Citibank plantinum select -rip off on interest rate

I used to work for this screwy outfit for about 3 months before quitting, partly for personal reasons and also because Citibank is mostly an unscrupulous company. Why? Well, many of the cardmembers I serviced would call in complaining of interest and finance charges on their account even after they paid off the account. I would explain to them that those are residual finance charges (basically, charges for just carrying an average daily balance of greater than zero) and of course that would tick them off since it is not really explained well in the cardmember Agreement. Of course Citibank would credit payments on a day where the average daily balance would average out to greater than zero, go figure.

As far as your problems with Citibank and their records, Citibank has a MAJOR problem with IT and information organization. The computer system we worked on was every bit of 6-8 years old, and the volume and level of security necessary for a modern credit card operation cannot be handled by this system. I won't go over every detail, but to give you an idea, my computer would lock up and crash every day that I worked on it, usually when I was working with a customer. The phone system isn't much better; the software we use must have been programmed by chimpanzees because it would eat up so much memory and was ineffective sometimes.

Also, for being the largest financial institution on the planet, Citibank still has paper payroll! Can you believe it? And they leave it out in the open for you to write in your own hours and such. I spent a good half hour of each day basically doing my own payroll. Thank God my SSN or other fun stuff wasn't on the sign in sheet. The reason for paper payroll? Well, our managers would not give us a clear answer, but some of my seasoned co-workers would tell me that paper payroll supposedly saves money or Citibank is going by the cheap again.

Now you get an idea why Citibank is stinting you. I'm proud to say I don't have a Citicard, and I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

I used to work for this screwy outfit for about 3 months before quitting, partly for personal reasons and also because Citibank is mostly an unscrupulous company. Why? Well, many of the cardmembers I serviced would call in complaining of interest and finance charges on their account even after they paid off the account. I would explain to them that those are residual finance charges (basically, charges for just carrying an average daily balance of greater than zero) and of course that would tick them off since it is not really explained well in the cardmember Agreement. Of course Citibank would credit payments on a day where the average daily balance would average out to greater than zero, go figure.

As far as your problems with Citibank and their records, Citibank has a MAJOR problem with IT and information organization. The computer system we worked on was every bit of 6-8 years old, and the volume and level of security necessary for a modern credit card operation cannot be handled by this system. I won't go over every detail, but to give you an idea, my computer would lock up and crash every day that I worked on it, usually when I was working with a customer. The phone system isn't much better; the software we use must have been programmed by chimpanzees because it would eat up so much memory and was ineffective sometimes.

Also, for being the largest financial institution on the planet, Citibank still has paper payroll! Can you believe it? And they leave it out in the open for you to write in your own hours and such. I spent a good half hour of each day basically doing my own payroll. Thank God my SSN or other fun stuff wasn't on the sign in sheet. The reason for paper payroll? Well, our managers would not give us a clear answer, but some of my seasoned co-workers would tell me that paper payroll supposedly saves money or Citibank is going by the cheap again.

Now you get an idea why Citibank is stinting you. I'm proud to say I don't have a Citicard, and I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

I used to work for this screwy outfit for about 3 months before quitting, partly for personal reasons and also because Citibank is mostly an unscrupulous company. Why? Well, many of the cardmembers I serviced would call in complaining of interest and finance charges on their account even after they paid off the account. I would explain to them that those are residual finance charges (basically, charges for just carrying an average daily balance of greater than zero) and of course that would tick them off since it is not really explained well in the cardmember Agreement. Of course Citibank would credit payments on a day where the average daily balance would average out to greater than zero, go figure.

As far as your problems with Citibank and their records, Citibank has a MAJOR problem with IT and information organization. The computer system we worked on was every bit of 6-8 years old, and the volume and level of security necessary for a modern credit card operation cannot be handled by this system. I won't go over every detail, but to give you an idea, my computer would lock up and crash every day that I worked on it, usually when I was working with a customer. The phone system isn't much better; the software we use must have been programmed by chimpanzees because it would eat up so much memory and was ineffective sometimes.

Also, for being the largest financial institution on the planet, Citibank still has paper payroll! Can you believe it? And they leave it out in the open for you to write in your own hours and such. I spent a good half hour of each day basically doing my own payroll. Thank God my SSN or other fun stuff wasn't on the sign in sheet. The reason for paper payroll? Well, our managers would not give us a clear answer, but some of my seasoned co-workers would tell me that paper payroll supposedly saves money or Citibank is going by the cheap again.

Now you get an idea why Citibank is stinting you. I'm proud to say I don't have a Citicard, and I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

I used to work for this screwy outfit for about 3 months before quitting, partly for personal reasons and also because Citibank is mostly an unscrupulous company. Why? Well, many of the cardmembers I serviced would call in complaining of interest and finance charges on their account even after they paid off the account. I would explain to them that those are residual finance charges (basically, charges for just carrying an average daily balance of greater than zero) and of course that would tick them off since it is not really explained well in the cardmember Agreement. Of course Citibank would credit payments on a day where the average daily balance would average out to greater than zero, go figure.

As far as your problems with Citibank and their records, Citibank has a MAJOR problem with IT and information organization. The computer system we worked on was every bit of 6-8 years old, and the volume and level of security necessary for a modern credit card operation cannot be handled by this system. I won't go over every detail, but to give you an idea, my computer would lock up and crash every day that I worked on it, usually when I was working with a customer. The phone system isn't much better; the software we use must have been programmed by chimpanzees because it would eat up so much memory and was ineffective sometimes.

Also, for being the largest financial institution on the planet, Citibank still has paper payroll! Can you believe it? And they leave it out in the open for you to write in your own hours and such. I spent a good half hour of each day basically doing my own payroll. Thank God my SSN or other fun stuff wasn't on the sign in sheet. The reason for paper payroll? Well, our managers would not give us a clear answer, but some of my seasoned co-workers would tell me that paper payroll supposedly saves money or Citibank is going by the cheap again.

Now you get an idea why Citibank is stinting you. I'm proud to say I don't have a Citicard, and I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

I've been reading all the comments from the employees of Citibank and other companies, giving me great advice on how to "Understand how credit works" and how we should all read and understand our disclosure statements.It's funny how up until we actually use the card, they're our buddies, i.e. T.V. commercials, junk mail that they're bombarding us with constantly,etc. Then go make a large purchase, and you find out quickly what the game is about.What started in the 50's as a noble effort with Diner's Club, has mutated into this Mega-Corp,consumer rip-off, that is Citibank.I'm tired of my credit report being held hostage by a bunch of MBA's and lawyers.Pay off your credit cards and get out of the game.I paid off my Citibank card last month.Now I have to go write another check to them for $37.00.Ya, it seems I got charged interest on a zero balance.

While I worked at this company, I realized how many people were out there without knowing a thing about how credit cards worked, so people before you apply for credit cards read the agreements and fine prints, and there will be no surprises. I understand how many of you feel when your rates are increased. I had been in situations that I could not explain to a customer why we increased their rates. There really has to be no reason at all, it can just simply be due higher expenses in the company. Another thing that many people forget is that any changes at all to your credit reports will affect your credit score.
- If you just paid an account in full and closed the account, this affects your score and financial performance. To you this may be a good thing but to citi this can be a negative impact because now you have less accounts and credit.
- If you apply for credit, that's another inquiry that can decrease your score. So the point is that you need to be aware of your credit anytime you make a financial decision.
Now, I will say that I will never own Citi credit card mainly because of all the fees involved. The funny thing is all the banks have about the same fees and rates but to me Citi exceeds them all. Also, we the employees are trained to make the company money, we may feel sorry for you and your situations but we have procedures to follow. Remember Citi is a business and they really don't care about how you feel, they have laws, accounting procedures, and millions of customers like you who don't know what they are getting into.

Per last response when they send new terms to you. You don't have to accept them. They will just close you account and will continue paying at old rate till paid in full. Plus to all other complainers, there are many other banks out there throwing credit cards at you. Just wanted to now why you just don't do a balance transfers and switch companies??? Probably because every bank does the same thing. When you signup, it looks really good till you have account with them for period of time. Also you do have credit card then if treat you like this just dont carry balance and pay in full each month. Would not even have to worry about interest rate. Plus you are using their money...

I feel that if a company wants to raise their interest rates, the new rates should apply to purchases dated after the increase. The balance prior to the increase should be charged at the original agreed rate.

I don't feel that interest charges should be added to the outstanding balance and cause you to go over your limit.

My example is interest rates went from 11.650% to 27.99% in one month.This is gouging regardless of credit history.

When I got the enclosure in my March bill that said that Citibank was now going to be able to raise my interest rates to stratospheric heights *forever* if even a *single payment* got to their processing center (or anybody else's processing center) *one second late*, I did exactly what the enclosure told me to do: sent them a letter saying that I rejected the change of terms and please close my account, I would pay it off under the old terms. I now have a letter in hand thanking me for being a former customer of Citi and regretting that I no longer wish to be a customer of theirs. I laughed when I read that -- it was Citi, not myself, who made the choice to start "servicing" customers the way that a stallion services a mare. All I did was call them on their silliness.

*READ* those enclosures. *RESPOND* to those enclosures. I saw that Citibank was setting me up to get ripped off, and did what everybody should do with people who want to rip you off -- I told them to get stuffed.

In case you're wondering who's not going to rip you off, check your local credit unions to see if they offer their own cards (rather than offering a branded MBNA card like most of them are going to nowdays). My local utility company's credit union is starting to accept customers from the utility company as members, and it appears they have far better terms than Citi's -- and they're here in my state, and must obey my state's laws, so they can't get away with the kinds of thngs that mega-corporations like Citi, with their ability to buy and sell politicians and hide in far-away states, can get away with.

In response to the comments Jill made and any other potential Citi employees that may have responded to this posting....

In regards in which Jill addressed your situation, I am sure she is either "A" a collector for Citi or "B" a collector for another such type company. Her email sounds like it is boarding on the line of Violating the FDCPA (Fair Debt and Collections Practices Act), by discussing your account concerns and issues in a public forum that might enable someone other than the intended party to view or hear pertaining to your account information. Basically telling you that if your credit scores were in the state that they were and you were not over you limits with other credit companies, then you would not be in the postition you are in now. Additionally, she made statements in referece to how you should make your payments and not become over extended.

I know that it would be hard for you to track her down in such a vast company. However, I would check the date of her response and then contact Citicard customer relations and find out who accessed your account around the same time. I am sure that you will find out who Jill and/or the other reps are.

Considering the fact that Citi was just sue last year on a class action for FDCPA violations and preditory lending laws, I am sure that they would love to help you out with this issue, and come to some terms that you both can live with. When contacting the company, do no speak to customer service or collections, you need to speak to a Collections Mananger or an AVP. You may also want to think about writting a letter to the Attorney General for your state in regards to the employees responding to you in this fashion.

It is because of people like Jill that Citi has a fully versed legal and disput resolution team at their service. I took a look before sending this response with regards to employee postings, and there have been 4 rebuttles filed by Citi empolyees. Citi is pretty tight on the release of public statements and information. There are even warnings about giving out such statements. Sounds to me that if Jill is still working there or any of the others, that they may not have a job for long.

There is no reason that anyone, regardless of their credit worthyness, should be treated in such a manner. Good luck

This is the problem I see constantly with people like yourself that try to speak for everyone at Citibank!

You don't have a clue how I was talked to and you have no clue as to how, I spoke to Customers service.

I did'nt talk rudely to anyone but I was talk to rudely.

You seem to know how to paint widely with a narrow brush!

Your experience with the public is lacking!
I have owned my own business and I can tell you one thing,"

In my business we respected and bent over backwards for those that did the right thing."
It does not matter to me,if you believe me,there is enough people on these boards that know exactly what happened.

People like you can go to school and get degree's but have no clue as to what it takes to really deal with the public and business.
As for my word , Umpty, how long did it take you to look it up? I wish people like you, would spend as much time trying to really figure out why these kind of things are happening and how you can change them ,to keep business.
Some things are head knowledge and some things are common sense.

You missed it big time on that one,so in my books you get a F in public relations.
You can have the biggest degree in the business world and still be a failure at business.
If you have left Citibank,then it would appear that my statements are true!

I can take cut downs all day about my choice of words but can you take it ,"when someone gets in your face and tells you that there is room for change in the big business world?"

No,not all of us credit card holders are scholars but we do have what is called basic learning skills and they don't come from a book.It is called treating others as you would like to be treated.

Yes, banks DO pick out "people they want to pay" and raise their interest rates. Recently went through the same problem with Fleet (in another post; look it up).

Fleet proposed to raise my interest from 9.8% to 14.9%. Big jump. I, too, suspected inaccuracies on our credit report so called Fleet to find out what was up. The Rep read a long string of gobbledygook that boiled down to this: even though we had been good customers, always paid on time and more than the minimum required, and have a lower debt-to-income ratio than we have ever had, our outstanding balance was too low and Fleet was not making enough money!! Pure and simple. FLEET WAS NOT MAKING ENOUGH MONEY SERVICING THE ACCOUNT!! Understand that?!!! Credit card companies are pure greed, pure and simple. They would rather have you be a bad customer so they can raise the interest to astronomical highs and load fees, but even good customers get the shaft. Happens every day.

And, Jill, the company shill: Would you take out a mortgage or vehicle loan with a clause that says that your interest rates can be arbitrarily raised whenever the account servicer feels it needs to increase it's profit margin? That is exactly what CC companies are doing every day. Good cutomers abide by their contract; it is the CC company taking advantage.

I sent Fleet a letter rejecting their proposed change and closed the account. Screw Fleet and Citibank and all other CC companies; they will get you one way or another! Marianne and Jill, wake up and smell the coffee- consumers cannot win with these companies.

First of all, Kathy, the employees of Citibank that you have spoken with were simply informing you of Citibank practices and trying to assist you in figuring out why your intrest rate was defaulted. No one was being "umpty" which according to Webster's is not even a word anyway. So, maybe someone was being "umpty" since obviously only you know the meaning of that word in the first place.

Here's the thing, Citibank does indeed rip people off. Their intrest rates are excessive, their late fees and over-credit-line-fees are ridiculous, and they are not terribly considerate to or fair with their cardmembers or employees. But you also don't get to be the biggest bank in the world by throwing around free money. Why is it people have such a hard time accepting responsibility for their own actions and have to blame everyone else for what happens to them? You say you have perfect credit with citibank. Is that what is on your credit report or what is showing as your credit history with Citibank? I cannot tell you how many people I spoke with every day who had consistently been late even by only a day every single month and thought that meant Citi needed to kiss their feet and thank them. You need to find out what your payment history with Citi is exactly before you go raging about unfairness. Citi regularly does not report past-due accounts to the credit bureau until an account goes about 65 or 3 billing cycles past-due. So your credit bureau could show you've been nothing but current for the last year but that may very well not be the case. Remember, you only have to be a day past-due for citi to raise your apr. This goes back to RESPONSIBILITY!!

Now, I don't know why people seem to think they can call a customer service representative, yell at them, insult them, call them nasty names, and then expect to be treated like royalty. Would you like it if someone spoke to you that way? I seriously doubt it. In the time that I worked there I must have been called every name in the book and you know what? 95% of the people who were mad, screaming, and cussing had no one to be mad at but themselves.

You say you know there's nothing derogatory on your credit report? Well 80% of all credit reports have errors reported on them and most of those go completely unknown by the report owner. If you haven't done it already I would suggest you get a copy of your credit report and then find or hire someone who actually knows how to read one correctly (they're tricky!!) and go through each and every entry. Yes, Citibank is not tolerant of errors and don't accept a poor economy as an excuse for tardiness, but they don't just do a "lottery" and pick out 20 people a day who they just "want to pay" and so they raise their apr. Your notion of such is absolutely ridiculous. So, before you go being hateful and rude and nasty to those who are trying to assist you, check your own information and stop being so "umpty".

First of all, Kathy, the employees of Citibank that you have spoken with were simply informing you of Citibank practices and trying to assist you in figuring out why your intrest rate was defaulted. No one was being "umpty" which according to Webster's is not even a word anyway. So, maybe someone was being "umpty" since obviously only you know the meaning of that word in the first place.

Here's the thing, Citibank does indeed rip people off. Their intrest rates are excessive, their late fees and over-credit-line-fees are ridiculous, and they are not terribly considerate to or fair with their cardmembers or employees. But you also don't get to be the biggest bank in the world by throwing around free money. Why is it people have such a hard time accepting responsibility for their own actions and have to blame everyone else for what happens to them? You say you have perfect credit with citibank. Is that what is on your credit report or what is showing as your credit history with Citibank? I cannot tell you how many people I spoke with every day who had consistently been late even by only a day every single month and thought that meant Citi needed to kiss their feet and thank them. You need to find out what your payment history with Citi is exactly before you go raging about unfairness. Citi regularly does not report past-due accounts to the credit bureau until an account goes about 65 or 3 billing cycles past-due. So your credit bureau could show you've been nothing but current for the last year but that may very well not be the case. Remember, you only have to be a day past-due for citi to raise your apr. This goes back to RESPONSIBILITY!!

Now, I don't know why people seem to think they can call a customer service representative, yell at them, insult them, call them nasty names, and then expect to be treated like royalty. Would you like it if someone spoke to you that way? I seriously doubt it. In the time that I worked there I must have been called every name in the book and you know what? 95% of the people who were mad, screaming, and cussing had no one to be mad at but themselves.

You say you know there's nothing derogatory on your credit report? Well 80% of all credit reports have errors reported on them and most of those go completely unknown by the report owner. If you haven't done it already I would suggest you get a copy of your credit report and then find or hire someone who actually knows how to read one correctly (they're tricky!!) and go through each and every entry. Yes, Citibank is not tolerant of errors and don't accept a poor economy as an excuse for tardiness, but they don't just do a "lottery" and pick out 20 people a day who they just "want to pay" and so they raise their apr. Your notion of such is absolutely ridiculous. So, before you go being hateful and rude and nasty to those who are trying to assist you, check your own information and stop being so "umpty".

First of all, Kathy, the employees of Citibank that you have spoken with were simply informing you of Citibank practices and trying to assist you in figuring out why your intrest rate was defaulted. No one was being "umpty" which according to Webster's is not even a word anyway. So, maybe someone was being "umpty" since obviously only you know the meaning of that word in the first place.

Here's the thing, Citibank does indeed rip people off. Their intrest rates are excessive, their late fees and over-credit-line-fees are ridiculous, and they are not terribly considerate to or fair with their cardmembers or employees. But you also don't get to be the biggest bank in the world by throwing around free money. Why is it people have such a hard time accepting responsibility for their own actions and have to blame everyone else for what happens to them? You say you have perfect credit with citibank. Is that what is on your credit report or what is showing as your credit history with Citibank? I cannot tell you how many people I spoke with every day who had consistently been late even by only a day every single month and thought that meant Citi needed to kiss their feet and thank them. You need to find out what your payment history with Citi is exactly before you go raging about unfairness. Citi regularly does not report past-due accounts to the credit bureau until an account goes about 65 or 3 billing cycles past-due. So your credit bureau could show you've been nothing but current for the last year but that may very well not be the case. Remember, you only have to be a day past-due for citi to raise your apr. This goes back to RESPONSIBILITY!!

Now, I don't know why people seem to think they can call a customer service representative, yell at them, insult them, call them nasty names, and then expect to be treated like royalty. Would you like it if someone spoke to you that way? I seriously doubt it. In the time that I worked there I must have been called every name in the book and you know what? 95% of the people who were mad, screaming, and cussing had no one to be mad at but themselves.

You say you know there's nothing derogatory on your credit report? Well 80% of all credit reports have errors reported on them and most of those go completely unknown by the report owner. If you haven't done it already I would suggest you get a copy of your credit report and then find or hire someone who actually knows how to read one correctly (they're tricky!!) and go through each and every entry. Yes, Citibank is not tolerant of errors and don't accept a poor economy as an excuse for tardiness, but they don't just do a "lottery" and pick out 20 people a day who they just "want to pay" and so they raise their apr. Your notion of such is absolutely ridiculous. So, before you go being hateful and rude and nasty to those who are trying to assist you, check your own information and stop being so "umpty".

First of all, Kathy, the employees of Citibank that you have spoken with were simply informing you of Citibank practices and trying to assist you in figuring out why your intrest rate was defaulted. No one was being "umpty" which according to Webster's is not even a word anyway. So, maybe someone was being "umpty" since obviously only you know the meaning of that word in the first place.

Here's the thing, Citibank does indeed rip people off. Their intrest rates are excessive, their late fees and over-credit-line-fees are ridiculous, and they are not terribly considerate to or fair with their cardmembers or employees. But you also don't get to be the biggest bank in the world by throwing around free money. Why is it people have such a hard time accepting responsibility for their own actions and have to blame everyone else for what happens to them? You say you have perfect credit with citibank. Is that what is on your credit report or what is showing as your credit history with Citibank? I cannot tell you how many people I spoke with every day who had consistently been late even by only a day every single month and thought that meant Citi needed to kiss their feet and thank them. You need to find out what your payment history with Citi is exactly before you go raging about unfairness. Citi regularly does not report past-due accounts to the credit bureau until an account goes about 65 or 3 billing cycles past-due. So your credit bureau could show you've been nothing but current for the last year but that may very well not be the case. Remember, you only have to be a day past-due for citi to raise your apr. This goes back to RESPONSIBILITY!!

Now, I don't know why people seem to think they can call a customer service representative, yell at them, insult them, call them nasty names, and then expect to be treated like royalty. Would you like it if someone spoke to you that way? I seriously doubt it. In the time that I worked there I must have been called every name in the book and you know what? 95% of the people who were mad, screaming, and cussing had no one to be mad at but themselves.

You say you know there's nothing derogatory on your credit report? Well 80% of all credit reports have errors reported on them and most of those go completely unknown by the report owner. If you haven't done it already I would suggest you get a copy of your credit report and then find or hire someone who actually knows how to read one correctly (they're tricky!!) and go through each and every entry. Yes, Citibank is not tolerant of errors and don't accept a poor economy as an excuse for tardiness, but they don't just do a "lottery" and pick out 20 people a day who they just "want to pay" and so they raise their apr. Your notion of such is absolutely ridiculous. So, before you go being hateful and rude and nasty to those who are trying to assist you, check your own information and stop being so "umpty".

In regards to the post above!
You don't know what a person can and can not afford! How dare you to make statements, like this is irresponsible people this is happening to.

Why not put your name, where your mouth speaks?
These are people that pay on time not some criminals.

Thank God , Citi Bank does have reliable people that go over some of you pinheads and straighten out their mistakes.

It is this kind of rudeness and umpty that makes me and others want to quit the company!
You need to go back to public relations and learn how to talk to people that are paying you some big dollars before its to late and you run companies such as Citi Bank out of business.
You need to remember these are tough times and be grateful for the people that are paying their bills on time and quit treating them like second class citizen.

Remember it is these people that keep your job or have you not read up on all the companies going out of business and bankruptcys lately?
Foolish to say the least!

In regards to the post above!
You don't know what a person can and can not afford! How dare you to make statements, like this is irresponsible people this is happening to.

Why not put your name, where your mouth speaks?
These are people that pay on time not some criminals.

Thank God , Citi Bank does have reliable people that go over some of you pinheads and straighten out their mistakes.

It is this kind of rudeness and umpty that makes me and others want to quit the company!
You need to go back to public relations and learn how to talk to people that are paying you some big dollars before its to late and you run companies such as Citi Bank out of business.
You need to remember these are tough times and be grateful for the people that are paying their bills on time and quit treating them like second class citizen.

Remember it is these people that keep your job or have you not read up on all the companies going out of business and bankruptcys lately?
Foolish to say the least!

In regards to the post above!
You don't know what a person can and can not afford! How dare you to make statements, like this is irresponsible people this is happening to.

Why not put your name, where your mouth speaks?
These are people that pay on time not some criminals.

Thank God , Citi Bank does have reliable people that go over some of you pinheads and straighten out their mistakes.

It is this kind of rudeness and umpty that makes me and others want to quit the company!
You need to go back to public relations and learn how to talk to people that are paying you some big dollars before its to late and you run companies such as Citi Bank out of business.
You need to remember these are tough times and be grateful for the people that are paying their bills on time and quit treating them like second class citizen.

Remember it is these people that keep your job or have you not read up on all the companies going out of business and bankruptcys lately?
Foolish to say the least!

In regards to the post above!
You don't know what a person can and can not afford! How dare you to make statements, like this is irresponsible people this is happening to.

Why not put your name, where your mouth speaks?
These are people that pay on time not some criminals.

Thank God , Citi Bank does have reliable people that go over some of you pinheads and straighten out their mistakes.

It is this kind of rudeness and umpty that makes me and others want to quit the company!
You need to go back to public relations and learn how to talk to people that are paying you some big dollars before its to late and you run companies such as Citi Bank out of business.
You need to remember these are tough times and be grateful for the people that are paying their bills on time and quit treating them like second class citizen.

Remember it is these people that keep your job or have you not read up on all the companies going out of business and bankruptcys lately?
Foolish to say the least!

Okay first of all, you all seem to be forgeting one thing...that you are all barrowing money by choice. Nobody is forcing you to barrow money or to live beyond your means. Nobody is making you go $10,000.00 in debt. It is all by choice. And if you are going to barrow money you are at the mercy of the lender.

Second of all, it is not the credit card company's fault that you don't read the credit card agreement in full before you sign the application. If you did, then you would not have been so shocked when your interest rate was increased. And to respond to Samuel wonderful comment about raising the minimum due.....

Well, you should ALWAYS pay more then the minimum due anyways. The minimum due is just that, the MINIMUM DUE. Have you ever heard of a maximum due? The minimum due is the bare minimum that you must pay each month just to keep you account out of the default pricing and to out weigh the interest charges that agreed to.

If you want to get the balance paid off in one life time you must make more than the minimum due...and I am not talking about $5.00 more. And the Idea about lowering the credit line to the balance owed on the account..well that would just create even more unhappy cardmembers. Nobody wants to be told that they obviously can't control thier spending so their spending prevliges have been revoked.

And by the way, because it took seven days for you to receive that letter explaining that to you you are over your credit line now because you just spent $300 yesterday.

Finally, The periodic credit bureau inquires that your current credit card companies makes don't count against your score unless you are applying for more credit or a higher credit line.

When other creditors run your credit for a line of credit they can not see the periodic inquires made by your current credit card companies that info is only given to you when you pull your own credit bureau report. So in short, you can not blame credit card companies because you don't read your application or becuase you choose to barrow more money then you can pay back in a life time.

I could not agree with you more!I am so sick of being treated like dirt,after working for years to establish myself as a honest paying person.
We have payed on time and never give them any excuse and have been treated like dirt.
They want lower you interest rate even though some promise to do that after you have been faithful for months.How about faithful in paying for years!It just does not happen.
I am not against the banks making money in a fair business way.

I am against being gouged to death for no reason.
I am now looking for away to pay off all my credit cards.

My husband and I do far much better with cash in hand for anything we needed.

Credit card companies have also been known to scan credit reports repeatedly (every month or so)
then raise interest on the accounts because there have been too many inquiries into the credit report! If the customer will check, it is the credit card company itself doing the constant inquiries! This is just another ploy they use in order to artificially raise interest rates on folks that are paying and in good standing.

Quite often, a threat to switch to a lower interest card and close the current account will take care of the problem; then the CC company will be glad to keep you as a lower interest cardholder as to lose you to someone else. But it is a constant effort and requires vigilance to ensure that the new company does not start using the same tactics if you do switch (and the original company doesn't revert to the same thing once you quit paying attention).

Let's face it, a whole lot of finacial institutions out there do not value their customers anymore. The bottom line is the be-all and end-all to them and they will crawl up over all our broken bodies to get their profit margins up to where they feel they should be. If it requires borderline legal tactics or creates hardship, oh well, it's nothing to them. They find new ways every day to "load" fees of one type or another without regard to your standing.

I am paying mine off and getting out of the system. Credit reports mean nothing anymore other than a way of manipulating their income. They find a way to get to folks with excellent credit nowadays, too, so there seems to be no point in it. The only way to stop it is to get out of it; these companies have gotten too big and their heartlessness has increased in direct proportion to their size!

I have just came back to see the post from Jen!Give me a break!

In the first place, we were never late on payment.
In the second place, we did pay online when this problem occured, so that we could assure our payment was on time,but Citi bank tryed to shank us and tell us," they it had to be posted 3 days and not 2 days online".

None of the above excuse's fit what happened to us.

It was simply poor business practice on their part.

I truly think alot of the problems I had to deal with come from unqualified, untrained employees of Citibank.

When it came down to canceling our card and turning this into BBB, the top guy called me and apologized and lowered my rate.

Since then things have went alot smoother but I do not feel this would have been possible without our fighting back.

I think anyone who is in the right and honest should never give up fighting for their rights.

Jen

Of coarse you are going to defend the company you work for! I also have no problem paying a late fee when I'm in the wrong but to raise the intrest rates just because is bad business. I pay my bills on time and pay more than the minimum due so why should I get and increase in my interest rate?

I know Citibank is a financial instatution and is there to make money but to penalize those of us who pay on time and have good credit. My other credit card company bends over backward to keep me as a customer and happy ie... low interest rate. Espicaly when I wanted to close my account Citibank did not even care and I had been with them since 1997. Now I am no longer a cusotomer and will find another credit card or consolidation lone to pay off Citiband and AT&T Universal and will never do any business with that company or anything related why should I get ripped off again.

I say Boycott!!!!!

Jen, your comments regarding the "reasonableness" of the banks' position begs the question. The question is, why are these tactics used on customers who have not defaulted, made late payments, or gone over their credit limits on them? Sure, it's reasonable to look at other creditors to determine how you want to deal with that customer in the future, but there are other, fairer ways to do so.

You complain about the length of time it will take to pay back a $6000 loan at $20 per month. Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but won't it take longer if the interest rate is doubled or tripled? How does this encourage one to pay back the loan when all of a sudden it's all going to interest?

Isn't it made even worse when other companies with whom you have credit resort to the same tactic? Now you're paying exorbitant interest rates to everyone merely because you neglected to pay one of them on time, and perhaps with good reason! If this isn't a rip-off, I don't know what is. All this does is give the bank an opportunity to increase profits at the customer's expense even before there is any hint of a payment problem.

If the banks are so concerned about getting paid, instead of increasing the interest rate, why not increase the minimum payment? Wouldn't that help them get their money back sooner? Or, why not reduce the credit limit to the amount currently owed? Wouldn't that cut out their concern for lending out more money than they think can be paid back?

Raising the interest rates do not address any of the concerns you claim the bank has in these situations. It only puts more money in their pockets without incurring any additional risks. That is a rip-off.

Thanks Jen for pointing out that banks are around to make money.



One item you forgot to mention is that in order for a merchant to accept the credit card purchase (MC, Visa, Amer Exp etc...) they pay a fee about 5-10% of the purchase price to the credit card bank for the privilege of offering transactions with a credit card. This means they are earning revenue from cardholders that have no annual fee and pay the balance off every month so to avoid any interest fees. Why does GM Card and Discover Card offer a % of $$ back to the card holder for purchases? Because the more you charge on their cards, the more money they make.



Credit card companies can earn revenue from an annual fee, the kickback from the merchant, high interest rate and any fee's imposed. (a great business to be in huh?)



Is it ethical for a credit card company to jack up the interest rate for a customer that is making their payments on time with no notice or to give the card holder a grace period to pay off the remaining balance if they don't agree with the new terms? I don't think so.



So, before you get too teary eyed about the poor bank not making any money to stay in business think of how many ways they can screw you out of your hard earned cash.

Ok lets be realistic people. First of all Citibank is exactly that, a bank. As with any other credit card companies or banks or loan companies they have set rules on the money they loan.



The citibank platinum select card Does Not have an annual fee. There is an interest rate however because the bank is loaning you money to buy things you either dont have the money for or dont want to use cash for. With every buisness, businesses are there to make money. They dont loan you money for FREE.



So you do have an annual percentage rate ie: 12.74%, which means you pay finance charges each month for the money you borrowed. If you pay you account in Full (which means full banace borrowed) each month by the due date there is no finance charge. If you have revolving credit which means you borrow more than you pay back to the bank each month, you do pay a monthly finance charge (interest on the money citibank loaned you). The same as when you buy a house or a car or furniture, etc.



Also there is a such thing called a late fee. Which means when you dont pay you bill by the due on time (not by the due date). Dont get me wrong I have received late fees before but I do take responsibily for being lazy and not sending in my bills on time.



Payments are posted within 24 hours after receiving them. By law credit card companies cannot hold payments received. But be realistic you cannot send you payment the day before its due or for that matter 3 days before its due. Average receiving time is 7 days by regular mail from the post office. Did you know that 10% of mail is misdirected every day. We receive bins and bins of misdirected mail every day as well as other large companies. Better to be safe than sorry and mail your payments 7-10days in advance.



If you wish to wait until the last minute to pay your bill there are several convienient payment options ie: by internet, phone, or auto-pay which comes out of your account each month. Also, if you have never been late before and have good credit you can alway call in and ask for a courtesy adjustment as long as your account is in good standing and you have not called in previously to get an adjustment. Being on vacation is not a good reason to be late. You still have to pay your rent on time every month, even if you decide to go on vacation, right? We have people calling in every month trying to get their late fees adjusted because their dog died, according to the notes their dog died last month and the month before. I thought only cats had nine lives. There are also people that still call in and say their May payment was late because of September 11th. Come on, give me a break. We hear all of them. We do take a lot of things into consideration though for people who are sincere and have a good reason why they were late. Late fees are there to encourage people to pay their bills by the due date. If you dont like it, pay your Bill on time.



Thirdly, you can only keep you excellent percantage rate if you keep your credit in good standing. Which includes your account with us and other creditors on your credit bureau. If a credit bureau reflects a delinquency of 60 days or more it can affect your interest rate with any company who loans money to you. You become risky to the bank because whats to say that you will not stop paying them next. This make sense? If you loaned money to someone and they didnt pay you back would you stop loaning money to them? Would you loan money to someone who you knew never payed the people back they borrowed from? Probably not? Also if you make $30,000 a year and you had four credit cards out there with $10,000 credit lines on them on top of monthly bills and a car payment, would a bank want to give you another card with a high credit line? Probably not because you would owe more than you make in a year. Yes, having too many high revolving credit lines makes you a risk even if you pay you bills on time because how long is it going to take the bank to get their money back? Years? Decades? Especially if you keep putting new charges on there. Say for example you spend $1000 per month for 6 months and you only pay about $20.00 a month. You've borrowed $6000 but only paid $120. This is only 2% of what you have borrowed. At this rate it will take you 25 years to pay off the money you borrowed from the bank. Imagine what would happen if that same person had 6 credit cards that were like that. Would a bank give that person more credit even though she makes her payments on time, probably not because it would take them forever to get their money back. Keep that in mind when you say "I'll just close the account and apply for another one, I get stacks and stacks of the offers every day". First of all EVERY one of us gets those no matter how bad our credit is, and even though you get the offer doesnt mean the company will actually approve you when they get your application, even if you are pre-approved. People with risky credit are subject to a higher interest rate. You can imagine how much credit cards lose each year from loaning money to people with risky credit.



The only thing I can suggest for people is first, read your credit agreement before signing it, as with any other paper or signed legal document. Yes the credit card agreement you signed explains about late fees, finance charges, over the credit line fees and defaulting on your credit card or with any other creditor, and high-risk pricing. You will be held to this agreement so make sure you understand it before you sign it. All credit card companies have the default rate for their accts, not just citibank.



So sit down and read ALL the credit agreements you have for your credit cards and loans. The only other thing I can say is people who make their payments on time, dont go over their credit line, and keep their other credit and creadit bureau in good standing never have a problem with their credit. Cancel all the cards you dont use or need because having Too much credit can hurt you bad or good. Good credit will be important for the rest of your life so make sure you know what yours looks like.

Since posting I have found out more information.

The answer to me is still the same I feel ripped off.

I went back and investigated reasons for the increase in my rate and this is what I learned.

Your rate can be increased for other reasons then stated on contract.Like your fico score or debt ratio or others.

The contract states if your in default to them or late on payment or in default to other creditors.

IN my case none of the contract reasons were the case.They raised my rate due to fact they think I want pay.Thats right ,they dont know this for fact but are guessing cause of my fico score or the use of my credit cards.According to the statics on fico scores people in my percentage atleast 31% may default !!Well I would like to know did they bother to see look at all the details of course not.They want bother cause they know they are getting away with this .Raising rates on good customers is not good business.I know after being a business owner myself you can not keep treating customers this way.

I think we need more laws to protect the consumers and unless this fact is presented in contract.Truth is though they can do what they want to do and they are getting away with it.

So consumer be ware.Read all small print and then it still want do you any good.If your honest it will not pay off with companies like this.They are truly in it for the buck