@sl wrote:My interest rate went from 8.1 to 14.99 and I have the choice to opt out or accept the new rate.
I currently have a balance of $1500 on that card.
I called them today and I opted out. I will keep my 8.1 interest rate until the card expires then it jumps to the 14.99. If I close the card now, the balance goes to the 14.99%. So that card will be paid off next month and once I show it as a zero balance on my CR - they will get a call a call from me canceling the card. This is so wrong. I have never been late and my FICO's are between 721-744. Goodbye CITICARD!!!
It does not matter how long you have been with Citi
or how good your payment history was.
All banks are looking forward to the changes that will be implemented in the new consumer credit laws.
It is my opinion that 14.99% will be a very reasonable rate in the future. If you apply for another credit card to replace Citi you might get a better rate for now. That new card rate however will also probably go up in the future.
If you intend to pay off your Citi balance anyway, I don't think it is a good idea to cancel the card. I am sure that Citi will offer you temporary lower rates in the future especially if you use the card occasionally and are paying in full.
If after the new credit law goes into effect, you maxed out your Citi card and only had to pay 8.1% interest, Citi would not be able to raise your rate. The new law would prohibit that. You would be able to take years to pay off a debt at a low interest rate.
Don't blame Citi for your ratejack. If you must blame a bank, blame them all. The big benefactors of the new "consumer protection" law happens to be all of the big banks. All interest rates will be going up PERMANENTLY.
We will most likely get temporary "promotional" rates just for the asking in the future. How do I know? Temporary "promo" rates are exempted from the prohibition against raising rates on existing balances.
Do you think I stand a chance of keeping my existing rate of 6.9% if I could run up a new balance of $10-30,000 over night? The bank would not be able to change the rate until I paid off the balance. How many years will the bank be stuck if I were to only make minimum payments of 2%?
If I am going to be able to keep my fairly high credit card limits, I will probably have my "permanent" interest rates raised closer to yours.
That won't really matter to me since the bank will then still have an incentive to offer me 0% promo offers. There would be no 0% offers if the "go to interest rate" was only 6.9%. There will be plenty of good offers for people with great FICO scores, and low balances.
Don't feel bad about Citi's actions, and don't shoot yourself in the foot. If you are not living beyond your means and have the ability to pay off your debts you will be one of the winners in the new game.
You will be in a permanent state of receiving ongoing "temporary" low interest rate offers.
Please don't burn a bridge that has been standing for eight years. If you are going to blame Citi, also blame BoA, Chase, Wells Fargo, and the all the other banks who made contributions to the politicians who supported the credit card reform law.
