Originally Posted by
Dr Jabadski
Unbelievable, Citi is essentially saying “we don’t want the business of a high net worth, potentially highly profitable, outstanding credit history customer” (who’s generating lots of profits for our competitors).
Their loss.
Originally Posted by
ZenFlyer
I’m not intending to pick a fight but am genuinely curious—do you know the latter part to be true? I’m asking because I’ve seen you post on other parts of FT about your (remarkable) success in churning cards for SUBS. Might a particular bank not view that as a less-than-profitable endeavor?
Originally Posted by
Dr Jabadski
(I’m flattered that you pay such close attention to my musings, thank you. And if “remarkable” is intended as a compliment, thanks again.)
Yes, “remarkable” was intended as a compliment — you’re welcome! In terms of your prior posts, they are a bit hard to miss on the Amex forum, no special effort required.
Originally Posted by
Dr Jabadski
Without the knowledge of bank’s/issuer’s internal accounting procedures it’s often impossible to know (if one is a profitable customer) for certain. Presumably any financial institution at which one has a large balance, either cash or securities, will be “making money” on said account.
Certainly some individual credit cards may be unprofitable but many financial institution relationships have more than one credit card account.
I agree with the bolded part above, which is why I was surprised to read of your own level of surprise at having an application declined. You may not agree with their risk assessment, but the factors they cited are certainly rational ones.
It happens.
Fwiw, in my view they may have done you a favor. I’m a fairly low-maintenance person but have hated dealing with Citi in the context of this card. Their accounting for points in various earning categories is convoluted and not transparent, the statement credits are unreliable and hard to track in real time, and I find them very nickel-and-dimey (rounding down instead of rounding up in terms of point earnings). I’m holding on to the card for now because it is the least expensive way for me to obtain AA lounge access, but am already looking forward to a time when my work travel patterns change and I can drop it like a hot potato. Good luck!