SOhp101

I had a Citi card since 2003... In the past year I haven't used the card ($15k limit) because the benefits were frankly terrible compared to my other cards (2% cash back for everyday spending?? no thanks!). I got a letter a few weeks ago telling me that they would reduce my credit to $100 in the beginning of December and then they would close the account at the end of the year due to inactivity! The letter also stated that this would be happening regardless of any increase in spending for the reminder of the month.

Of course I closed the card immediately so at least my credit report would say it was closed at my request. It was my last Citi credit card... too bad Chase, AMEX and others offer much better rewards for me. Citi is also the only card company that would answer my calls from India so in the end they were doing me a favor.

jeelele

I think most people here have excellent experience dealing with Citi. Too bad you were not happy with their product and service.

I have never had any of the issues that you have mentioned above. I am heavy user of Citi cards and have been using them for 9-10 years. Over there years, I must have used and handled atleast 50 card accounts if not more and have had 100% satisfaction with their products and services. Rarely has the phone call been outsourced and even if it has been, I have received excellent level of service.

To each his own, what works for me may not necessarily work for you. Good luck with other banks.

cutnana

I have also received a letter notifying me that they will close one of my cards.

What I don't understand is why did you think a card that gives you 2% cash back for everyday spending was not a great product. There are very few of those around.

I am sure CIti will approve a new card for you if you like any of their current offerings.

TravelGuy1965

IMO - Citi is cutting back credit severly to pay back TARP.

They are in the hole more than any other company and will need fairly severe steps to get approval to pay back the government loan.

WannaFlyJ

I had a Citibank Visa since 1995, and had a 20k limit on it. Back in March they reduced my limit to 1k, needless to say it has been cancelled. There was no explanation to why it was reduced. When I spoke to customer service when cancelling, I asked if this was commonplace and the CSR said there were many customers cancelling because of this. Citibank will not be receiving my business anytime in the future.

technique

I've had similar negative experiences with citibank... 10+ years of excellent service, then they just cut you off. Really quite awful, it means that no customer of citibank's is sacred to them, really, it means no customer has any higher status than any other, citibank has ZERO loyalty to anyone. ANYONE can be cut off without warning, without explanation, and without any possibility of reasoning with citibank not to cut them off. Don't think you are immune just because you've had 5, 10, or 15 years of great banking with them.

Beware...

MrPink

2% on gas, groceries, etc. is quite paltry. Unfortunately, you're probably correct as even the competition has rolled over, e.g. Chase Freedom going to a rotating 3% instead of fixed categories.

Night Flyer

I got the same letter from Citibank for an ATT Universal Card (acquired years ago by Citibank) that I hadn't used in several years. The original deal on the ATT card as a "charter member" was that as long as the card was used at least once a year there would never be an annual fee.

I'm annoyed anytime a bank takes unilateral action on my one of my accounts but I really couldn't really disagree with them closing the account. It was just sitting there unused and I wasn't paying them a fee. I assume they are eliminating as many unused card accounts as possible.

biggestbopper

I had one of those AT&T no fee cards, but, it was closed long ago.

If I still had one and Citi tried to start charging me an annual fee ... I'd be on my way to consult with a class action lawyer (right after I filed a complaint with the Federal Reserve).

shel

because there are cards that give you 2% rebate for every purchase, not just a few categories with ceiling.

SOhp101

I know that there are plenty others out there that are satisfied with their Citibank cards... I'm just venting about my negative experience. I can see their point for closing my account but it's pretty insulting when I've been a loyal customer for several years and there's absolutely nothing I can do to keep my card open.

btw, I've had 5 cards in the past 7 years (3 currently active). Maybe you like to churn but I have to say that my ratio indicates that I've been a lot more satisfied with my cards than you have been with yours.

Schutzee

MY experience has been use it or lose it. Citi recently increased my limit by 20% on my AAdvanatge card, a card I use extensively. Barclay's cut my limit by 70% on my LL Bean card (whcih I rarely use) and Chase decreased my HELOC by almost 60%. Amex has not changed my limits on the four cards I have.

sdsearch

Citi is far from the only company to do this.

Well, they may be the only company that does it in two announced steps -- first the credit reduction and then the closing -- but there are threads aplenty about other credit card companies closing accounts for inactivity after less than a year in this forum.

The only thing is, Citi was late to the game (most other credit card companies started this about a year ago!), so those other threads have already stopped having activity on them, and are at this point many pages down.

I remember posts about Chase, about BofA, about Barclays/Juniper, and many others cancelling credit cards due to less than a year since last activity, but I can't remember the whole list.

I even consolidated my Chase cards from 5 to 2 in a "panic" after reading one of those posts, because I feared I would be next. But that was half a year ago or more by now...

Happy

The sad thing about this is, Citi does NOT value loyal customers. We have learned that Citi, at least in the past, has been much more willing to spend marketing cost to acquire new customers and to retain newly acquired customers via retention bonus, but zilch to customers who dont make any move, keep their cards and constantly using one or more Citicards.

I once had a Citi supervisor flat out told me that he could not offer me the same earning bonus that was currently available on Citi website for NEW cards, while my 10 years old active card earning rate was cut from 5% to 1%. He said the bonuses were marketing costs which were not spend on existing cardholder accounts. I was floored by such comment and promptly canceled the card. If Citi values churners more than loyal customers, so be it, play by their rules to your advantage now you see how "valuable" you are to them...

SOhp101

Very true, which is why I don't have any Citibank credit cards in my wallet anymore and I didn't do that on purpose. I've always been fascinated with the whole churning process but never got around to doing it. Now it seems like that's what I should have done for the past several years.