topic Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured? in Credit Cards

Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:32:31 GMT

Opened in Dec. 2018, did not graduate at 18 months, was told they'd need to hold my deposit for another year then review, (so next June potentially) Was using the card all the time before, PIF, letting small balance report etc. but have not used in a few months. Use my graduated Disco as my daily driver. The Citi is my oldest card, Disco came 6 months after. I really want to cancel and get my deposit back, but also don't want to botch my credit in the process by closing it. They are my only two cards, with the 3rd being DH's Amex that I'm an AU on. Will it be a big loss if my Disco was opened 6 months later? Should I leave it? I just don't want it to get closed by Citi for non-usage, but I also don't want to keep it going for the sake of just keeping it. I know Citi is stingy even if it does graduate. Thoughts?

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

gdale6 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:36:11 GMT

I would obtain another card that fits into your spending prior to closing as you would lose some Fico points for not having that 3rd open card. Other than this I dont see a problem with closing it, no reason to let the bank have your capital if you are not going to use their product.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

fatcomic — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:37:29 GMT

I agree, replace the card with an unsecured option first and close it out.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:44:34 GMT

@gdale6 my goal was to apply for the Amex BCE or Delta Gold when my scores get into or closer to 700. I guess I might just have to bite the bullet and keep it active until then. Thank you for the advice and helpful info!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:48:11 GMT

@fatcomic Thank you for the advice! Agree, think that'll be my course of action.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

RLFLOWS — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 21:53:07 GMT

I am in the same situation as you are with the Citi Secured card. Have had mine since September 2018. It's my second oldest card but received the same letter you did. Was pissed off it didn't graduate but with 2+ years history I decided to keep it open ($200 deposit).Only difference is that I now have 12 credit cards.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 22:15:22 GMT

@RLFLOWS ugh, sorry to hear yours also didn't graduate! It's so frustrating! But happy to hear you've obtained other cards. Do you think you'll cancel it in the future or just keep it?

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

Shaw83 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:04:32 GMT

Same thing just happened to me, I got the letter last week saying they're going to leave it secured for another year. I'm closing due to not being able to do balance transfers or anything.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:11:40 GMT

@ACN323 @RLFLOWS @Shaw83

Do you all care to share some data points at the time you received the letter that it will not unsecure for a year? Maybe what your scores were at the start compared to what they are now? Did you open a lot of accounts since then? Or if your letters stated the reasons why.

I have a citi secured only sitting at 7 months and I posted wanting info on it growing upon graduation. I decided to keep it for now since I feel there's potential. I could be change my mind after 18 months or being put in your shoes.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:20:52 GMT

@Shaw83 so frustrating! I thought for sure mine was going to graduate since my scores had improved by like 80 points from when I initially opened it, and I had perfect payment history with them. Guess not. Kudos to you for closing it! Can't wait to boot mine.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:31:19 GMT

@Anonymous my EXF8 at the time of approval was 490, I had no other open positive trade lines. I only had a collection from Cap1 for $691 and a charge off from Cap1 for $3096 which were a few years old. My maturity date was supposed to be 07/20. I used the card a lot and always PIF or would let a small balance report. The only other card I applied for was my Disco which graduated in 9 months. My scores were all high 500's, low 600's by the time I received my denial for graduation about 15 months in. I haven't applied for any cards outside of those two, in the past two years, and paid off the collection, and paid down the charge off. The denial letter I threw out lol, but it was pretty vague, so much so that I messaged them on the app trying to get a better explanation. I've read success stories of other people in much shorter time spans graduating, but not me. Hope those DP's are helpful?

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

RLFLOWS — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:31:52 GMT

Yes I am keeping it open since it's my 2nd oldest card & $200 isn't going to break me financially.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:36:15 GMT

@RLFLOWS totally makes sense!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

Jmd6030 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 03:05:01 GMT

I'm in the same boat. I've had my Citi secured card since 2017. Never late and PIF. 700 score.
I got the same letter twice over the past two years. The card has zero benefits and I'm planning to close it. My discover graduated in little over a year and I get much more use with it + a higher limit. Citi does what they want...

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 03:16:26 GMT

@Jmd6030 Yesss! I don't understand them either! 3 yrs is ridiculous! Heck 18 months, is ridiculous lol.

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

Jmd6030 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 12:15:27 GMT

@ACN323 I know! And when you call them they can't even help you over the phone. They tell you you're not eligible for a CLI at this time. So annoying and not worth it if you ask me. My limit is $200!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 12:36:47 GMT

@Jmd6030 the worst! Was hoping it would graduate and I could PC to Citi DC, but at this point, I'll most likely apply for an Amex after my scores update and cancel the Citi. So not worth the wait in my book. Good luck to you!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

Jmd6030 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 13:04:18 GMT

@ACN323 Thanks and same to you!!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

CAS2019 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:10:50 GMT

How will this affect your utilization? Is there a high balance on the card you are an authorized user on? Also, with this Covid situation and your collection/charge off, Citi is probably mitigating their risks; it is my understanding Citi is one of the more conservative banks.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do!

Re: Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

ACN323 — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:34:29 GMT

@CAS2019 thank you and thanks for the input! It's a $200 limit card so I don't think it will effect it too much. I don't have a balance on the other two cards so, my available credit would just go down $200, if I did it right now. I think just because I have so few open tradelines, and reading other comments on here, I'll probably wait until I apply for something else in a month or two, before closing it.