Citibank - CitiCards Deceptive mailing announcing (in very small print) increased APR Jacksonville Florida

Mary,

At my first read through of your letter, I'm wanting to unleash a pure stream of built up anger on this issue, but alas, I respect this website and feel that everything can be explained in a short paragraph with minimal sarcasm.

So let me ask you this though. What did your lawyer say? Did he mention reading you Rica? (basically the 'small print'/agreement to the layman) Anything in there about a late payment having the effect of RAISING YOUR RATE TO 31.49%! As many consumers would say "thats highway robbery!" YES, it is, but guess what, you agreed to it by using the card.

Here's what everyone needs to do. STOP BUYING THINGS WITH CREDIT!

As far as my 'tip' goes, simply call the customer service department, request that it be lowered (if you were late for a valid reason) Typically, there should be no problem.

I was late on paying one of my cards by ATT, and then Citicard raised my rate to 30% on my Citicard and my ATT card. I never made a late payment on my Citicard. I am contacting my lawyer tomorrow to fight these ludicrous finance charges. How can this even be legal to charge such outrageous interest rates? Watch out for Citicard as they own many other credit card companies that you might not be aware of. You can miss a payment on one card, and they will raise your rate to 30% on all your cards.

If anyone else has had success fighting these interest rate hikes, please post a response. Thanks.

'Read the fine print!'

And, I don't believe it arrived in a tri-fold envelope! Each one I received had the last four digits of my account number on it, so it was mailed in a white envelope. I certainly don't feel it's deceiving in any way. It was a notice of change to terms and conditions of my acount, which is perfectly legal.

Hi Merly,

It's sad that this wasn't made a more public announcement, but what I believe you have been affected by is the new federal interest rate, also known as the "new minimum due". This is hardly the idea of Citi-cards, but the idea of the federal government. Look it up on the internet, you'll find plenty of info.

Your absolutly correct about Citi representing many portfolios. Hardly a "cover" or anything to "beware" about though. It only makes sense that in a country were so many corporations are merging to be mutually benificial to eachother, and ultimatly the consumer that we would naturally see the largest financial corporation in the world to do the same. Simply put, a Citi card can be anything from Sears, Key Bank, Conoco, Exxon Moble and so on. The great news to this, is you get the same great service for all cards plus can handle all issues in one call, rather than floating around through several call centers for hours on end.

As far as the plain tri-fold envelope, not sure what to say. I will be happy to suggest a comment that we send all future mailings out in shiny tin foil if you'd like. Either it was marked enough to know who it was from (citi), or hey, it could have been from any other company.

Now I could be incorrect, maybe a letter was sent increasing all members APR, but why? Is Citi cards really wanting to lose cardmembers to other companies such as Chase, just to attempt to profit a bit more off the loyal cardmembers they already have?

Now if this is the new minimum law that you are experiencing you should know that to this date, the only company I'm aware that is doing anything to aid it's customers IS Citi-cards. Citi-cards does have a program available to assist it's cardholders in adapting to the new minimum due. A program not so easy to offer considering they had to convince the government and OCC to allow it.

Anyway, I do hope that the letter you received was in regards to the new minimum due. Other wise, I would expect nothing less then for you to call in and ask why every single cardholders APR will be incresed including your own.

I hope this helps.