Citibank raising APR for purchases on Dividend Platinum Select MC

[Anonymous]

Today, I received a letter from Citibank informing me that my APR for purchases will be raised to Prime + 10.99%, "with a minimum APR of 16.99%."  Currently, my Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard's APR for purchases is Prime + 4.99%.

I PIF, so I really don't care.

[MojaveMoon]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Today, I received a letter from Citibank informing me that my APR for purchases will be raised to Prime + 10.99%, "with a minimum APR of 16.99%." Currently, my Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard's APR for purchases is Prime + 4.99%.

I PIF, so I really don't care.

---

I'm very sorry that this happened to you. May I ask you .. I read in an article (link) posted here that (for now) these interest rate increases are targeting customers who have not had an increase in at least two years. Does your account fall into that category ?

[elsijfdl]

I haven't gotten anything like this about my Dividend Platinum Select. Actually, my APR has been dropping every few months - began at 19.99% and is now at 13.9%

[Anonymous]

---

@MojaveMoon wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Today, I received a letter from Citibank informing me that my APR for purchases will be raised to Prime + 10.99%, "with a minimum APR of 16.99%." Currently, my Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard's APR for purchases is Prime + 4.99%.

I PIF, so I really don't care.

---

I'm very sorry that this happened to you. May I ask you .. I read in an article (link) posted here that (for now) these interest rate increases are targeting customers who have not had an increase in at least two years. Does your account fall into that category ?

---

My account does fall into that category.  I was expecting this to happen. 

[Anonymous]

Mine was lowered a few months ago a half a percent from 8.99 to 8.49. I am sorry to hear this is happening to people. Like always, when possible PIF and it is of little relevance. It isn't nice for those that responsibly revolve a balance though.

[kbell]

Citi is raising my APR from 13.99% to 19.99%. I have a unblemished 14.5 year credit history and have always pif. Maybe in 2 months, my Citi card will be known as the Goldman-Citi card.

[Anonymous]

Mine was raised from 9.99 to 19.99.  I think I am going to give them a call and see if there is anything they can do.  I have a balance transfer running out next month.  Only $800 left of $4000 that should be paid off in January.  After that it will be a PIF only, but I like the comfort of knowing the rate is low if I need it.

Interesting enough I just received an e-mail from Citi with a new BT offer of 0% for 12 months.  Seems like they can't make up their mind.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Mine was raised from 9.99 to 19.99.  I think I am going to give them a call and see if there is anything they can do. 

---

Hi krys!

Make certain to let us know if they lower (or won't lower) your APR! 

[Anonymous]

No Luck.  But they did tell me to call back after the first of the year.   

This whole experience made a lot more sense to me after listening to an episode of Clark Howard.  He related that  many credit card companies are afraid that the Credit Card "Bill of Rights" will pass shortly and that one of the things it will prevent them from doing is raising interest rates on existing balances.  So they are preemptively raising rates for customers regardless of credit history and scores.  If it does pass, I wonder how many "good" customers will be stuck with higher interest rates then they otherwise wouldn't have had?  Not that I'd complain.  I'd much rather have a higher rate I could be sure of then a lower rate that could go up at any time.  The devil you know, so to speak.

[Anonymous]

I guss Citi isn't so bad after all.  I was kind of upset that they couldn't do anything for me when I called to complain about the rate hike.  So I thought I'd try again.  THIS time they were very helpful.  I got my facts above a little wrong, I was at 11.99 and they were going to raise it to 18.99.  After a quick transfer and a five minuet wait the second person I talked to gave me prime plus 5.99, currently 9.99, a cli of $750, soft, and an extra 1% cash back on purchases for six months.  I guess it really does pay to try try again.