CitiBank $ 60 fee for Credit Card I Never Use; Should I Cancel?

[B_Marius567]

CitiBank says in the letter that we can 'opt out' by calling them before April 1st and canceling The card. Citibank wantsMe to put $2.400 on the card or pay a 60.00 fee.
2.400 is a lot money to put on a card

 

[MrToolhung]

I don't understand or is just far too early/late. They want you to charge 2,400 to your card? What is the benefits of having such card? If you were to charge that would you be able to pay it off right away?

 

[FuzzyKen]

Do not be a fool here, opt out and get rid of that card!

The idea is for them to collect an undetermined and possibly outrageous interest rate in the future. You opt in and then they will send you a new set of ground rules after the fact this is one of the many areas that these crooks have not yet had their wings clipped.

What they want is a $60 fee simply to keep the account open. Or they want a $2,400 account balance on which you will pay about $528 per year in interest. If you begin to pay off the card, their next move will be to collect the interest remaining and then demand the $60 yearly account maintenance fee in addition.

Walk away. Go get your cards with Credit Unions they operate under different guidelines which are far more stringent because they are owned by their depositors.

 

[Earthbound]

Unless I misunderstood, the requirement is not to carry $2,400 yearly balance, but to charge $2,400 in yearly purchases on the card. That's $200/month. There's no interest if the balance is paid in-full each month. I kept my Citi card ($30 fee) because it has a feature that helps keep online transactions secure.

 

[Incocknito]

I got a similar thing through the post from a different bank.

They want to give me £1,500 (or whatever they choose) and that would cost me "only" £93.76 over 12 months.

I suppose it is a good thing if you need the money short term and don't really need to spend all (or any) of it.

You would be in trouble if you spent all of it, which is what the bank is banking on people doing. That's why they're giving people thousands of pounds of credit.

Really it depends on your personal circumstances and how much self control you have regarding money.

 

[conntom]

Obama's CARD act has left the credit card companies scrambling for ways to make income as they can not pull their old tricks. SO, they find new tricks. (Did they really think the credit card companies would just give up income???)


So - yea. Get rid of the card.

 

[nudeyorker]

If you don't use it I would get rid of it. I simplified my life so much by down sizing my credit cards. I have an AMEX and a Master Card. Life becomes so simple when you don't carry a balance and pay the outrageous interest rates.

 

[tripod]

Citibank is going down the toilet I am afraid. They are doing every last ditch thing that they can do to clear up their balance sheets in a hurry.

If anybody has stock in Citi, they should get rid of it if they haven't already.

And that's it for the latest in white trash financial news ladies and germs...

 

[Mem]

CitiBank says in the letter that we can 'opt out' by calling them before April 1st and canceling The card. Citibank wantsMe to put $2.400 on the card or pay a 60.00 fee.
2.400 is a lot money to put on a card

I don't understand. The yearly fee is $60 and they want you to charge $2,400 to waive it?

Do you have bad credit? I haven't paid a yearly CC fee ever, that I can recall.


If you never use it and you have another one cancel it, if you don't cancel it and get another one with no fee.

 

[fluoro]

This may be irrelevant in today's world, but a few years ago my bank added a yearly fee on my credit card account. I called to cancel my card and they immediately offered to waive the fee.

 

[drumstyck]

CitiBank says in the letter that we can 'opt out' by calling them before April 1st and canceling The card.

this thread seems kinda pointless now, eh?

 

[B_Marius567]

I guess a lot people got so upset by this 60.00 fee that they oped out.
I can get the 60.00 back if I put 2.400 on the card in a year.
I can send 2.400 form citiback to my bank then pay it back in a few days to get my 60.00 back?

 

[dreamer20]

CitiBank says in the letter that we can 'opt out' by calling them before April 1st and canceling The card.

^^
this thread seems kinda pointless now, eh?

Well spotted drumstyk.:smile:

 

[BiItalianBro]

Obama's CARD act has left the credit card companies scrambling for ways to make income as they can not pull their old tricks. SO, they find new tricks. (Did they really think the credit card companies would just give up income???)


So - yea. Get rid of the card.

Yuppers...i just had a scream-fest with Wells Fargo who dinged me for $40 bucks because i paid EARLY

 

[RalDudeHangin]

Credit cards make money on each transaction. If it's not the interest they want, it's the transactional VISA fees on $2,400 that will make them a few bucks even if the balance is paid immediately - which of course is to your benefit.

That said, I would request they waive the fee or I would close it. I agree with the poster who mentioned Credit Unions. 2.9% and no fees on my CU VISA. Other VISAs and MCs that have tried to nail me with inactivity fees either waived them or I closed the account. I try to charge something small on the cars at least every other month (tank of gas or grocery shopping) and pay it off immediately.

One note of caution... closing a credit card can HURT your credit score. One aspect that weighs in on your CS is credit utilization rate. The more of your available credit that is used, the lower your credit score is. If you close this card and you have outstanding balances on other cards, you're suddenly that much closer to your total credit "ceiling". However, if you're not going to be in the market soon for a home, car or other big credit purchase, close the account and work on paying off your other balances. Your CS will recover.

 

[FuzzyKen]

Right now credit scores are falling like rain simply because of all of the changes in the rules. Banks are now being "looked at" with regards to policies and as a result they are trying every thing they can to circumvent the rule changes and get more money.

In spite of what has been said about the lack of availability of credit again go to credit unions as again they operate under different rules.

The smartest thing that anybody can do right now is to dump all the credit debt that they can. If your debt is small get rid of people like "Bank of America", Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and the other really massive banking chains.

Pay off the debt, because those who do are going to find themselves financially a great deal stronger. The one thing you need to do is to document what you are doing. If you pay off credit balances document that this is the case. Credit is based on two things that is ability to pay and inclination or record of past payment. If you can show that you do not "abuse" credit and paid things off when times were rough to protect yourself the odds are very substantial that you will not be denied credit when it is needed period.

Banks are getting so desperate to get loans out there that in the next few years you will be virtually guaranteed to see loans being granted to people with foreclosures and other problems as long as they can prove or on paper substantiate that the financial problems happened because of circumstances that were outside their own doing or negligence.

 

[b.c.]

Take a close look at the cards that are trying those kind of tricks and also look at changes to your APR. Keep only the ones who offer the best rates and don't try to scam you in other ways.

Dump the rest, even if you have to get a low interest personal loan to consolidate and pay them off. A 7, 8, or 9% consolidated personal loan (via your credit union for example) is preferable to the 26.9% interest rates banks like Chase and CITI are jacking them up to, in addition to the other underhanded schemes that cost their customers money.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?"

CU: Fed should roll back credit card rate hikes

 

[midlifebear]

Cancel that CitiBank card! Your FICO score may drop about 70 points for one or two quarters (it's all just a con game), but there is no reason to pay for a credit card. And CitiBank is the worst pseudo financial institution one can possibly use as a bank. Find a nice local bank with a B or better rating and do business with them. They'll most likely issue you a credit card just for paying your bills on time and being a loyal customer.