@Hoben02 wrote:
@SilentOne wrote:Nope. The secured card was barely used and always paid early with autopay. The customer service rep put me on hold while they searched for a reason. Not finding one, they gave me some vague line about "the bank has different factors for why they close accounts." Same thing happened when I called back about the non-secured one. Only reason he could give was a "recent change to my credit report," which, literally the only recent change had been the other card being closed.
The banks don't make money unless you use that charge card, myself I have quite a few cards but only a handful get used the rest I make sure to use quarterly to keep them alive
Well, if we want to get super technical, they *do* make money off a secured card in a way, even in the absence of swipes, because they have your deposit on hold and are reinvesting it elsewhere to make money off it until your card graduates and they return it to you.
@SilentOne wrote:So I've been in the process of rebuilding credit the last several years (with solid gains so far!). Some of the early steps in that were secured cards ($500 Citi, $1,000 Capital One). Throughout the rebuilding process, I've had zero issues whatsover and income is back over $200k per year.
In the last 12 months, I've been able to get some pretty decent cards, starting with Apple (Goldman Sachs) and then later Citibank Double Rewards ($2,500), followed by two others (I'll explain after).
Before the two others, Citibank abruptly closed my secured card that I'd had for 2 years and 11 months, and shortly after the Double Rewards that I'd had for 4 months. Neither card had any issues. Ever. My credit took a short ding when they closed the secured card, which then was the only reason they gave me on the phone for why they closed the Double Cash card. Yep. That means they told me "that a recent change to my credit report" -- that one that THEY caused, was why they closed my larger non-secured card.
Wow. Thanks Citibank.
As anyone who's gone through credit repair can probably understand, I'm extremely loyal to the companies who are good to me, but that was a huge slap in the face for someone who'd spent nearly 3 years with a secured card and who'd only ever had a perfect record with Citi on anything.
Fortunately, Capital One immediately approved me for a better card with a higher limit and then AMEX actually (unexpectedly) approved me for a Platinum right after (which is my new favorite card).
Either way, I don't care what offers, bonuses, or if the CEO him/herself personally invites me to a future card, I'll never ever ever ever ever consider another Citibank card, because that was seriously some BS on their part.
Citibank is officially on the same list as flying Spirit Airlines or willingingly sticking my hand on a hot stove. No thanks, I'll pass.
It's not nice that Citibank closed your accounts without any valid reason.
But I can assure you that Capital One does that too.
@SilentOne wrote:Haha, definitely. It's not like I'm out defacing Citibank buildings out of deep seated anger, I just wanted to share on here for anyone else considering using a Citi secured card vs another issuer. On one hand, I suppose it helped my credit while I had the card (positive payment history, on and on), but them closing an aged account for no obvious (or given) reason certainly wasn't ideal. And closing them both like that was just offensive.
Capital One has been great and I'd recommend them if someone was choosing who to start a secured card with.
They were great to me, until, one day, they weren't.