MasterCard Canceled Our Credit Card!
No, it wasn’t because we exceeded our credit limit, nor did we miss a payment. We never miss a payment! It wasn’t canceled due to non-use; we use it often. So what reason did they give us in their recent letter?
Citi, the issuer of your AT&T Universal Cash Rewards Card has decided to discontinue this credit card for business reasons.
Emphasis supplied.
Business reasons? Why? I think I’ve figured it out. We pay off the balance in our account every month, without exception. And we took full advantage of the float they gave us. Bottom line? They made nothing on our use of the card except the fees they received from the merchants we patronized.
Fortunately, we are in the process of simplifying our lives and the discontinuance of this card is one more step towards our goal. Unfortunately, we used it at grocery stores and pharmacies where we got back 5%. Guess I will have to look for another credit card which offers similar rewards.
If you have a similar Citi card, don’t be surprised if you receive your own notice.
June 2nd, 2006 at 9:17 am
I got the same letter from citi….if you find another card with 5% rewards, let me know.
June 2nd, 2006 at 10:19 am
I think I have found a replacement card.
Select the Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Card and apply online here.
Wonder if they will take us as a new customer?
———-
Edit:
Update! I just applied online and got accepted.
June 2nd, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I had a somewhat similar experience, although they used a different technique to get rid of me. I had the credit card (Visa) for about 20 years. it had a credit limit that had gradually been raised over the years, and was around $20,000 the last I recall. I used the card for everything, practically every day, and always paid the account off promptly on receipt of the monthly bill. I had used it many times for large charges, and one of these was in the vacinity of $10,000. The charges always went through; never a problem.
Then, all of a sudden within the past couple of months, the card company began “declining” charges that were sent through by various merchants. Some of these were quite small–one no larger than $30, but some considerably higher. Each time it happened, I called their customer service line and complained, and was told the charge that was declined was kicked out by their computer as being out of my regular “charging pattern”. This was obviously bullshit, as I had no one pattern–instead using this card for every concievable purpose. And each time I was assured it was just an error, and would not happen again. Then, it would happen again.
When I called, I explained that this was causing me embarrasement, as the implication it gave to the merchant was that I was a deadbeat, over my credit limit, or some other less than savory character, and that each time I would pull out a secondary card which I hardly ever used, the the declined charge would go right through. So what was going on? Instead of leaving my inquiry and complaint with the low-life who answered the crdit card customer service phone, I always asked for a supervisor and made the compaint to them.
Finally, the third or forth time, I just called and told them to cancell the account. And I told them why. They had no response.
In retrospect, it becomes obvious they just wanted to be rid of me. In all the years that I had and used this card, they never collected a cent in interest charges. However, the contract was–pay it in 30 days and no interest would be payable. But I gues s they decided it was no longer a good deal for them (even though they were collecting about 3% from the merchants taking the card).
I read recently in the Wall Street Journal that the card companies were getting preterbed because too many people were paying timely and they were not collecting their 18 or 20% interest. So I guess this is their answer—cut people off who pay to regularly for “business reasons”.
June 3rd, 2006 at 1:40 am
From the Wall Street Journal last week:
“At Citigroup Inc., the world’s largest financial-services firm based on market value, credit cards accounted for about 17% of the bank’s $24.59 billion of net income last year. Sallie Krawcheck, Citigroup’s chief financial officer, told investors and analysts last month that first-quarter revenues fell 6% in its U.S. card business. More consumers are using cards that emphasize rewards programs, which she said are more likely to be paid off each month.
‘The part that makes it a little bit tougher in terms of the revenue perspective is the payment rate as a result remains high,’ she explained. ‘It remains high for the industry. It remains high for us.’ Citigroup cardholders paid off 20.3% of their loan balances during the first quarter, on average, up from 18.3% in the year-earlier period, she said.
Ms. Krawcheck said Citigroup was responding by introducing new card products, including some aimed at businesses. She said the bank’s credit-card executives are ‘working to get the growth in receivables and the growth in revenues so that we can have this business be in a healthier and growing state on the top line.’”
Working to get the business healthier means dumping YOU. And why shouldn’t they if you don’t make them money?
June 3rd, 2006 at 7:21 am
I paid these ass-holes an $80 a year fee. I lived up to my end of the deal by not exceeding my credit limit and paying my bill promptly. They decided they didnt want to live up to theirs, because I didnt pay their 18-22% interest rates–which under our deal, I was not obligated to pay if I paid off the account timely.
Its a nice deal having a one sided contract–if I break the deal, there are penalties. If they decide to…”well, thats just business”. I call bullshit.
June 5th, 2006 at 12:34 am
I’ve read the two comments by Tomas and the parts about “the charge that was declined was kicked out by their computer as being out of my regular charging pattern” rang a bell because this happened to me in January with one difference. The charge on my card they questioned was, indeed, fraudulent. I don’t know how it happened although I suspect it may have been related to a third party seller on Amazon marketplace I chose to use just before it happened. In any case, I got an unexpected call from Visa asking if I had bought something from “X”. I said, “No” and asked “Why?” and they said because someone had attempted to put through a charge to them on my card and “the charge . . . was declined (after being) kicked out by their computer as being out of my regular charging pattern”. They quickly voided my card and sent me a new one with a different number, but I learned to respect that computer. I think it took some pretty sophisticated software to spot that one fraudulent charge before it became many. So I’d suggest cutting them some slack. I’ve had previous instances where the computer decided not to accept a valid charge until I could be contacted. That happened when I moved to Green Valley and suddenly started spending large amounts here for furniture. But once I verified the charges on the phone it was quickly cleared up and, rather than being angry, I was glad of their vigilance.
June 5th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Under federal law, the maximum you are liable for as the card holder when a fraudulent charge occurs is fifty bucks. I suspect that’s one of the significant reasons why they may occasionally kick back a charge by declining the same. But when it get to the point where they are kicking back nearly everything, I suspect the real reason lies elsewhere–they have decided to get rid of the cardholder as not lucrative enough for them. Also, when you dont have a spending pattern, that seems like a bogus reason. When I look at the charges that were actually declined, they were mirror images of other charges that had gone through fine.