topic Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION! in Credit Cards

Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:48:18 GMT

So, Ive had the card almost a year all payments on time! Decided to pay it off to get a new TV and use the 12 finance.. so I made a 2000$ payment completely paid the card off. THE NEXT DAY they canceled my card.. closed my account. WOW. PLEASE beaware of there crooked ways. Even though I've made all my payments on time and was a good customer they will still screw you over.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:55:03 GMT

Have you tried contacting them to find out why your card was cancelled?

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

DaveInAZ — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:56:41 GMT

Did you call to ask why?

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 16:13:05 GMT

++ to the above. Whenever an issuer up and cancels a card like that, there's almost always something else going on, something that you might not necessarily even be aware of at all. For instance, a fraud alert could have been tripped on their end in their computers that caused the card to be canceled. We've seen several incidents of that sort recently with other issuers. It's hard to tell what will spook a credit-card issuer; I still remember that incident from a month or so back where a Chase member had all their cards shut down on them, just like that, because they changed their income information on the website after getting a new card just a little too soon for Chase's liking (and without any intent at all to defraud them, either!)

In fact, I actually wonder if PIF'ing all at once might not have triggered an algorithm somewhere deep in the recesses of Citi's computers that caused said computers (and computers can be VERY stupid, as we all know!) to suspect you of doing something that wouldn't stand scrutiny even though all you were doing was paying off what you owed so that you could clear the decks for a big purchase.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 16:14:14 GMT

I've called, they did a review on the account. And decided to close the account. They used Equifax to pull a credit report and since my score dropped they decided to close my accout.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

simplynoir — Mon, 15 May 2017 16:19:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've called, they did a review on the account. And decided to close the account. They used Equifax to pull a credit report and since my score dropped they decided to close my accout.

How bad of a drop are we talking here because that just blows my mind that they would do that regardless; like it would have to be something pretty steep for them to take that kind of action I would think.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 16:42:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've called, they did a review on the account. And decided to close the account. They used Equifax to pull a credit report and since my score dropped they decided to close my accout.

That doesn't sound right to me. Credit scores fluctuate by their very nature. I had my TU score drop by 3 points and then rebound by 16 points within two months just now, for example. Do you have a way to check your Equifax scores on your own so that you can see what's going on? Also, have you looked at your most recent credit report? If Citi was citing a big drop on EQ, there must have been some kind of activity that caused it. There are a lot of things that can, counterintutively because one would think that they'd help your score, actually cause scores to drop.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

MyLoFICO — Mon, 15 May 2017 18:07:13 GMT

This thread has just enough information to fuel a grudge for action taken that was probably justified on the banks end.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

heyryan — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:06:52 GMT

@simplynoir wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I've called, they did a review on the account. And decided to close the account. They used Equifax to pull a credit report and since my score dropped they decided to close my accout.
How bad of a drop are we talking here because that just blows my mind that they would do that regardless; like it would have to be something pretty steep for them to take that kind of action I would think.

They're not going to close an account in good standing for a minor drop in FICO due to a couple INQs or the like. More likely triggers for AA would be:

High utilization across multiple cards for extended periods of time;
New negative account info (late payments, charge offs, collections, etc);
Many new INQs and/or new accounts in a short period of time (even more so with a thin file);
Even making out of the ordinary large payments can be a problem apparently;

There are a couple of interesting articles out there that talk about the risk management thought process with credit cards. Some seems counterintuitive, but I guess after analyzing trends over the past 30-40 years, they've figured out what makes them comfortable.

Any AA sucks, and can be bruising to the ego, but that doesn't make Citi "crooked" or mean they're "screw(ing) you over." They (most likely the computer) made a business decision based on information in your credit report that made them nervous. It sounds like a human reviewed it and agreed with the computer, which means there's more to it than just an alorithm gone awry.

OP, You can get a free online copy of your EQ report since Citi stated that's who they used to make the decision. Check overall UTIL, any collections/charge-offs that are new, etc. Citi isn't known for being particularly schizophrenic with good customers (unlike a certain British bank , so that's a good place to start!

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:24:15 GMT

I understand the banks side of it. But I could of just made my monthly payment and still have my card, still building my credit. It's just sad how I can make my payments on time, and decide to payoff my card so I could continue to make purchases and build my credit.
Just seems fishy that the day after I make a payment they decided to review my account. Couple days prior to the payment I called citi and specifically asked if I pay my card off to make a purchase for my business would that effect my credit and would I be able to make a purchase. There punishing a good person who has been a good customer. I would be understanding if I had late payments all the time or just behind more than 90 days or something. @Citibank has disappointed. How are you suppose to build and achieve the American dream if a computer decides your faith.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

MyLoFICO — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:34:48 GMT

The credit they extend to you is based on you not only meeting their requirements when you apply but also maintaining them. Chances are they would have reduced your credit limit in increments chasing you down to zero as your payed. That would be worse as your UTIL on that card would have always been near 100%. It sucks that it happened but if your score is jumping that badly, they took the appropriate action. Their loyalty is to themselves, not you.

Edited: Because my hooked on phonics failed me.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:32:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would be understanding if I had late payments all the time or just behind more than 90 days or something.

Wait, how many late payments did you have recently? If not 90 days late, how late were they?

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

MyLoFICO — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:36:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I would be understanding if I had late payments all the time or just behind more than 90 days or something.
Wait, how many late payments did you have recently? If not 90 days late, how late were they?

Good catch, I totally glossed over that part.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:38:12 GMT

1 late payment in 12 months

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

fltireguy — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:38:25 GMT

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

happypill — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:39:07 GMT

I haven't read the agreement for the Best Buy card, but pretty much every single CC agreement says that the issuer can reduce or close the credit line at any time. I think a lot of them also say that the user must return the card at their request (although in practice they would just close off the account).

Closing or reducing your limit doesn't mean that are cooked. Very simply, it means that they aren't willing to offer you credit any more. It could be because your credit profile has changed (and by you vague comments I think that is the case here). It could also mean that the issuer's tolerance for risk has changed - possibly because they are losing money, or that they decided to focus their resources elsewhere, or even that the economy as a whole seems more risky.

In this case, based on the very limited and vague information the OP provided, I'm going to guess that something in the user profile triggered the AA. Can't say more without more information, but I'm going to speculate that it has to do with utilization (if you needed to pay $2k in order to create space to finance a TV, that implies utilization was high and perhaps close to being maxed out). I think the best conclusions we can draw are that utilization is always a huge factor in credit score and potential AA, and that it's always best to diversify your credit accounts (difficult when you're rebuilding of course).

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

MyLoFICO — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:40:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
1 late payment in 12 months

Is that across your entire credit report? You seem to be unwilling to paint the whole picture here for us. How far did your score drop and how long did it take for the drop?

Citibank is very conservative, if they fee threatened, your account will go the way of the Dodo for sure.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:40:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
1 late payment in 12 months

How long ago was that late payment?

How many late payments did you have before 12 months with that card?

Do you have any recent late payments showing up on your credit report from other credit cards?

Banks don't just shut down cards -- they WANT people to use those cards so the bank can earn transaction fees and interest. If a bank shuts down a card, there's something worrying them, and we're not hearing the whole story here.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:42:29 GMT

To be honest, I would love to get back in with Citibank -- my old Best Buy card was my highest CL on any card. I actually burned them for a lot (5 figures) and they never sued me. 3 years after the CO I actually called them to see if they could stop reporting the balance every month and they just deleted all the lates, derogatories and chargeoff but kept the tradeline on my credit reports, lol. I didn't ask for that, just for them to stop reporting constantly. Put them in my "happy" list of lenders for the future.

Re: Best buy citi visa card..... CAUTION!

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 17:46:00 GMT

According to equifax, I have 0 late payments. My score dropped around 20-30 points. Went through a job loss. But never was late on any of my credit cards. My limit was at 2500. Was maxed when opened. Had 18month 0% interest. Made payments and used the card some. I have 3 cards none of which have any late payments according to equifax. I had 1 thing go into collections but was taken care of. I'm young 25 but still besides student loans my credit history isn't bad.