For the past three weeks, I’ve been hearing from people who’ve been hit with the 29.99% rate increase. Most are people who pay their bills in full, have had their cards for many years, and previously had low interest rates. I fall into the same category as many of these people, and yet, I still haven’t gotten my rate increase letter.
Now, I don’t use my Citi card. The APR is high, the rewards are lackluster, and I’ve already given them enough money via TARP, though haven’t we all. My problem, however, is that I want the letter. I want them to raise my rate. And I want to leave my card open and never use it.
Fact is, I would have closed my Citi account a long time ago. The only reason I keep it open is the fact it is one of the older accounts in my credit history and I don’t want to hurt my credit score. Yet, when I open my mailbox and find no letter, I grow evermore scared that they will attack me in a different way: with an annual fee.
Now, I have nothing but sympathy for everyone who has been hit with a rate increase. Many people who have written in are enviable positions: they don’t owe Citi money. However, many others do owe them, and some owe them quite a bit. Hopefully, they will be able to use another balance transfer credit card to take advantage of a 0% APR so they can pay down debt. However, many will have to opt out, which could hurt their credit scores.
Nevertheless, as a Citi credit card customer who has not received a rate increase letter, I’m beginning to think that Citi will soon send out annual fee notices to people like me. Since they know they can’t sqeeze me with a high interest rate, they surely will find another way to get cash from my wallet. And an annual fee may be the next topic we discuss on this forum, not only for Citibank credit cards, but for all credit cards.
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March 16th, 2010 at 9:38 am
CITI smammed me as well. Jacked my interest from 12.99% to 29.99% without any notice and for no reason. My account was paid on time. They claimed to have sent me an opt out letter that I never received. The interest rate they were charging me was clearly stated on my statements prior to September of 2009. From Sept. to januarry, there was no indication of the interest percentage on my statement. Then in February of 2110 they started to note the interest rate on my statements again which went up to 29.99%.
What a bunch of theives. How is the federal government protecting me?
March 16th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Steve,
Unfortunately, they weren’t when Citi raised your rate and, in many ways, they can be blamed for leaving a company like Citi the opportunity to raise the rate. If you have good credit, I would look into doing a balance transfer asap. At 29.99%, getting out of debt is nearly impossible. If your credit isn’t good enough for a balance transfer (below 700 or so), you might want to look into credit counseling. By all means, do try to fight the increase though. Perhaps having a lawyer call for you might get the job done.