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Citi cards closed, TYP confiscated, reasons not disclosed.

Citi cards closed, TYP confiscated, reasons not disclosed.

Old Mar 30, 2013, 9:32 pm
  #16  
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Depending on what your reported income and associated credit limits are, I don't think it is at all unreasonable for Citi to close an account with $160,000 in spending for "security reasons" even if it was repeatedly paid off.

Given that most of us are so "points centric," I think we sometimes forget that banks are mostly concerned about regulatory compliance and having "above board," credit worthy customers with legitimate sources of income. From that standpoint, I think it seems very reasonable that Citi need need not be going after customers for perk abuse when they close accounts that have these kinds of spending patterns ($160k+ over six weeks).

They may not like that we're spending thousands of dollars a month in bonused categories, but that's not what their looking for. They're looking for customers who might be using their accounts for illegal activity. It just so happens that this kind of spending looks like illegal activity and Citi has no self interest in being proven wrong.
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 9:43 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by CMHFlyerOH
Depending on what your reported income and associated credit limits are, I don't think it is at all unreasonable for Citi to close an account with $160,000 in spending for "security reasons" even if it was repeatedly paid off.

Given that most of us are so "points centric," I think we sometimes forget that banks are mostly concerned about regulatory compliance and having "above board," credit worthy customers with legitimate sources of income. From that standpoint, I think it seems very reasonable that Citi need need not be going after customers for perk abuse when they close accounts that have these kinds of spending patterns ($160k+ over six weeks).

They may not like that we're spending thousands of dollars a month in bonused categories, but that's not what their looking for. They're looking for customers who might be using their accounts for illegal activity. It just so happens that this kind of spending looks like illegal activity and Citi has no self interest in being proven wrong.
But whatever happened to the "call the client to verify whats going on" instead of immediately closing the account and now REFUSING to speak with the client about such matter...
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 9:45 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by SuperKirby
But whatever happened to the "call the client to verify whats going on" instead of immediately closing the account and now REFUSING to speak with the client...
For all the whining that people do about financial reviews, they seem to forget that American Express is the only big guy that has a process in which you can (sort of) defend yourself, and that's the FR. Chase and Citi just shut you down without so much as a letter or call first. Give me a financial review any day.
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 9:51 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by gloreglabert
For all the whining that people do about financial reviews, they seem to forget that American Express is the only big guy that has a process in which you can (sort of) defend yourself, and that's the FR. Chase and Citi just shut you down without so much as a letter or call first. Give me a financial review any day.
+2. A client spending 140K in one month out of the blue can potentially be an excellent client in the future (given an approval financial review). Cut off (or cap) the "perk abuse" and keep the client. If the client does not like the capped product, then he or she may rightfully leave on good terms. IMO, this looks bad on Citi, now two rows down on my top 10 financial institution list.
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 10:07 pm
  #20  
 
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The problem is that customers that look like their doing something illegal are just as much trouble as customers who are doing something illegal. Both types of customers are more trouble than their worth.

And I really don't think that Citi is looking for "perk abuse," it just so happens that what they ARE looking for (potential illegal activity) is also what perk abuse (in the most extreme cases) looks like.

Last edited by CMHFlyerOH; Mar 30, 2013 at 10:15 pm
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 10:14 pm
  #21  
 
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The reason why i said slow and steady is because im already blacklisted by chase so citi is the best i got for now And amex.I want to keep playing for the long run but 800k typ can get you alot of travel so you dont need citi right now.Im glad you got to keep the points when chase blacklisted me they kept my points.Chase wont give me a card for nothing in the world so i cherish my relationships with the other banks.Alot of people who only think about the now and go full throttle usually misses out on the good offers down the line.

I personally jumped on the 10 k spend amex business card a couple of weeks ago and really dont want to manafucture spend 20 k for me and my wife so i think i rather not take that chance.
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 10:17 pm
  #22  
 
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Good point!
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 10:44 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by CMHFlyerOH
The problem is that customers that look like their doing something illegal are just as much trouble as customers who are doing something illegal. Both types of customers are more trouble than their worth.

And I really don't think that Citi is looking for "perk abuse," it just so happens that what they ARE looking for (potential illegal activity) is also what perk abuse (in the most extreme cases) looks like.
Great point but man, so harsh for the clients because they technically didn't do anything wrong and didn't even violate terms and conditions (correct me if i'm wrong of course).

Originally Posted by jada135
The reason why i said slow and steady is because im already blacklisted by chase so citi is the best i got for now And amex.I want to keep playing for the long run but 800k typ can get you alot of travel so you dont need citi right now.Im glad you got to keep the points when chase blacklisted me they kept my points.Chase wont give me a card for nothing in the world so i cherish my relationships with the other banks.Alot of people who only think about the now and go full throttle usually misses out on the good offers down the line.
The reason for your blacklist was similar to the reason discussed in this thread I assume? Did you violate any T&Cs with CHase?
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 11:07 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by SuperKirby
Great point but man, so harsh for the clients because they technically didn't do anything wrong and didn't even violate terms and conditions (correct me if i'm wrong of course).

The reason for your blacklist was similar to the reason discussed in this thread I assume? Did you violate any T&Cs with CHase?
Blacklists do not care for T&C. If the bank decides they don't want to do business with you for any reason, you're done. Unprofitability is a good reason as far as they're concerned (though you can be sure they'll make up some bogus reason if pressed).
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Old Mar 30, 2013, 11:43 pm
  #25  
 
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Family member got shut down too. Got the 5x card last month with an extremely low limit. Got them to increase it to $7k. Bought 6.5k worth of VR plus a few other swipes over a couple of weeks. Checked account a few days ago and both the 5x preferred and the premier were shut down. Called in and asked how we could be shut down before even our first statement closed. I was very nice. Got escalated to a supervisor who asked a bunch of income questions, put us on hold, and reopened the accounts. Never used the word "perk abuse" and said it was the high dollar charges in the first month the account was open.

Not sure we are going to push our luck with too many more VRs on this card. This family member has only a few months left until eligible for AA citi churn and we don't want to get shut down.
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Old Mar 31, 2013, 8:47 am
  #26  
 
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Was there excessive spending on the Premier as well?

Were any other Citi accounts closed beyond just the Preferred and Premier?

Was the Premier a new account or one with some history?

Just trying to get some history to put all thus info in context.

Last edited by CMHFlyerOH; Mar 31, 2013 at 8:54 am
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Old Mar 31, 2013, 8:54 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by CMHFlyerOH
Was their excessive spending on the Premier as well?

Were any other Citi accounts closed beyond just the Preferred and Premier?

Was the Premier a new account or one with some history?

Just trying to get some history to put all thus info in context.
If you get blacklisted, every single CC account you have with Citi will be closed. That also includes any Citi corporate cards if you any which could lead to some serious problems. Doesn't looked like lkar's relatives were blacklisted since they were able to reopen their cards. I have never heard anyone able to get off the blacklist, yet.
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Old Mar 31, 2013, 8:58 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by CMHFlyerOH
Was there excessive spending on the Premier as well?

Were any other Citi accounts closed beyond just the Preferred and Premier?

Was the Premier a new account or one with some history?

Just trying to get some history to put all thus info in context.
No.

Those were the only two cards she had.

History.
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Old Mar 31, 2013, 9:08 am
  #29  
 
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Ikar's situation sounds entirely unrelated to VR's, except insofar as they're large charges -- just regular automated risk control. Not something to be overly concerned about (unlike Citi search-and-destroy).
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Old Mar 31, 2013, 10:22 am
  #30  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Originally Posted by lkar
Family member got shut down too. Got the 5x card last month with an extremely low limit. Got them to increase it to $7k. Bought 6.5k worth of VR plus a few other swipes over a couple of weeks. Checked account a few days ago and both the 5x preferred and the premier were shut down. Called in and asked how we could be shut down before even our first statement closed. I was very nice. Got escalated to a supervisor who asked a bunch of income questions, put us on hold, and reopened the accounts. Never used the word "perk abuse" and said it was the high dollar charges in the first month the account was open.
you weren't shut down. you had a fraud alert put on your card. This is a common situation with these types of purchases.
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