I plan to make a very large payment on my account tomorrow with Citi, paying off about $10,000 of a debt over $15,000. It is current, never late. They had raised my interest rate to 25% when they saw I was having trouble, but all of my accounts have been paid on time and there are no negatives on my credit report. I plan on calling them and requesting a lower interest rate, which I think I will get. Is it possible they will offer me a low BT rate if I ask, or is that unreasonable? Has anyone had experience with them on anything similar? I am also going to ask them to report my new balance to the CRA's. They seem to have quit reporting. Also, is it unreasonable to ask for a higher credit limit or will that raise a red flag? My overall goal is to get this interest rate down and then to do a BT from one of my other high rate cards to Citi. Then, ask that card for a lower rate and so on. Any thoughts? Suggestions? I will probably also appy online for the Citi aa Silver and gold as was recommended by a number of people, but only after paying down my current account.
Hold off on the limit increase IMO, don't act like you're desperate for credit. Get your rate down first.
When did they review and up your rate?? You might want to just try and get your rate lowered first and then wait a bit and request a BT deal.
In March, a collection agency placed a $50 paid collection on all my credit reports. It was not mine and took a while to get it off. Citi picked up on it and raised my rates. Also, the balances on all my cards were getting high. I had two serious illnesses and was using my cards a lot. The last time they reviewed my rates was in April when the raised the APR. After I got the collection off, they refused to lower the rates.
Gumbo: I would call citi and tell them to change my account to another card for example Citi Dividend or Citi Plat Select. I think you will receive the new card with a 13.9% or so.
Ohmygoodness, how irresponsible can you be??? You got sick???Twice??? Unforgivable!! No wonder they raised your rates!! And as for the error on your report - you should know better than to do that!! You should never have errors on your report. Seriously, I think you have a lawsuit. Who put the error on your report? Do you have your documentation? Did any other company raise your rates?
Breeze: My first reaction to your post was "how nasty".. Then I realized you were joking. I'm slow today. All six cards raised their rates, the highest was Citi at 24.99%. Yes, I have my documentation and yes I plan to sue. Part of it is trying to get it fixed first so I can reasonably allege what my damages are. I don't have the name of the CA right here, but it was in Minnasota (don't you wish we had spell check still? - this is one of those names no one can spell). . It is filed in my records.
I had problems with getting my rates raised due to high debt load on my cards. Not any Citi accounts, but Fleet and Discover. With Discover, I had the option of closing the account to freeze the rates before the hike went into effect. This saved me interest but probably made my credit usage look worse because it put my total debt over my total credit availability. They raise the rates for apparently no reason when your debt gets high. They give you the reason of "added risk" up front, but I think the other reason they raise your rates is because when they see that your credit's almost maxxed, they know they've got you trapped - you don't have any available credit to move your balance off their card. And, I also agree you have grounds for a lawsuit against the bogus collection people. -ingenue
LOL, Gumbo, that was the desired effect. It is nasty to do that! I don't think you need to get it fixed first. Use the rate you had prior to the error being put on your report to determine your damages.
