interest charges without complaint and I paid it off the next. Until this week. I received an automated call telling me that my credit line had been cut by 60% to 3300. No warning. A call to two Citibank CSRs was pointless. They were as robotic as the Citiphone system. I was told that because I was late with my August payment that my credit limit had been reduced -- despite the fact I paid off 2,000 on that card the following month. For crying out loud, I've probably been late at least 300 times with that card over the past 30 years and Citibank never complained about it before. This is nonsense Citibank: Pass Em By!

james of arnold, CA October 1, 2009

i made a PayPal charge on my account on 9-29-09 of 28.99. so it overdraft my account the next day 9-30-09 i put 850.00 in my account. the amount of 26.87 was in their. i had 2.15 in the account so i paid it to clear it up but then after i paid it they change it so they can put a other decrease on my account and made it look like i didn't pay it untel after word. so i called them up about it but they keep saying the same thing. its a valed charge and theirs nothing they or i can do about it. then i said i was ti challenge the charge they made. they hung up on me wile i was talking.

Philip of Mount Prospect, IL September 28, 2009

I made out a Citibank check for 925.00 on Premier Garage (check #207))on 5th May 2009. The check was cashed by Premier Garage on 8th May 2009. Then on 26th May 2009 Premier Garage cashed another check for 925.00 by presenting Citibank with a copy of the previous check but without my signature. I had not authorised Premier Garage to present a duplicate check nor had I asked Citibank to make a second payment on the same check. When I challenged Citibank for the second payment they reimbursed my account with the money pending investigation. On 5th June Citibank sent me a letter stating the investigation was complete and the adjustment was permanent. On Aug 7th I saw that Citibank took out the 925.00 again with a letter informing me that the 2nd check presented by Premier garage was valid. I went to the bank again to challenge the validity of the 2nd check, and they promised to make further enquiries. On Aug 13th the said amount of 925.00 was reinstated back in my account with a letter asking me to file a fraud complaint against the 2nd check presented by Premier Garage. I filed the complaint on the 10th of Sept. but even before that Citibank took out the said amount from my account a 3rd time. This time I decided to talk to a Manager and going through all the transactions and deliberations she contacted me to let me know that Citibank cannot take any further action as they are not able to get back the money they paid out to Premier Garage a 2nd time on the counterfiet check and so I should file a Police complaint against the business owner.

susan of kosse, TX September 26, 2009

I enrolled my credit card for online payments and entered the wrong bank routing number. Citibank refuse to allow me to correct the error, refuse to accept any type of payment and insist on speaking with my husband. I explained to Citi my husband was working in Lagos Nigeria and I could not get in touch with him. I also told Citi he was going to return the end of October.

Citi bank told me my account would continue to accrue and reflect late payments, which I had excellent credit before this, and they would not accept my payment. All I want to do is pay this credit card off. The consequences of Citi Bank's action is going to effect my future credit rating, which will effect my future work references, loan history and basically have a negative impact on our life.

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