topic Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old. in Credit Cards

Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:35:01 GMT

Citi credit card is charging me a $60 annual fee on what was before my NO ANNUAL FEE card. Citi CSR told me that people who are spending less may be be hit with this annual fee. But I still don't personally see below no annual fee *requires minimum spending* anywhere in their current promos for new cards.

If you are planning to apply for a Citi credit card. BEWARE! If you aren't spending enough you may get hit with an annual fee on the NO ANNUAL FEE card. I did.

I feel this is very deceptive of Citi to continue advertising NO ANNUAL FEE. They should be advertising No annual fee *requires minimum spending* and list the fee and minimum requirement. I'm disappointed.

I'd personally *not apply for a new Citi card.

Very rarely do I say I'm disappointed. At least other brand cards list all their fees up front. I don't see Citi doing that and that's why I'm disappointed. I personally think in my opinion it is deceptive advertising how Citi is not disclosing *minimum spending requirement* on their current promotions for no annual fee cards.

I will not be recommending Citi cards to anyone until the fee is removed.

=> Citi it stated that I needed to meet a minimum spending of $2,400 annually to have the annual fee credited back.

Source #1

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/the-problem-solver/2010/02/new-annual-charge-in-the-citi.html

Source #2

http://www.bankrate.com/blogs/credit-cards/citi-adds-60-annual-fee.aspx

Source #3

I've received the letter personally.

Message Edited by ilovepizza on 02-26-2010 04:35 PM

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

smallfry — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:50:07 GMT

Hey Pizza. This is one more reason not to apply for more credit than you actually need. After all 2400 bucks is not a lot to charge annually. It is a bit misleading though.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

fused — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:18:22 GMT

Hey, Pizza, where have you been hiding?

We'll see how many people have their accounts closed for not spending 2400 a year and refusing to pay the new AF.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

laz98 — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:27:23 GMT

very unfortunate. i wouldn't mind having a citi card. i guess if chase is going to do away with the rewards program for my debit card, i will have to charge my purchases onto something else!

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

fused — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:32:07 GMT

I have a CITI Dividend Plat Select that I can charge a lot. So, this shouldn't be an issue for me. Obviously, I cannot say the same for others. Banks will ALWAYS find ways to take money from us.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:42:04 GMT

I'm holding up, thank you for asking. I've calculated the rewards currently with Chase vs Citi. No matter how I spend it, I still get more rewards with my Chase and Discover cards vs my Citi card.

5% "Cash" back on gas from Discover up to $100

3% "Cash" back on food, gas and a few other things from Chase.

1% "Cash" back on all other from Chase and Discover.

Citi card... 1 point for each dollar. 8,000 points needed for a $50 gift cash card. ($8,000 in speding for $50 cash back). I'm better off paying the $60 fee and not using it. I guess I can swing over $2400 to Citi, loose the 1% of non qualifying purchases from Chase or Discover ($24 in rewards, get $60 fee back from Citi and only be out the $24. Better than being out $60).

Citi charges the Annual fee up front and if I spend over $2,400 the $60 fee is credited back after 1 year. Then the fee is charged again, and credited next year, ect... Their still charging the fee either way. I gain nothing financially by keeping the card. It's a very old card, not sure what option I'll take. Citi won't do a product change, they know it will impact peoples credit and I wanted to warn people who might apply for the Citi card that there can be an annual fee once they receive their no annual fee card.

I also did a search-engine search for terms: Citi $60 Annual Fee, and there's a lot of poeple posting about this too.

Message Edited by ilovepizza on 02-26-2010 06:42 PM

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

fused — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:00:12 GMT

ilovepizza wrote:

Citi card... 1 point for each dollar. 8,000 points needed for a $50 gift cash card. ($8,000 in speding for $50 cash back). I'm better off paying the $60 fee and not using it.

Good to hear you're doing well! That's a ~~bankers~~ lousy deal. Yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:08:05 GMT

As far as I'm concerned, I look on an annual fee as eating into my rewards. Unless there's some utterly astounding rewards going on, a fee drops the real rewards rate to a level that is too low to attract me.

A lot of banks are testing the market out there to see who will give them free money.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

fused — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:21:52 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

A lot of banks are testing the market out there to see who will give them free money.

True, and I call it beta testing.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

smallfry — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:43:54 GMT

Is anyone going to close these cards?

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

fused — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:46:22 GMT

smallfry wrote:
Is anyone going to close these cards?

For the time being, no.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:28:05 GMT

@smallfry wrote:
Is anyone going to close these cards?

I'm undecided. I think the questions will be, will this deter people from applying or chase them away elsewhere? I'd not apply for a new Citi card if risk of AF.

The cash back rewards work for me this way.

Chase $0.01 per $1 spent (non qualifying purchases)

Citi - $0.00625 per $1 spent (non qualifying purchases)

.. Citi requires 8,000 points to reward $50. 1 point is not 1 cent.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:20:32 GMT

The CSR also told me I could avoid the fee each year as long as my transactions total greater than $1,200 and post / settle before the new annual fee is applied. Basically I'd never see the fee, pay it, and have it refunded 12 months later if I reached minimum spending before the fee is applied on 4/1/2010. I think it's only fair I use this information to the best of my abilities. I think there's a loop hole somewhere. I have room to dispute this.

Message Edited by ilovepizza on 02-26-2010 10:20 PM

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Gh0st — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:20:12 GMT

I really hope this whole thing doesn't work out. I actually got approved a few days ago for the Citi Forward right before the cc act and it would suck to cancel it in the future.

In regards to the rewards, you could save 10,000 points, buy a particular gift card for $100(10,000 points) and sell it at plasticjunkie.com . You can get $80 cold hard cash or $84 amazon credit. Thats about 3.9/4.01ish%(usage) per dollar. Not all of the gift cards have the same exchange rate though.

Message Edited by Gh0st on 02-26-2010 07:20 PM

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

laz98 — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:05:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@smallfry wrote:
Is anyone going to close these cards?
I'm undecided. I think the questions will be, will this deter people from applying or chase them away elsewhere? I'd not apply for a new Citi card if risk of AF.

The cash back rewards work for me this way.
Chase $0.01 per $1 spent (non qualifying purchases)
Citi - $0.00625 per $1 spent (non qualifying purchases)
.. Citi requires 8,000 points to reward $50. 1 point is not 1 cent.

it will probably deter me from applying. i'm not entirely opposed to annual fees, provided they are reasonable (in my opinion, i know most of you detest annual fees, but to each their own). but to regulate my usage, that's another thing, & i don't like it.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Jazzzy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:37:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm holding up, thank you for asking. I've calculated the rewards currently with Chase vs Citi. No matter how I spend it, I still get more rewards with my Chase and Discover cards vs my Citi card.

5% "Cash" back on gas from Discover up to $100
3% "Cash" back on food, gas and a few other things from Chase.
1% "Cash" back on all other from Chase and Discover.

Remember...Discover is not 1%. It is "up to 1%."

This is their breakdown:

Spending of 0 to $3.000 is 0.25% (only one quarter of a percent)

Over $3,000 is 1%

And, in addition, per Discover.."All purchases made at select warehouse clubs or discount stores, including grocery stores affiliated with these stores are 0.25%." I've never checked, but I assume this includes Walmart. You can call for a list.

As far as I'm concerned, Discover is only good for its 5% categories...and the maximum rewards on these categories are getting smaller and smaller. For example, you can get 5% on groceries for March, up to $200 in spending. Well...that's a whopping maximum $10 reward.

Discover is not what it used to be.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:52:06 GMT

@LynetteM wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm holding up, thank you for asking. I've calculated the rewards currently with Chase vs Citi. No matter how I spend it, I still get more rewards with my Chase and Discover cards vs my Citi card.

5% "Cash" back on gas from Discover up to $100
3% "Cash" back on food, gas and a few other things from Chase.
1% "Cash" back on all other from Chase and Discover.

Remember...Discover is not 1%. It is "up to 1%."

This is their breakdown:

Spending of 0 to $3.000 is 0.25% (only one quarter of a percent)
Over $3,000 is 1%

And, in addition, per Discover.."All purchases made at select warehouse clubs or discount stores, including grocery stores affiliated with these stores are 0.25%." I've never checked, but I assume this includes Walmart. You can call for a list.

As far as I'm concerned, Discover is only good for its 5% categories...and the maximum rewards on these categories are getting smaller and smaller. For example, you can get 5% on groceries for March, up to $200 in spending. Well...that's a whopping maximum $10 reward.

Discover is not what it used to be.

I charge my first $100 of gas each month on Discover. Them move to the remainder to my Chase card. It takes no effort to choose a card from my wallet. $5 cash back from Discover is still more money in my pocket. Those little $5 amounts that take no effort add up!

Message Edited by ilovepizza on 02-26-2010 11:52 PM

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:56:34 GMT

I don't like annual fees either, and I won't pay them, period. But what Citi is doing is culling low-usage accounts.

They advertise no annual fee, and for new cardholders, that's true. There isn't any. In my experience, they won't even hint at an annual fee until close to the end of the first year you've had the account.

What they're basing the fee on (for those who have gotten that notice) is the history of your usage of the account. If you're not using the card, they don't want to carry your account without compensation for their costs of maintaining it on their books. Instead of just closing your account, they give you the option of keeping it active, but with the fee (which can be rebated with usage).

I'm not taking the bank's side here by any means, but the fact is that if you're not putting $2400 on that card over the course of an entire year, you really don't need that account. Citi is saying that they don't really need you, either, but if you want to continue with them, there's a cover charge.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

orl2185 — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:25:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't like annual fees either, and I won't pay them, period. But what Citi is doing is culling low-usage accounts.

They advertise no annual fee, and for new cardholders, that's true. There isn't any. In my experience, they won't even hint at an annual fee until close to the end of the first year you've had the account.

What they're basing the fee on (for those who have gotten that notice) is the history of your usage of the account. If you're not using the card, they don't want to carry your account without compensation for their costs of maintaining it on their books. Instead of just closing your account, they give you the option of keeping it active, but with the fee (which can be rebated with usage).

I'm not taking the bank's side here by any means, but the fact is that if you're not putting $2400 on that card over the course of an entire year, you really don't need that account. Citi is saying that they don't really need you, either, but if you want to continue with them, there's a cover charge.

Hmmmm, lets see here... Had been using credit cards over 15 years now. At no time have I ever charged up 2400 on any account no matter what the situation. I don't have Citi cards but rest assured I will NEVER have a card that charges me an annual fee or tell me how much to charge or use.

Re: Read before you apply. Citi new $60 annual fee if minimum spending not met. Affects new and old.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:59:12 GMT

orl2185 wrote: Hmmmm, lets see here... Had been using credit cards over 15 years now. At no time have I ever charged up 2400 on any account no matter what the situation. I don't have Citi cards but rest assured I will NEVER have a card that charges me an annual fee or tell me how much to charge or use.

orl2185, I agree with you 100%. I feel the same way.

The point I'm trying to make is that up until now, that decision you've made has always been yours to make. It still is, but Citi is saying that now they get to choose, too, based on those same things, annual fee and/or usage.