AmCh

Hi Brugge, Could you Please review and suggest what could be My best option
I got the denial letter for the Biz app (applied with link fom wiki on 1/23) that says "The Credit Privileges on your existing accounts are currently restricted".

I spoke to the recon a couple days after app (and before receiving this letter) and was told this is due to a particluar platinum select master card (non AA) closed by citi in early 2012 - (I paid off the BT towards the end of promo duration and hadn't used it for ~6 months later and was automatically closed during 7th month). Didn't know much about this FT thread back then so tried discussing with citi once and left it there. In any case, I thought it wasnt a big deal because I had 1 TY Card-personal, 1 Personal Citi card (AA Amex) and 1 Biz Citi AA Card - so I left it there.
Sometime later, in 2012, applied for Citi AA Personal Card and got declined citing the citi-closed-card. Recon said you can definitely try in future. Sometime during mid 2013 cancelled the Citi AA Biz when they would not waive the AF.
In Sep 2013 tried and was automatically approved for Personal AA Citi (Master Card). Was happy that the flag got removed from My profile. Did not apply for any Cards from Sept'13 till Jan'15.
On 1/23 applied for just 1 card from Citi - Biz AA and here is the denial letter.

What I tried talking to the recon person was, how can citi tie this BIZ denial to a personal card closure? She was not helpful and kept reading the same script in loops.
Then I tried asking how can citi
a) close a personal card for non usage
b) decline a personal app citing a) above
c) issue a personal card
d) decline a biz card for a) above
She was not helpful and kept reading the same script in loops.

Other than that I have excellent relationship with Citi - checking, savings, personal credit cards (3 in good standing).
Please suggest how can I take it up with Citi and get it approved

Brugge

Jeeze, I don't know what to say. I have half a dozen cards Citi could close for non-usage. I very rarely spend anything with Citi other than min spnd. So I have idea why they did that, nor why they are giving you grief over that now.

It's always been true that Bus accounts with Citi are very YMMV, with some people not able to get more than one, while others get another one every 3 months. Worst of all, no one knows why.

I wish I could be of help, but I've only heard of this once before, quite some time ago, and I think the only post was about the problem. I don't remember anyone suggesting a solution. Sorry...

SeeBuyFly

In your credit report, a card closed by the card issuer is always a red flag. This does not mean that the bank to which you are later applying is required to deny you a credit card consistently, but they may do so if they feel like it.

This doesn't apply only to new citi applications when the old card was also closed by citi. It's a problem with the credit report seen by any company that pulls the report.

I suggest looking into how you can get this problem removed from your credit reports.

bleech2

I just took the plunge and applied using the new 50k/$2k business card link, and was approved after calling in. This will be my 4th AA business card, and 9th overall since July 2013. Crossing my fingers that they don't enforce the "first time" language.

Happy

OP is denied the card by Citi - Citi does not look at the credit report of its own closure. Citi went by its INTERNAL SYSTEM which said "Credit is restricted" for OP's SSN. Removing that account from the credit report would do zilch in OP's situation here.

No. The card closed by issuer is NOT really a red flag. Many of us here have cards closed by issuers one way or the other, but they continue getting cards from other issuers. In fact based on anecdote, one person was asked by BofA why Citi had closed his cards. Before he had replied, the BofA rep volunteered to guess, "oh, you must have those 0% APR cards. Yeah, they dont like that." So much for that "red flag". Said person got 2x BofA AS card 50K offer. This was Dec 2013. As time went by, some are able to get cards from the very issuer who initiated the closure.

Citi went by its internal system. What happened here is, card closed due to inactivity is MISCODED the same way as cards closed due to other issues. There is no differentiation between the non-event closure and the closures often led to small claim court filing. This how STUPID Citi system is. It has been reported before, more than 1/2 doz times.

1) One way to address this is to write the Executive Office a polite letter to plead your case. This often leads to approval, and hopefully, correct the miscoding in the system - IF, the exec office has a procedure to correct such gaff. But since this is Citi, dont get your hope high on the correction. However the chance of getting approval is high.

2) Or if you keep calling and eventually find a good supervisor who is willing to dig deeper and then write a recommendation for account approval - that was also reported before.

3) Another way is to let enough time pass - seems 2.5 to 3 years the "stigma" would fall off - again data reported here but of course hard to find.

In fact one successful story on very similar situation, has gone thru 2), got the card, but subsequent application was denied again on the same miscoding. Then eventually 3) had happened, and the application was an instant approval.

ChiefNWA

Applied and was approved for 5K on a personal AA card in December. Decided to give the business card a try. Was declined instantly. Called the reconsideration line three times and spoke to the reps about it. All said the length of credit time established was the cause (didn't seem to be a problem on the personal however). Is there anything else I can do such as write to Citi once I receive my letter?

IkeEsq

You can try writing to the Executive Office. Explain that while your business is new you are not seeking to increase your credit lines but merely differentiate your business and personal spending and would happily accept the lowest CL they will give you to show your credit worthiness or move credit from your personal card.

Ike

traveler9020

No it's not. As long as the account was paid on time, the banks could care less.

Brugge

Probably true if the card was closed by bank A, and you are applying to bank B. But there are several data points on some of the Citi threads where Citi had shut down a card for some minor reason, such as no spending for 6 months, and that became a problem getting approval for a new card from Citi. It seems Citi doesn't distinguish between cards shut down for good cause and cards shut down on a whim.

carofly

Is everybody getting the terms of the promotion in the letter that comes with the card? It used to be that Citi never did this, but I remember reading that now they do. I ask because I just received my card and no terms were included in the letter, so I called to ask and the agent said that no promotion was tied to my account. I insisted it was 50K after $2000, but she just couldn't see it. I used the third link, BTW.

Brugge

You didn't answer the obvious question: have you opened or closed an AA Plat M/C in the past 18 months?

carofly

Well, I usually answer questions once they are asked And yes, I did have an account closed last year. The thing is, If I remember correctly Citi would deny your application immediately if you didn't qualify for an offer.

sdsearch

Have you tried HUCA (hang up, call again)?

Call again and you'll almost certainly be answered by a different agent. Don't mention the previous call, just ask what minimum spend you need to do by when to get how many bonus miles.

Now, if you get the same answer, asking several agents differently, then you can start to believe it. But any one agent on one call may simply not know how to look something up correctly (not just at Citi, but almost anywhere). That's why "HUCA" developed as a popular acronym.

carofly

I actually did and the agent was SUPER confused and told me she couldn't see anything wrong with the application or with the previous account. She said she would send my case somewhere else and that I should hear back from them in a few days. We'll see, live and learn.

SeeBuyFly

There are reports in the other thread that people who applied when not strictly eligible for a bonus (according to the offer language) were not denied, but received Exec cards with no bonus (and no warning that there was no bonus). This has not been reported yet with Pt cards, but there's always a first time---and you have closed a card less than 18 months ago, so you are not strictly eligible for the bonus. Hence we are all interested in how this turns out.

I applied using link #8, and they confirmed the bonus even though I was not strictly eligible according to the offer language (post 503). But that was a business card. You may be the first guinea pig for the personal card.