Diners Club Club Rewards - Citigroup to sell Diners Club North America to Bank of Montreal

From Bloomberg

"The sale of this business is consistent with Citi’s strategy to optimize the assets and businesses within Citi Holdings while working to generate long-term profitability and growth,” the company said in the statement.

Toronto-based Bank of Montreal said in a separate statement that the deal will double its corporate credit-card business. Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, reported fourth-quarter earnings of C$1.11 a share earlier today.

The acquisition is expected to close before March 31, 2010

I wonder what the short term and long term impact will be? When Citi got shaky, I started burning through my reward points like crazy. I had racked up almost 800,000. I was worried that Citi would gut the program or devalue the points. I'm still sitting on about 150,000 that I just might want to liquidate before BOM changes the rules.

Does Bank of Montreal have much in the way of US operations right now? I wouldn't be surprised if Citi still services the card here in the US.

Now maybe Diners and Carte Blanche will get somewhere! Citi did nothing but devalue these cards.

Does Bank of Montreal have much in the way of US operations right now? I wouldn't be surprised if Citi still services the card here in the US.

BMO is Harris Bank in the USA, FWIW.

BMO is Harris Bank in the USA, FWIW.I did not know that! Which would lead to the question then if Harris Bank has credit card operations? (Looking at their website I'd say the answer is no. They have branded credit cards, but it appears they are actually run by FIA/BofA).

Damn Canadians buying our banks. :p (I think I'm allowed to say that since my mother's side of the family is all Canadian)

Off-Topic Warning: I wonder what other banks are foreign owned that I don't realize.

Bank of the West = BNP Paribras
Harris Bank = BMO
RBC Centaura = Royal Bank of Canada
TD = Toronto Dominion (this is obvious to me, but I would guess a small percentage of Americans know what TD stands for)

Does Scotia Bank own someone in the US?

Off-Topic Warning: I wonder what other banks are foreign owned that I don't realize.

Bank of the West = BNP Paribras
Harris Bank = BMO
RBC Centaura = Royal Bank of Canada
TD = Toronto Dominion (this is obvious to me, but I would guess a small percentage of Americans know what TD stands for)

Does Scotia Bank own someone in the US?

Not as far as I know, though they are a major player in their own right in Mexico and the Caribbean (and CIBC dabbles there too through FirstCaribbean International - even more OT, I know).

Presumably other Diners Club franchises owned by Citigroup (e.g., in Australia) will be sold soon. Hopefully the new owners will invest more in the business than Citi have.

The press release reveals what Citigroup has been loathe to disclose for years -- the number of Diners Club cardmembers:

Corporate cardmembers - almost 250,000
Personal cardmembers - more than 100,000

These low numbers reflect the defection of hundreds of thousands of cardmembers and corporations in the last few years, and is a testament to the ineptness of Citigroup in managing the Diners Club and Carte Blanche franchises.

Presumably other Diners Club franchises owned by Citigroup (e.g., in Australia) will be sold soon. Hopefully the new owners will invest more in the business than Citi have.


Other regions are healthier and more profitable than the NAmerican franchise so Citi is likely to keep them. Price would be too high to make a sale practical.

Now that we Canadians own DC, perhaps the conversion ratio for airline miles can be 1:1 instead of 1.25:1 in the Canadian version of MR.

Not as far as I know, though they are a major player in their own right in Mexico and the Caribbean (and CIBC dabbles there too through FirstCaribbean International - even more OT, I know).

And South America, including Chile and Argentina.

IIRC BMO is the largest issuer of Mastercards in Canada, so the DC franchise is a natural fit.

FWIW none of our [Canandian] banks had to be bailed out, all remain healthy and dividend paying, and extremely liquid.

IIRC BMO is the largest issuer of Mastercards in Canada, so the DC franchise is a natural fit.
And hopefully that means it can stay an MC and not have to become something that only works on the Discover Card network?

Citibank stopped promoting Diners on their website and stopped offering them to Citigold clients, so it doesn't surprise me that they sold Diners.

Im guessing Bank of Montreal will take over the Nevada processing center and the Colorado operations.

IIRC BMO is the largest issuer of Mastercards in Canada, so the DC franchise is a natural fit.

I know this furthers the off-topic relevance of this thread but...

About this time last year ('08) I was having a conversation with a friend of a friend (one of those terrible christmas party things) who worked for BofA, and he was pretty keen to tell me that MBNA Canada was on the verge of overtaking BMO as the largest Mastercard issuer in Canada in 2009. Whether that came to pass, I don't know. Wouldn't surprise me if it did given how they hand out cards.

BMO's Mastercard offerings during their "Mosaik" days of the last decade have been pretty much duds across the board. I hope that the acquisition of Diner's Club raises BMO's game to a higher level, rather than lowering DC's to BMO's.

The press release reveals what Citigroup has been loathe to disclose for years -- the number of Diners Club cardmembers:

Corporate cardmembers - almost 250,000
Personal cardmembers - more than 100,000

Incredible how Citi has destroyed this brand. "More than 100,000" personal cardmembers is shocking... there used to be millions. Citi stripped most of the goodness out of DC before they made it into another MC affinity card... I was a very happy DC cardholder for years in the late '90s-early '00s, and it was absolutely better than Amex. Better rewards, better service, better everything. Now it's a hollow shell... I sure hope BOM can resurrect it. There's still life in the DC brand despite the workout Citi gave it.

BMO's Mastercard offerings during their "Mosaik" days of the last decade have been pretty much duds across the board. I hope that the acquisition of Diner's Club raises BMO's game to a higher level, rather than lowering DC's to BMO's.

The best BMO MC they offered was the FirstHome dollars, which sadly ended this year.

I have fond memories of the Diner's Club as it was the only credit card I could get when I moved to the US due to a lack of credit score (and based on my credit rating from Canada). I would have kept it had it not become so gutted.

Incredible how Citi has destroyed this brand. "More than 100,000" personal cardmembers is shocking... there used to be millions. Citi stripped most of the goodness out of DC before they made it into another MC affinity card... I was a very happy DC cardholder for years in the late '90s-early '00s, and it was absolutely better than Amex. Better rewards, better service, better everything. Now it's a hollow shell... I sure hope BOM can resurrect it. There's still life in the DC brand despite the workout Citi gave it.

I think when Citibank bought Diners Club, they had big plans to compete with Amex, but then they put those plans in the back burner.

Too bad - this was a great card to stash points and transfer to just about any airline or hotel program. I think it may still be the only place where you can use a credit card to get points with Hyatt, since they don't have their own affinity card.

Too bad - this was ...

What leads you to believe Club Rewards will change?

What leads you to believe Club Rewards will change? You should have seen Club Rewards back in the day. Compared to ten years ago, it's a shell of its former self. It used to knock Amex MR out of the park.

You should have seen Club Rewards back in the day..

I started with an Amoco Torch Club card in 1976, switched to a real Diners Club account in 1979. Amoco Torch Club was a co-branded Diners Club / Amoco Oil card. It could be used everywhere that Diners was accepted *except* for the purchase of gasoline and automotive services which were restricted to Amoco stations and reciprocal brands in territories they did not serve.

What leads you to believe Club Rewards will change?

It already has with the elimination of transfer of points to UA and CO. UA is my primary carrier and it was really important to be able to use DC points to top off my account.

And with their no longer accepting new members, that does not speak well for the future of the program or even the card itself. Of course, that's just a guess, but why would they shut down new memberships unless they were trying to phase it all out?

It already has with the elimination of transfer of points to UA and CO. ...

Diners Club's loss of CO, UA and US as transfer partners appears to have been a decision made by those airlines, not by Citi. You will recall this occurred simultaneously with the switch to Mastercard network which meant that Diners became a direct competitor of those carriers' affinity card issuers.

why would they shut down new memberships unless they were trying to phase it all out?

Speculation: Citi knew they were going to sell the Diners Club North America franchise. The value is primarily in the corporate accounts. By not accepting new personal accounts Citi increased the probability that customers would apply for another Citi card and remain a Citi customer after the sale.

In any event, why assume that Bank of Montreal will continue in the same direction as Citi? Having paid for the rights to the Diners Club brand I expect they will aim to grow the business. Whether this will include the personal accounts remains to be seen.

It will also be interesting to see if Diners can retain their relationship with American Airlines or if Citi will move to protect their position at AA in the same way that Chase has agressively defended UA and CO from both Diners and Starwood.

Points Club Rewards essentially purchases miles from the airlines. My analysis of the situation was that some of the airlines wouldn't give Citi a preferential rate for purchasing miles anymore. I bet contracts were ending and some airlines agreed to renew at reasonable rates and some didn't. Hence, the loss of some airlines from the program.

No doubt Citi purchases the miles and points from airlines, hotel chains and Amtrak, but there's more to it than price. If United Airlines has a contract designating Chase as the exclusive VISA/Mastercard partner in the US market UA would not have authorized Citi to continue to offer their miles at any price.

You can see a example of the same issue in Citi's ThankYou Network. One feature of ThankYou is called Your Wish Fulfilled, and Citi will buy virtually anything you choose, but there's a list of exceptions:

Wish Specialists can only assist you with items that can be found within the continental United States. Restrictions apply to shipping food or perishable items, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, antiques, collectibles, artwork, companion services, cosmetic surgery, any financial items (stocks, bonds, etc.), funerals, illegal items, intimate items, livestock, medicine/medical treatments, pets, pornography, weapons/firearms, frequent flyer miles, any item that has been produced in limited supply and items from Internet auction Web sites.

I remember having the Royal Bank Diners Club in the 80's. Can't remember if they were the first to bring DC to Canada or not.:confused:

This is from an article published October 6, 1993 in the Toronto Star:

Citibank acquired the Canadian franchise for Diners Club, the world's first multi-use charge card, from Royal Bank of Canada in 1991. Last year [1992], it took over en Route, founded in 1977 by Air Canada.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/6588213.html?dids=6588213:6588213&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+06,+1993&author=Daw,+James&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Diners+Club+heats+up+card+competition&pqatl=google

An article published August 10, 1958 in the New York Times when American Express launched its credit card business mentioned that Diners Club had 680,000 cardholders in the US and Canada. At that time Diners was an independent company, not owned by a bank. I assume RBC purchased the Canadian franchise later.

Just a quick update, the aquisition was completed yesterday:

BMO Financial Group Completes Acquisition of Diners Club North American Franchise From Citigroup
Acquisition more than doubles BMO’s overall corporate card business

TORONTO, December 31, 2009 – BMO Financial Group today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Diners Club North American franchise from Citigroup. This acquisition, which places BMO among the top commercial card issuers in North America, was announced on November 24, 2009.


http://www2.bmo.com/bmo/files/news%20release/4/1/Dec3109_DinersEN.html

I have fond memories of the Diner's Club as it was the only credit card I could get when I moved to the US due to a lack of credit score (and based on my credit rating from Canada). I would have kept it had it not become so gutted.


IF you did not have the credit history or creit score, how did you apply for the Diners Club? How did you get the card from Citi? Is it easy?

I hope it does not become this card.
http://www4.bmo.com/creditcards/goldairmiles/0,4978,35649_77847534,00.html

with these points
https://www.airmiles.ca/arrow/RewardsHome?selectedCategoryId=cat670016


I would think BMO would try and keep the 19 airline partners that Diners has now.

I hope it doesn't become this program...

https://www.citibank.com/dinersus/jsp/clubrewards/catalog/canada/english/certificate_list.jsp?category=c50a9ad0&subcategory=fc79feb6

Which is the current Diners Club Rewards (Canada) program with only nine airline partners.

IF you did not have the credit history or creit score, how did you apply for the Diners Club? How did you get the card from Citi? Is it easy?

This was 10 yrs ago and did not have a credit score in the US. As credit scores in the US are based on your SIN, I had no track record, so I called up the various cc companies that I had cards for in Canada and asked (by phone) they issue a card based on my Cdn cc records (had a copy of my Equifax/Experian credit rating). Diners accepted this and issued me a cc without too much issue.

Of course, a lot has changed since then, so I am not sure if it is still feasible.

This was 10 yrs ago and did not have a credit score in the US. As credit scores in the US are based on your SIN, I had no track record, so I called up the various cc companies that I had cards for in Canada and asked (by phone) they issue a card based on my Cdn cc records (had a copy of my Equifax/Experian credit rating). Diners accepted this and issued me a cc without too much issue.

Of course, a lot has changed since then, so I am not sure if it is still feasible.

5 years ago I was new to Canada too, I got a secured credit card from CIBC, but the limit was only $500, I spent a lot of money at that time, so I had to pay back the balance every week and over pay the credit card banalce to make sure I have enough fund in my credit card for me to spend. And every time I tried to purchase an air ticket, it was always a problem, because the limit was so low and my debit card only allows maximum of $1,000 spending daily.

Despite I flew Air Canada frequently and received phone calls from AC to invite me to get the CIBC Aeroplan Gold, but when I went to the CIBC branch or applied by mail. I never got any approval.

Then I negociated with CIBC, they only increased my limit to $1,000. I was still unhappy with them, so I called to cancel my CIBC secured credit card. the service was really bad, they treated me like a poor boy.

In 2007, I applied COSTCO AMEX, and I got it, and then I applied for AMEX aeroplan gold, and I got approved. Now I put all the charges possible to my AMEX aeroplan gold, now I have about 130,000 Aeroplan points, I'm very happy with AMEX, I will stay with AMEX !! When all the credit card companies rejected me, AMEX accepted me and there was no pre-setting limit, never declined. ^

Wow - and less than 1 mile per point. Not good... maybe thats due to currency valuations.

I hope it doesn't become this program...

https://www.citibank.com/dinersus/jsp/clubrewards/catalog/canada/english/certificate_list.jsp?category=c50a9ad0&subcategory=fc79feb6

Which is the current Diners Club Rewards (Canada) program with only nine airline partners.

New to the points game. I've been using an AmEx SPG card for a while, but since moving to the West Coast, I really need a Visa/Mastercard since it is hard to use AmEx here. I travel about once a month around the US and abroad a couple of times a year, mostly personal, but was looking for a flexible card with good rewards.

Does it make sense to go with a Diner's Club? If so, are there any sign-up promos or anything to be aware of (free for the first year, bonus miles, etc...)?

Thanks!

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Citibank recently sold the Diners Club North American Franchise to Bank of Montreal. Citi has not been accepting applications for the card for a couple years. It is assumed this will change after Bank of Montreal takes operational control of the card, but today you cannot apply.

Keep in mind also that Discover owns the worldwide DC brand now. BMO will close their deal in a month or so, and rumor suggests they'll make new programs and promotions sometime in June or July.

Bank of Montreal closed on the purchased on 31 December 2009, and has already included a month of Diners Club results in their financials. See this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diners-club-club-rewards/1059305-new-diners-club.html

I have not seen any guidance indicating how long it will take for Bank of Montreal to take operational control. Their public statement indicate that, like Citi, they are much more internested in the Diners' corporate accounts than the personal ("Professional") cards.

[Speculation] If Bank of Montreal does not already issue cards in the USA, we might first see changes on the Canadian version.

Any suggestions for a second card then? I went through the FAQ and just didn't see another card with the same flexibility.

This is a frequently discussed topic in the adjacent Other Credit Cards (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-credit-card-programs-599/) section of Flyertalk. I suggest you read some the previous threads.

There is no program with the same multi-partner transfer aspect as Starwood Preferred Guest, American Express Membership Rewards and Diners Club Rewards. However, if you can narrow your focus to identify the SPG partner airlines to which you are most likely to transfer it should be straightforward to identify suitable Mastercard or VISA cards.

Bear in mind that you do not always need to transfer to the airline on which you will travel. Most airlines belong to one of three alliances: OneWorld, SkyTeam or Star. Miles held in one program can (with a few execptions) be redeemed for travel on any airline, or combination of airlines, in the same alliance. This does not mean that you can transfer or pool points from one airline program to another, it means you can redeem through one program for travel on many airlines. You could be begin by identifying your preferred airline partner in each of the three alliances.

[Speculation] If Bank of Montreal does not already issue cards in the USA, we might first see changes on the Canadian version.

Well, Bank of Montreal operates as Harris Bank (https://www4.harrisbank.com/secure) in the US, but their credit card operations are farmed out to FIA, which is Bank of America. An odd situation since in Canada the Bank of Montreal and MBNA Canada (again, Bank of America) are in somewhat of a deathmatch competition for dominance of Mastercard and the affinity-card market.

How the Diners Club purchase will figure in the non-corporate card market in both countries is anybody's guess.

Bank of Montreal's Ambitious Growth Strategy for Diners Club Cards
http://www.banktech.com/blog/archives/2010/03/bank_of_montrea.html?cid=RSS_bt_blog


By Penny Crosman
Mar 15, 2010
05:26 PM ET

Out of the ashes of the old Diner's Club card — the first widely-used credit card, which was introduced in February 1950 and most recently owned by Citi — is emerging, phoenix-like, a corporate card business at Bank of Montreal that is currently the fifth largest in the world. Terry Wellesley, executive managing director and group head of BMO spend and payment solutions, stopped by this afternoon at the start of an eight-week North American tour, to tell us a bit about his group's climb from #12 to #5, and of course, its ambitions to be #1.

Bank of Montreal completed its acquisition of Diners Club on December 31st, 2009. The acquisition is so new, in fact, that the Diners Club website's "About" page still lists Citigroup as its owner. But the credit crisis forced Citi to withdraw support for and finally divest the card unit. Wellesley, who had worked at Citi several years ago and knew the strengths of the Diners Club unit — it's one of the few card brands that is able to function multinationally, for one thing — saw opportunity and snapped it up.

Corporate travel is in decline, Wellesley acknowledges, as companies continue to restrict travel and use more videoconferencing to conduct long-distance meetings. In fact, travel expenses are down 25%-30% at Bank of Montreal itself, and Wellesley has become stricter about the expenses he approves for his reports. So new growth comes about through new corporate signings, hence the North American tour (the bank serves U.S. companies through Harris Bank, a Chicago-based wholly owned subsidiary).

What Bank of Montreal is emphasizing in its corporate card strategy is "surround systems" — technology and information to help businesses manage and reduce travel expenses. The bank offers software that lets executives analyze travel and procurement expenses to trim any excesses or inefficiencies and negotiate rebates — for instance, if employees are staying frequently at a particular hotel chain, the company should be able to negotiate a discount with that chain. The bank's software works with Ariba spend management software that lets clients automate purchase order, invoice receipt, invoice reconciliation and settlement processes; it also works with travel expense software such as Concur and TravelMaster and ERP software including PeopleSoft and SAP. In addition, the card unit has a consulting group trained to analyze and improve companies' travel and expense processes to save money.

One strength Canuck card programs such as Bank of Montreal's have is embedded computer chips. While chip cards have not been adopted broadly yet in the U.S., Canada began a national rollout of chip-enabled cards in 2008 that will be 65% complete by the end of 2010; by 2015, there will be no magnetic stripes on Canadian cards at all. So-called "chip and PIN" protected cards are believed to be much more secure than magnetic stripe cards, which are easier to duplicate (although the cards still have magnetic strips as well, to accommodate the many merchant terminals that have yet to accept chips). "Chip is one way of slowing down credit card fraud," Wellesley says. "But anything we're deploying today, fraudsters will eventually figure out."

The best part of the Diners Club program was that even for personal cardmembers it was a 60-day grace on purchases...when it went MC it changed to 30-day. It also had wide acceptance in Europe.

Alas, I have over 150K points on this card and since they cover programs that AMEX MR doesn't cover, it's a nice hedge when I have transfer points to those programs...I am a Citibank customer in the US and it was nice that my DC balance counted towards my other Citi balances for my $6K min in combined account for free services, it was also nice to just TRANSFER my payment instead of making an actual payment.

Now, I know why I can no longer view my DC balance on my citibank.com online banking...maybe it's time to drain the points and cancel and save the $95 fee.

Let's hope BMO puts some teeth back into the card.

The best part of the Diners Club program was that even for personal cardmembers it was a 60-day grace on purchases...when it went MC it changed to 30-day. It also had wide acceptance in Europe.

Alas, I have over 150K points on this card and since they cover programs that AMEX MR doesn't cover, it's a nice hedge when I have transfer points to those programs...I am a Citibank customer in the US and it was nice that my DC balance counted towards my other Citi balances for my $6K min in combined account for free services, it was also nice to just TRANSFER my payment instead of making an actual payment.

Now, I know why I can no longer view my DC balance on my citibank.com online banking...maybe it's time to drain the points and cancel and save the $95 fee.


I received my monthly statement, statement date: Apr.1, Due date: Apr.27
What's the different of the Diners Card and other credit cards?

Diners CSR told me the DIFFERENT is I must pay full balance before Apr.27.
Let's hope BMO puts some teeth back into the card.

I received my monthly statement, statement date: Apr.1, Due date: Apr.27
What's the different of the Diners Card and other credit cards?

Diners CSR told me the DIFFERENT is I must pay full balance before Apr.27.
Let's hope BMO puts some teeth back into the card.

Correct. Diners Club is not a credit card. You must pay the balance in full each and every month. I don't imagine this will change with the new ownership. Bank of Montreal's public statements about Diners Club are all about how well it fits with their corporate card business. I have not seen any mention of the personal card accounts. I don't think we're likely to see much effort to attract or retain individual cardholders.

Correct. Diners Club is not a credit card. You must pay the balance in full each and every month.

I am always reluctant to disagree with mia, but I have to on this.

My DC statement ( Canadian Professional card ) shows a Minimum Payment Amount, and an Annual Interest Rate. So clearly they must be expecting some cardholders to pay less than the full amount of their monthly balance.

Or does the DC USA program differ from the Canadian program in this regard ?

Or does the DC USA program differ from the Canadian program in this regard ?

Diners Club issued in the USA is a charge card. A credit card version appeared on the USA website after the change to Mastercard network, but to my knowledge applications were never accepted and Citi eventually removed it. (The USA credit card version was slated to be a no-annual-fee product with 50% Club Rewards earnings. Some of these cards may have been issued to holders of the failed "Montage" card and to holders of original Carte Blanche cards - not to be confused with the newer Carte Blanche with the premium annual fee.)

Some US cards include a bundled revolving line of credit which can be used only to pay the card balance, but this must be activated by completing a returning a voucher. If you don't remit the full amount Citi does not automatically allocate the unpaid balance to the revolving line.

Diners Club issued in the USA is a charge card. A credit card version appeared on the USA website after the change to Mastercard network, but to my knowledge applications were never accepted and Citi eventually removed it. (The USA credit card version was slated to be a no-annual-fee product with 50% Club Rewards earnings. Some of these cards may have been issued to holders of the failed "Montage" card and to holders of original Carte Blanche cards - not to be confused with the newer Carte Blanche with the premium annual fee.)

Some US cards include a bundled revolving line of credit which can be used only to pay the card balance, but this must be activated by completing a returning a voucher. If you don't remit the full amount Citi does not automatically allocate the unpaid balance to the revolving line.

Correct. On my monthly statement, I have a "minimum payment" and a "new balance" due. They're always the same dollar amount:D

No mention of improvements/benefits/perks for individual card holders.

Was talking to a rep at Club Rewards today who told me that the only information they have on the transfer to BMO is that it will take place "in the next 24 months".

Didn't Discover buy Diners Club a few years ago or is it BMO?

Citi sold the Diners Club International transaction processing network to Discover. The network does not issue cards in any market, and does not process charges for cards issued in USA or Canada.

Citi sold the Diners Club card issuing franchise for the USA and Canada to Bank of Montreal. This franchise issues Diners Club Mastercards.

Citi still owns the Diners Club franchises in many other markets.

Citi sold the Diners Club International transaction processing network to Discover. The network does not issue cards in any market, and does not process charges for cards issued in USA or Canada.

Citi sold the Diners Club card issuing franchise for the USA and Canada to Bank of Montreal. This franchise issues Diners Club Mastercards.

Citi still owns the Diners Club franchises in many other markets.

It would be nice if Diners could be reunited as a whole and start where they left off. No more Citi.

Citi still owns the Diners Club franchises in many other markets.


Citi seems really to be neglecting the Australian Diners Club business--it would be good if someone more enthusiastic about this took it over.

No more Citi.

Citi has owned Diners Club since 1981. Which era are you nostalgic for?

Citi has owned Diners Club since 1981. Which era are you nostalgic for?

This quote may give you an idea:

Throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s, the Carte Blanche card was considered to be a more prestigious worldwide travel and entertainment than American Express or Diners Club, though its small cardmember base hindered its success. Carte Blanche also was the first to implement a 'Gold Card' program, but initially only as a means to recognize cardholders who were frequent users and paid their bills on time.

I have two Carte Blanche cards in my drawer, one White issued in 1977 and one Gold issued in 1978. The owner was Avco Financial (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Avco-Financial-Services-Inc-Company-History.html), best known for home improvement loans. I do not remember anything special about the card at that time, and it appears I closed the account by 1980. It may have been different when it was owned by Hilton, but I'm too young. (I don't have occasion to say that very often. ;) )

I have two Carte Blanche cards in my drawer, one White issued in 1977 and one Gold issued in 1978. The owner was Avco Financial (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Avco-Financial-Services-Inc-Company-History.html), best known for home improvement loans. I do not remember anything special about the card at that time, and it appears I closed the account by 1980. It may have been different when it was owned by Hilton, but I'm too young. (I don't have occasion to say that very often. ;) )

Interesting, I wonder what the difference between the two are? There is no reference to any Avco affiliation from what I have read, one of my old bosses used to work for Avco until about 10 years ago when they got bought out.

I received a letter yesterday from BMO noting the DC aquisition but that the transition from Citi will be "seamless".

FWIW one big reason I kept the DC card after the deal a few years back with Mastercard was they gave Canadians cardholders Priority Club membership, a perk still in effect and appreciated for the lounge access as until this year when I became UA MP 2P (Star Alliance Gold) I was a nothing elite. I'll be curious to see whether BMO drops this perk in which case I think I'll drop the card as most airline now sell lounge access, a relatively new "enhancement".

The only thing to be nostalgic for was the 60 day payment terms.

hmm, I've never seen them shut down their website due to "scheduled maintenance" for this long... I think it's been down for almost two days now, or I've been up for too long and I'm starting to mix up the days.

Just wanted to see this month's balance:mad:

Are you still having issues getting in? I was able to get in today.

I was really worried because I needed to make my online payment. Fortunately it came back yesterday.

Since BOM is a Canadian bank, and Canada is apparently "ahead" of the US in chip&pin, and a chip&pin card is quickly becoming more and more necessary for European travel (yet impossible to get from US card issuers so far):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-credit-card-programs/963407-does-anyone-us-offer-visa-mc-chip-pin-13.html

I wonder if we can hope for Diners Club to be one of the first cards available in the US to offer chip&pin, once BOM is issuing them?

I wonder if we can hope for Diners Club to be one of the first cards available in the US to offer chip&pin, once BOM is issuing them?

If this happens it will be due to the Mastercard affiliation, not Diners Club. Here is a notice on the Diners Club UK website explaining that UK-issued cards will continue to use magnetic strips and will not migrate to Chip & PIN.

http://www.dinersclub.co.uk/#en/news/news-articles/article/chip-and-pin-for-cardholders/403.html

interesting article - hope this bodes well for Club Rewards
http://www.allbusiness.com/management/personal-business-support-services-travel/13913618-1.html

...interesting article - hope this bodes well for Club Rewards

I don't see anything in the article about rewards, only about cost control and accounting programs for corporate clients.

The only thing to be nostalgic for was the 60 day payment terms.

A few other things to be nostalgic for:
- 100% bonus on BA conversions
- Partnerships with all US airlines
- Ability to convert miles back into DC points on multiple airlines

Ability to convert miles back into DC points on multiple airlines

I only recall AA and UA offering this, and AA is still available. Did any carrier other than UA ever participate in this feature?

The only thing to be nostalgic for was the 60 day payment terms.
Some us may be starting to get nostalgic for the 30 day payment terms!

Seems it's now even a few days shorter than even that (tho very confusing, where in the left column on the statement it says I'll owe penalties if I don't pay by the date above, which is the next statement date, and then in the right column it says something similar about a due date which is several days earlier!).

(This is for Diners Club US.)

I just noticed that DC Websites for US & Canada have been (partially) merged into DCnorthamerica.com

I just noticed that DC Websites for US & Canada have been partially) merged into DCnorthamerica.com

Interesting.

Either I have been asleep in a cave for the last 9 + months, and have awoken on April 1.

Or you have stumbled upon some kind of test site for DC. I can't get that url to load at all right now.

If they did merge the two sites ( which wouldn't be a bad idea ), would they improve on the Canadian Club Rewards program ( more airlines, better transfer ratio ), or dilute the American program ?

Try this URL:

http://www.dinersclubnorthamerica.com/

However, it appears to be merely a launch page with links to the separate USA and Canadian pages. Inasmuch as this page still shows Citi trademarks I'm not sure it's new.

What gets me about the DC web site is that if you click on the "News" tab there hasn't been any "News" in there for over a year. You would think with all that has been going on they would post some "news" in there to keep us current.

I just received my paper statement yesterday and noticed that although the envelope lists Citi's SD address, the statement payment address now is in Des Moines, IA, instead of The Lakes, NV.

On the back of the first page and in promo materials, it now says that Harris, NA (which is BOM's Chicago based subsidiary that it acquired many years ago). is the issuer of the Diners Club card.

Now this leads me to wonder if AAdvantage transfers are in jeopardy now that Diners is no longer a Citi card.

I assume the ability to pay at a Citibank branch will disappear in 2011 too.

I wonder if that change happened on Oct 29? :)

I made a payment on Diners' US website to my account on that day (a Friday morning), and while it was credited on Diners' website by the next day, as usual, two full weeks later it still hadn't been withdrawn from my checking account (whereas before it had at most taken a few days always). I called up Diners and asked them about this, and they said they'd had problems with payments submitted on that date, and not to worry. (A couple days later, ie earily this week, the payment finally got withdrawn from my checking account.)

I wonder, in light of the Harris change noticed by askmrlee, whether Friday Oct 29 was the day of some sort of switchover of payment processing from Citi to Harris?

There was absolutely something different about online payments these past couple of weeks. Made payment on 9 Nov, got same auto processing payment confirmation email, payment posted to account next day, but money not taken out of my Citibank (ironically) checking account until this morning 19 Nov. Haven't had time to look back at old debits in my checking account, but my first instinct when I saw the debit this morning was that the description was different as well.

Cannot get onto Dinersclub website dinersclubus.com I hope they have not taken away the perks. Does anyone know?

Cannot get onto Dinersclub website dinersclubus.com I hope they have not taken away the perks. Does anyone know?

I just got in with no problem. The sky isn't falling yet.

I didn't know about the BOM acquisition until I read this thread today.

I came in here, because today I was wondering if I should cash out my 30k club rewards points and finally ditch the card. I never use it anymore. I guess I was tired of waiting for citibank, now BOM, to update the quicken download feature so it actually works with any recent version of quicken. :)

It was always kind of odd that they kept it completely separate.

-David

...tired of waiting for citibank, now BOM, to update the quicken download feature so it actually works with any recent version of quicken....

Newest post in this thread indicates this has been done:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diners-club-club-rewards/560420-diners-club-quicken.html

Newest post in this thread indicates this has been done:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diners-club-club-rewards/560420-diners-club-quicken.html

I'll post there, but DC didn't update their download formats. It's still the primitive qif format which modern versions of quicken don't allow for use with credit accounts. Maybe they relaxed the restriction in quicken or that poster found a workaround.

Not that it appears it will directly impact the Diners Club product, but today BMO announced the purchase of M&I Bank, they're really pushing into the US market. One article I read said they'll be the eleventh largest bank in the US after that acquisition in terms of number of branches.

Not that it appears it will directly impact the Diners Club...

This article (http://host.madison.com/ct/business/biz_beat/article_fa569b90-0a0a-11e0-903d-001cc4c03286.html) asserts that ...M&I Bank is being sold to the Bank of Montreal and will now operate as a Harris Bank ...The iconic "M&I" name will go as quickly as Harris can get the new signs up ....

If accurate this could create another distraction and delay BMO from taking operational control of, or refreshing, Diners Club's consumer card business.

If accurate this could create another distraction and delay BMO from taking operational control of, or refreshing, Diners Club's consumer card business.

How could they possibly go any slower?!? :D

Are they still offering new accounts ?

...new accounts ?

Not in Canada or the USA, but I assume this will change when BMO fully integrates Diners into their operations.

thanks MIA

If accurate this could create another distraction and delay BMO from taking operational control of, or refreshing, Diners Club's consumer card business.


Maybe, maybe not... M&I issues their own cards, so in effect this gives Harris a card business that could either speed things up (convert from Citi platform to M&I) or you could be right that everything slows down and Diners goes way on the back burner because of the small (and shrinking) size.

IMO, this is nothing more than a regional bank buying an adjacent regional bank I would not read anything more than this with regards