citibank credit cards

 

Citi® Platinum Select® Card 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for 12 months No annual fee Secure, free online account management $0 liability on unauthorized purchases Apply online and get an instant response Intro APR Intro APR Period Regular APR Annual Fee Balance Transfers Credit Needed 0% 12 Months 9.49% None Yes Excellent Credit Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months $50 gift card – Redeem 5,000 bonus points after first purchase 5 reward points for every $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations; 1 point for every $1 on all other purchases No annual fee and FREE rewards program Intro APR Intro APR Period Regular APR Annual Fee Balance Transfers Credit Needed 0% 12 Months 10.99% None Yes Excellent Credit Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Card Earn 5% cash back on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations Earn 1% on all other purchases 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months Earn unlimited cash back by shopping within the Citi Dividend Merchant Network No annual fee Intro APR Intro APR Period Regular APR Annual Fee Balance Transfers Credit Needed 0% on Balance Transfers 12 Months 11.49% None Yes Excellent Credit Citi Premier Pass Card 0% APR on Balance Transfers for 12 months Get the purchasing power you need Earn points for purchases & miles flown FREE online sevices, including account management, statements, unbilled activity, and faster payments Intro APR Intro APR Period Regular APR Annual Fee Balance Transfers Credit Needed 0% on balance transfers 12 Months 11.99% None Yes Good Credit All citibank credits cards you can see at: https://www.citibank.com/us/cards/index.jsp

Reviews of citibank credit cards:

GOOD REWIEV OF CITIBANK CREDIT CARDS:

Citibank came to the rescue before I even knew about what had happened. Actually, I've experienced two recent instances of impressive service from Citibank.

The first occurred when a Citibank rep called and asked if I'd just made a lot of charges to my Citibank card on the internet. My answer was no, just one. You can guess the rest--my credit card number had been stolen from the website where I'd just made a charge and then it was used immediately to make charges.

Citibank's computers had detected the theft immediately because of unusual credit card activity and their rep had called within minutes. Citibank removed all unauthorized charges from my account and canceled the credit card to prevent further charges. By doing this routinely, Citibank saves themselves money by stopping fraudulent charges as soon as possible. They save victimized cardholders aggravation and embarrassment that would occur if they tried to use their credit cards after they had unknowingly been fraudulently maxed out.

The second impressive service from Citibank was the way they replaced the canceled credit card--by overnight delivery at their expense. I was especially surprised because I talked to them at 5:40 PM and the card arrived before noon the next day, half way across the country.

There are several other things I like about Citibank:

1. They'll usually waive annual fees if you call and ask. When I asked several years ago, they waived the fee and have never charged me an annual fee since then.

2. Their interest rates are reasonable and they never have sudden large rate increases.

3. If you fill out a Citibank privacy form, you'll never receive a telemarketing call from them or any of their associates. I sent a card in quite a few years ago and have never received a telemarketing call from them since.

4. Their representatives are always very polite and cooperative when you call with any question or problem.

A Citibank card isn't the easiest credit card to get, but if you qualify for one, grab it. You're not likely to regret it.

TIP: If you have this card and are looking for a credit limit increase, pay more than the minimum when you pay each bill. I actually have this in writing in a letter I received from them a few years ago (after they turned down my request). Since then, I've found that if I frequently pay more than the minimum, they automatically raise the limit periodically.

I have been a cardholder of Citibank for over ten years (under a previously married name). Although I had closed the account when I divorced, I asked to reopen it a few years later, and they had no problem with that request. I used it a few times and put it away and paid it off and forgot about it for a long time.

BAD EXPERIENCE WITH CITIBANK CREDIT CARDS

My Nightmare Begins

Incident #1--Ballooning Interest from Faulty Automated System

Then a year and a half ago, I had an emergency and had to use the card again. I was astounded at how the interest rate had skyrocketed even though I hadn't used the card. After a few months of paying with a balance, I received my bill with a 25% interest charge and a form-letter type imprint on the bill stating that my credit rating caused this higher percentage rate. I immediately got on the phone and called their customer service.

The customer service representative looked over my account and agreed that there must be a mistake because I was in good standing and had always paid on time and changed it back to the lower rate (which is still way too high). I paid it off at the first opportunity. I did not EVER want to carry a balance on that card again.

Incident #2--Billing Cycle/Payment Cycle Shortened

As time passed, I made several purchases via Internet with the card and paid it off at the end of the month. I also noticed that the time in which my bills came in the mail and the payment due date was coming closer and closer together. This was starting to become a problem because I pay my bills in a batch process once a week only. It was beginning to become harder and inconvenient to me to make timely payments (and it is a rarity that I am ever late on payments to any utility or bill. I have the ulcers to prove it). Even writing the check and placing the payment in the mail the next day was barely making it on time according to them.

Earlier this year, I paid a $5.00 charge to have the payment taken from my checking account just to make sure it was paid on time to alleviate a $15.00 late fee. This was getting ridiculous. I should have cut the card up and closed the account then. I regret I did not especially after my next "Incident".

Incident #3--Unauthorized Charges

In July 2001, I received my bill (once again one week and a couple of days before the due date) and to my surprise, I found several unauthorized purchases on my account. I had bought two new pieces of hardware for our computers, and I knew exactly how much I should owe, and the bill was more than twice what I was expecting.

I was shocked and livid that someone would dare steal my identity and make fraudulent charges on my account. Not only that, after I had traced some of the purchases, I am even more surprised that Citibank allowed purchases of illegal drugs from a foreign website! Even scarier is that they did not even call me to verify this out-of-character charge.

Some charges were cash advances and another was Firecash.com where the Customer Service Representative told me they get a lot of bad charges to that one. If that is true, then you would think Citibank would come up with a new, more secure method of verifying high-risk charges such as gambling sites (which was also uncharacteristic of me because I do not gamble).

On my next statement, these charges were tagged as "Under Investigation" and with this comes to my "Incident #4".

Incident #4--Charges and Fees Upon Unauthorized Charges and Fees

After receiving my Affidavit for Fraudulent charges and filling out all the paperwork, I paid my bill exactly what the difference was. However, as I was breathing, more fees were occurring which made me still owe around 50 cents. On top of this, I was charged a fee for a cash advance that was under investigation from the fraudulent charges and interest on these charges to boot!

I once again called Citibank's Customer Service Representatives. The lady was nice and took off the fees and interest and made my account zero and said I did not owe anything that month. There was only one charge pending and not posted yet (I made this over the phone. I will not purchase over the Internet ever again even though I had purchased things for four years previously with no problems. Only if there is email confirmation by the credit card company will I ever take that risk again I'm afraid.).

Incident #5--Late Fees on Zero Balances

This company is really trying to make me cut up my card, and I almost did had the Customer Service Representative not cleared my account of a $15.00 late fee on what was a zero balance that had apparently accrued interest of 50 cents the other Customer Service Representative did not catch or it had accrued and not showed up until after the other person had taken off the other charges.

I tell you this, this company makes money while YOU sleep. They charge for services that other cards provide for free such as the automatic bank withdrawal. I have never had fees been applied so hap hazardously as this Citibank system has done to me this year. If it wasn't dealing with money and it being MY money, it might be laughable.

I had the scissors poised and ready to cut the card in two when the Customer Service Representative came back on the line and told me she fixed the problem (until next month, right???).

Incident #6--WWW.Citicards.com's Lame Site

Since I have just barely a week to remit a payment, I decided to pay them online (which was FREE the last time I looked, unlike calling them on the phone and having it directly withdrawn from your checking account...go figure).

I logged onto http://www.citicards.com and signed on. I had previously created the account two months ago before the thieves stole my number and went on an Internet shopping spree. Since it would not let me add my new card number, I had to create another account with a new user name and password using the new number.

The site was slow and clunky. Believe it or not, it took me ONE HOUR to process one payment to Citibank using their website. I even called their Technical Support line thinking I was doing something wrong, but no, their site is simply terrible (to be polite).

I tried repeatedly (and hoping I wasn't getting my checking account cleaned out in the process) to complete the one transaction to pay off the account before a late fee or any other hidden interest charges was tacked on to my account. At the rate I was going, the due date would be here before I finished the single transaction!

To say the least, I was not happy. I missed The Weakest Link trying to get this site to take my payment. Finally, after repeated attempts at what looked like an ftp client trying to hammer a site, I finally got my slow confirmation page. I immediately copied and pasted this just in case they give me a hard time next month. I DID pay it on July 10, 2001, and it will take up to THREE business days to process. Gee, I'm glad I planned a week in advance to pay them and not a couple of days before the due date or I'd be screwed.

After paying Citibank via online website, I signed up at MBNA and decided to try my luck there with their online payment system. A friend at work said that's how her husband pays their account and has had no problems with it. With Citibank being my first experience with online credit card payments, I was cringing with the thought at paying my MBNA bill online and was expecting to miss reruns of Star Trek if it took as long to do a simple transaction as it did with the Citibank card.

However, MBNA was simple, fast, and I was finished in less than five minutes. I was not only signed up, but I had completed the transaction of paying my bill and would be POSTED in two days! Now that's online service.Summing up this review, Citibank has changed over the years. I had never had any problems with them until last year, and now I find their computer systems inhuman, unintelligent, and downright crooked!

If you have a Citibank card, I would not keep a balance on it, and if you do, pay it off as soon as possible.

ANOTHER POOR REWIEV:

These days, you can get a "platinum" VISA card or Mastercard for no annual fee. You can get credit cards that will return to you up to 2% of your transactions in the form of cash or other perks, including airline miles. Even though I am a well known thrifty shopper (aka cheapskate), I am willing to pay more to get more in return for any product or service. Good customer service is important to me, and I am willing to pay extra to get it.

Citibank VISA was the first real credit card I was granted after college, after being turned down by Bank of America where I had a checking and savings account. My experience back then with Citibank was positive - they had great 24-hour service and did a good job in protecting my interests in disputes with merchants. I was lured away by a "no annual fee" VISA years later, but I returned to Citibank for their customer service and and the airline miles with a Citibank "Aadvantage" VISA which costs $55 per year. This card gives one frequent flier mile for every dollar spent with the card. I felt that the 24 hour service was far better than my free First USA card service, and with the American frequent flier mileage I was willing to pay the $55 annual fee.

Even as early as last year, Citibank successfully defended my complaints against a furniture merchant for defective merchandise to my benefit. But a few weeks ago it all changed - I am dumping my Citibank VISA card. Here is why:

Last month I spent the night at a Days Inn at a rate of $72 per night. Upon checkout the next day, my bill totaled a mysterious $195. It turns out that this particular Days Inn decided that a special rate applies to local phone calls if a computer is used to connect to the internet. So instead of two calls at $0.50 each, they charged me 100 times that amount. There was no warning or posted charges in the room - and upon checkout the clerk admitted that it was their problem and did not make me sign my final bill. This is the type of dispute that Citibank would always have resolved for me, so I opted to work it out through them as I always had.

I made the phone call to Citibank customer service and filled out the requisite paperwork they mailed me, and wrote a detailed letter, as always. A week or so after filing my claim, I received two confusing letters from Citibank - one of which that said that had finished reviewing my dispute and decided for the merchant. I called the Citibank dispute department and was treated to a very snooty dispute coordinator named Mr. Halliday. He was so off-putting that I asked to speak to a manager after having been told by this person that Citibank would not help me. But Mr. Halliday told me that HE was a manager and that HIS manager does not return calls to customers, but that he would leave him a voicemail.

Mr. Halliday told me that since I had signed the hotel merchant's blank credit slip, the merchant had the right to fill in any amount. I asked him, "what if the merchant filled in $1,000, would that still be a legitimate charge?". "yes" he replied. "How about $10,000?" Yes, he again smarmily retorted. This Citibank representative was pushing me to resolve this matter directly with the merchant, but without the backing of my credit card company, the merchant holds all the cards in this poker game.

I made another call to Citibank VISA without divulging my account issue to find out their customer service policy for this type of dispute as if I was trying to decide if I wanted to select this card company. I was told by the representative that Citibank is bound by VISA International's policies in this matter, so I contacted VISA International myself. I finally received a letter from VISA International today stating that the policy on these matters completely resides in Citibank's domain. So now on top of poor customer service and a snooty attitude, Citibank are liars also.

Had Citiback informed me up front that they would not be able to help me for this type of claim when I first called, I would have been in a better position to win if it was prior to Citibank's contacting the merchant. So because of the poor customer service, the poor attitude displayed by Mr. Halliday, and the blatant lying about policies, I have given Citibank VISA the boot. This hotel stay was no different than any other problem that Citibank had always resolved for me - the hotel phone policies were defective, I never agreed to pay for unusual telecommunications charges and would not have used my computer if I had been warned, but Citibank still refused to stand by their consumer. So down the tubes to Citibank. I am now using my backup First USA Mastercard. Can anyone recommend a good good card with decent perks and great 24 hour service?

citibank credit cards

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