was looking at my citibank statement that i got in the mail today and noticed my interest rate has magically jumped 3% since my last statement. I call them up, they say 'oh we do that twice a year and there is nothing we can do for you' this is after transferring me twice to different departments. Whats funny is I've hardly used this card, until last month, I decided to put a large charge on it..and they go and do this crap. bah..i'd have cancelled it alredy if I didnt have that balance on it..I guess that is what they figure, I wont cancel it with a high balance. bah bah bah.
MAKE IT $0.00 A.S.A.P. then use it 2-4 times per year for gas in the lawnmower gas can...THEN put it right back in the SOCKDRAWER!!!
It may be just Florida law, but they have to give you the opportunity to close the account and pay it off at the rate at the purchase time. They normally slide something in your bill buried in the marketing crap. They also have to put a blurb on your statement to the tune of 'important changes to your account are enclosed' If they can not prove to you that you were notified on the rate increase they have to let you close it at the current rate. Providian tried this sh!t with me, and since I could prove I did not see the notice (I pay my bill online), they let me close the account and pay it off at 14.9 instead of the 23.99 they were going for. They also listed it as 'closed by consumer' on all 3 CRA's TILA maybe?
I'm with George deep 6 the card. Of couse I have deep 6 my Target VISA since Oct/2003 in protest of my 18.99% APR. No repsonse from Target whatsoever. Funny thing is that my Target VISA has a 4% higher APR than my Providian Plt. card. (Providian is also been deep 6 for history). Best regards, Mirage
make it $0 wait 2 months PFB you'll get the same or lower rate, while you're there ask for 0-2.9% for life the President's office will call you and give you it all. It actually worked out for the better . a nice 25$K limit at 2.9% for life, werd up.
They did the same thing to me. Two years of paying on time, never exceeding my limit, and they raised me from 8.9% to 11.9%. I called them and they said it wasn't based on my individual account performance. Instead, it was just a "business decision" made by the bank. Yeh, right. Anyway, I'm going to have the whole thing paid off by May and will only carry a balance with them again if they give me some kind of great purchase or balance transfer offer. I wouldn't close the card though if I were you. Just pay it off and don't use it. They'll start sending you offers within a few months I bet.
I've seen similar rate increases for purchases on several cards (from 9% or 10% increased to 12% to 14%), yet balance transfer offers on some of the same cards are around 4% fixed, or prime + 0% with no fee). I guess they don't want merchant fees from me.
I had the card for 13 years, never a later payment, regularly charge the card for about $6K per year (it's my rewards card) -- and they increase the APR on the card to prime + 13.99%. Never late with any other creditor either; in fact, I am anal about paying everyone off as soon as the bill arrives. I subscribed to BillPay for this exact reason; I can schedule a payment months into the future .... PFB did not work either; got a response from the ivory tower that they made a business decision to increase my APR. They made an offer to restore my previous APR if I agree to an increase on the delinquency rate to prime + 23.99% ( = 27.99% today) instead of prime + 19.99%. Naturally, I declined the offer. Went ahead and got an MBNA card and use it more frequently for the rewards. If Citi weren't my oldest card, I'd cancel the card
And the funny thing is that my other card is from Capital One. On that card, I have a higher limit ($8,000) and a better APR (9.9% fixed). In fact, Capital One lowered my APR twice from 18.9%, to 14.9%, and then to 9.9%. I sorta laugh when people say that Citi is "prime" and Capital One is "sub-prime". In my case, it seems to be the other way around. Capital One has been a lot better to me than Citi has.
