CItibank interest rates

it's not just citibank. the week after the credit card reform bill passed Amex sent me a notice that my interest rate would rise from something relatively low to 26.9%, i believe. i'm paying that sucker off monthly. and now, i just read, the banks are beginning to charge people for paying off their bills monthly. fucktards.

So we are charged eventhough we pay in time?

Triple-c I posted a rant about this about a month ago. The interest on a line of Citi credit I was using doubled! I promptly paid it off, of course not everyone can do this.

On the other hand after having rates raised on other cards I don't use and credit limits reduced on cards that have had 0 balance for years-I am suddenly getting offers like the "good" ol' days!

Chase just raised my limit by $10K on one of my cards. Discover just sent me a "pre-approved" offer for zero interest for the first 6 months and zero interest on balance transfers for 1 year!! What's going on?

keith, i've been seeing the same. maybe they feel if you've lasted this long with an intact credit rating you're worth courting. they've got that free money to spend, after all. they just hope that after the 6 months and one year you find yourself with a large balance and no means to pay it off, at least immediately.

regarding the cards you don't use, that's actually been a red flag for the banks. they view those dormant credit lines as very dangerous.

and yes, mimi, some banks are charging, in different ways, for paying off on time and non-use.

There is no way that someones APR jumped to 29.9% unless they have missed payments, period. Yes, all the card companies are raising rates but they are all in the 15-20% range for "normal" customers.

https://www.accountonline.com/ACQ/DisplayTerms?sc=4T3Z1FH99BCTMDL420W&app=UNSOL&siteId=CB&langId=EN&BUS_TYP_CD=CONSUMER&DOWNSELL_LEVEL=2&BALCON_SC=&B=M&DOWNSELL_BRANDS=M,M,&DownsellSourceCode1=4T3Z2FV99BCTMDL420W&B1=M&DownsellSourceCode2=4T3Z3FP99BCTMDL420W&B2=M&t=t&d=&uc=3LV&AMEX_PID_AF_CODE=&AAPID=

29.9% is a "Default APR" which means cccharley violated the Citibank agreement. Everyone complained that the credit card companies were "scamming" the general public. Raising rates for "no reason". With a few exceptions, that was basically a lie. Companies were raising rates because people became increased credit risks - thats it, nothing else. If that weren't the case consumers would have simply moved their accounts somewhere else.

Now the public gets what it asked for. You wanted the companies not to raise rates (and therefore to not exercise risk-based pricing), done. No repricing of existing balances, also done (starting next year). High interest rates across the board, done and done. Oh wait, you didn't want high rates? Want the companies to just "make less profit"? Be careful what you wish for.

NO I did not. I called asking if I missed a payment - Nothing baby I have a perfect record. I was in a panic thinking I made a mistake. Apparently they are raising the rates so that everyone can pay for those who don't pay at all. I'm not alone. Many with 800+ credit rating who pay their bills off monthly are getting this letter. AR I've yet to get one for amex or bank of america. Hopefully they will stay down or I'll close them all down, opt out and use the gold card I had to run up a balance for the past few months because the husband was out of work but he starts a new job in 3 weeks thank god.

Gettingout, no they did it to me and I've had a low rate for years without any late payments. Although I just took a look at my most recent statement and it is still the lower rate so I'm not sure what they are doing.

My husband was unemployed and got a chase credit card to use and that's how they paid him. That credit card now has 29.24% interest. I don't think he missed a payment even. How scary is it that so many of our unemployed are being given cards that now have these outrageous rates?? I've gotta go pay off my cards.

11201 - "My husband was unemployed and got a chase credit card to use and that's how they paid him."

I don't understand what you mean by, he lost his job and they gave him a credit card. Can you explain this to me?

"the banks are beginning to charge people for paying off their bills monthly"

boy, i never carry a balance, pay full at the end of each month. if they want to charge me, i'll switch to using a debit card.

"Apparently they are raising the rates so that everyone can pay for those who don't pay at all."

but still, if you pay it full as i do, you don't pay anything (kind of free riding). i personally don't need nor like credit cards. i accepted invitations to "join" after being told about the need to have a credit history.

My citibank credit card was just closed. I haven't checked my mail (do it for the week on the weekends) but I read that they gave 2 days notice. I have never missed a payment and pay my balance in full every month so I guess I wasn't bringing in any money for them.

admin, travel is very difficult without a credit card. and, there is as you point out, that need for a credit history.

yep, i've read that CCs that people use for gas only were closed and the credit card companies had 5 days AFTER closing them to notify their ex-customers. some found out their CCs got canceled only after trying to pay the gas they just put in their cars. that's very bad PR imho, no amount of ads can improve their image if you are a customer that went through that.

Waverly - Unemployment gave him the option to have electronic transfers into a Chase account. He choose that rather than receive checks and when he opened the account the lady on the phone talked him into getting a credit card even though he had just lost his job.

it is absolutely outrageous what is going on here. thank god i already got my mortgage. it's gonna get worse before it gets better. it would be great if we could all f*ck em right back by paying off and switching to debit, for life. but yes, what to do about the issue of credit scores. this is a major conundrum that should be addressed on a federal level... how are we supposed to revive the housing market while being crippled by the plastic man?

"how are we supposed to revive the housing market while being crippled by the plastic man?"

in the mid & long term actually much lower housing prices will help consumption, not hurt it. all the $ not wasted in housing will be relocated into other types of consumption & investment. not bad at all! imho.

"how are we supposed to revive the housing market while being crippled by the plastic man?"

i don't travel much. once you have other types of credit (non revolving), lowering the revolving to the minimum actually increases your FICO. the point here is that usually you don't get non revolving credit if you don't have revolving 1st (as it's the easiest credit to get started on, but basically not really needed once you get non revolving).

"it's not just citibank. the week after the credit card reform bill passed Amex sent me a notice that my interest rate would rise from something relatively low to 26.9%, i believe. i'm paying that sucker off monthly. and now, i just read, the banks are beginning to charge people for paying off their bills monthly. fucktards."

Don't use credit cards from major banks.

Your absolute best bet for a VISA or MasterCard these days is through a credit union. There are several ways to join: http://www.creditunion.coop/how_to_join.html

I'm a member of Actors Federal Credit Union, and my VISA card (with no annual fee) has an interest rate of 8% that never changes. Ever.

"Your absolute best bet for a VISA or MasterCard these days is through a credit union."

service is amazing in mine (stanford federal credit union)... almost too good to be true. join while studying there, will always do biz with them but i also use big major banks for some stuff.

I also love that my VISA customer service number is a "212" number -- and you always get a real human on the line!

"and you always get a real human on the line!"

i know! i even do during weird hours and weekends. at this point, getting somebody to answer the phone right away feels kind of unnatural, in a good way.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned that the real insult to injury (in my mind, unless I'm missing something) is this is money the gov't is lending them at about 0%. So, you pay your taxes, the gov't takes the tax money and hands it to a bank so they can charge you 30% on "your own money". I would think that everyone should raise their stated exemptions (or whatever they are called) for withholding to the point where you pay zero because the penalty will be only 18% to the IRS on the money rather than 30% to the CC companies. What am I missing in that analysis?

REO- I did mention this in the beginning - I was wrong and said 3% as prime. It's disgusting. I am so surprised the govt is doing this.

true all that three oh--and theyre borrowing as proxy for the treasury in essence due to the fdic guarantee--and they leverage that (our) free money they are playing with

appalling

getting out: simple wish: that these banks we are now bailing out made reasonable credit decisions in the first place . it is their job to lend money prudently not to every dog and infant . those that took on excessive debt are to blame for their own problems . but shouldnt are "talented" bankers be responsible for their poor lending judgements . you and i are, and we are talentless

woops =our= talented bankers--ill be doin penance soon for that one

"how are we supposed to revive the housing market while being crippled by the plastic man?" hi guys yes i meant as far as getting your credit score arbitrarily trashed. i am very interested, what other types of credit are there? i would like to pay off my chase visa and get out, but need to mainintain my credit score. and also as far as credit unions, you think i'll be in a far better situation if i take the fordham visa over the chase visa?

Fordham visa is BOFA visa, so same deal no? I'm not convinced that you need ccs to maintain a high credit score. Mortgages count as credit as well.

You need a VISA or MasterCard that's actually issued by the credit union itself, not by a larger "issuing bank" like BofA, Chase, or Citi, otherwise you're stuck in the same mudhole.

nyc10023 - good to know! otherwise, any credit unions you guys recommend?

Actors' Federal Credit Union.

I got the same stupid letter from Citibank as well. I also have never been late, and I pay in full every month. And those who want to keep blaming Obama, you need to do your research. Did you forget about the bill that he signed into legislation to stop these banks/credit cards companies from doing this? It doesn't take effect until Feb 2010, so the banks are trying to take advantage of us now... Look at this link: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/consumer&id=7102974&rss=rss-wls-article-7102974

pay your bill and the rates don't matter

"pay your bill and the rates don't matter"

The big banks are now penalizing those who routinely pay their bills on time, too.

Get with the program.

nonsense.

Guess again. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/business/19credit.html