Why I hate Citibank...
It was – and is – a great offer. 0% interest on balance transfers for 12-months.
The catch, apparently, is that Citibank has an arbitrary set of policies that are, seemingly, designed to trick customers into paying fees. Let me give you three examples.
Example 1: The online payment waiting period.
My first payment was due on March 9th. I went to pay online March 5th, but ran into a problem. Citibank requires up to seven days to “verify” your checking or savings account.
To avoid a late payment and the ~30% default APR, that meant making a payment by phone and paying a $14.95 fee. You may be asking yourself why not pay with a check. Well, Citibank takes up to 7 days to be process a check. Hmm… I think I see a pattern.
Although, come to think of it, paying by phone at the last minute didn’t require any verification on my checking account. (PayPal is the only other company that has had to verify my checking account. And that took one business day.)
Example 2: The minimum finance charge.
That $14.95 fee I had to pay for my March 8th payment, my next statement-dated March 15th-included a $0.50 finance charge on that fee. I called to ask why I was being charged interest when I should be under the grace period, and the somewhat-courteous customer service agent tells me that I have to pay off the lower interest balance transfer before I can pay off the fee. I guess they assume that I don’t need that 25-day grace period. But later I figure out why...
A Side Story: When I asked about the finance charge, I was actually calling because they had changed their policy on balance transfer fees. Formerly they had been capped at $75. But starting in May, there will be no cap. (For reference good credit cards, like the VISA cards offered by Zions Bank or Clear from American Express, don’t charge balance transfer fees.) By opting out of the policy change, Citibank granted me a courtesy. They’ll automatically close my account when my card expires. I appreciate that. That will save me a 30-minute phone call in the future.
Example 3: The $1,000 maximum 1st payment.
After these first two strikes, I know that a 0% interest rate isn’t worth a card that may somehow trick me into another fee. So I decide that, after my checking account is verified, I’m going to pay off the card.
But one last problem, Citibank caps your first online payment at $1,000. Why? According to the website it’s because, “If you are using the Click-to-Pay® Program for the first time or have recently changed your bank account information, we may impose limitations on the number of payments accepted, as well as limit the initial payment to a maximum of $1000 per statement period.” Huh. That doesn’t seem to answer my question. Notice the “may.” I guess sometimes the software decides to let it slide. Unfortunately not in my case.
I opened my Citibank card two months ago. And I can honestly see no reason for any of these policies except for tricking customers into paying higher fees or worse higher interest rates.
At least I only have to wait until April 17th to pay off the stupid card before it magically closes in the not-too-distant future.
The catch, apparently, is that Citibank has an arbitrary set of policies that are, seemingly, designed to trick customers into paying fees. Let me give you three examples.
Example 1: The online payment waiting period.
My first payment was due on March 9th. I went to pay online March 5th, but ran into a problem. Citibank requires up to seven days to “verify” your checking or savings account.
To avoid a late payment and the ~30% default APR, that meant making a payment by phone and paying a $14.95 fee. You may be asking yourself why not pay with a check. Well, Citibank takes up to 7 days to be process a check. Hmm… I think I see a pattern.
Although, come to think of it, paying by phone at the last minute didn’t require any verification on my checking account. (PayPal is the only other company that has had to verify my checking account. And that took one business day.)
Example 2: The minimum finance charge.
That $14.95 fee I had to pay for my March 8th payment, my next statement-dated March 15th-included a $0.50 finance charge on that fee. I called to ask why I was being charged interest when I should be under the grace period, and the somewhat-courteous customer service agent tells me that I have to pay off the lower interest balance transfer before I can pay off the fee. I guess they assume that I don’t need that 25-day grace period. But later I figure out why...
A Side Story: When I asked about the finance charge, I was actually calling because they had changed their policy on balance transfer fees. Formerly they had been capped at $75. But starting in May, there will be no cap. (For reference good credit cards, like the VISA cards offered by Zions Bank or Clear from American Express, don’t charge balance transfer fees.) By opting out of the policy change, Citibank granted me a courtesy. They’ll automatically close my account when my card expires. I appreciate that. That will save me a 30-minute phone call in the future.
Example 3: The $1,000 maximum 1st payment.
After these first two strikes, I know that a 0% interest rate isn’t worth a card that may somehow trick me into another fee. So I decide that, after my checking account is verified, I’m going to pay off the card.
But one last problem, Citibank caps your first online payment at $1,000. Why? According to the website it’s because, “If you are using the Click-to-Pay® Program for the first time or have recently changed your bank account information, we may impose limitations on the number of payments accepted, as well as limit the initial payment to a maximum of $1000 per statement period.” Huh. That doesn’t seem to answer my question. Notice the “may.” I guess sometimes the software decides to let it slide. Unfortunately not in my case.
I opened my Citibank card two months ago. And I can honestly see no reason for any of these policies except for tricking customers into paying higher fees or worse higher interest rates.
At least I only have to wait until April 17th to pay off the stupid card before it magically closes in the not-too-distant future.
posted by M S Martinez at 4/10/2007 02:02:00 PM
1 Comments:
I have equal hate for Bank of America.
What a headache.
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