Disappointed in Citi

[Shadowfactor]

Discover made me do this same thing with verifying the payment with my bank. They only did it when I made a payment of 75% of my credit line. And normally if I wanted the funds available right away. They stopped doing it after about the 4th month of card membership. It didn’t really happen at that often but enough to be annoying considering my credit line was $200 so $150 payment triggered it. And that was my only cash back card at the time so I was maxing the card out a lot and paying multiple times mid cycle to reuse the credit line.

I had never bounced a payment with discover either when they started doing this. It started up around the end of the first statement.

[Shadowfactor]

And as someone noted.

Amex has the same policy for new bank accounts. 30 days no payment on anything that doesn’t cut at the statement. So you can’t pay for posted charges until the statement cuts. But once you add a bank account and it’s been 30 days you can pay whenever you want. Even if the charge is still pending.

[HeavenOhio]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
And as someone noted.

Amex has the same policy for new bank accounts. 30 days no payment on anything that doesn’t cut at the statement. So you can’t pay for posted charges until the statement cuts. But once you add a bank account and it’s been 30 days you can pay whenever you want. Even if the charge is still pending.

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If you set up your payment account as soon as you're approved for your first AMEX card, you'll avoid most issues. You'll be freed of your payment restrictions well before your first due date. The only real hassle would be for those trying to meet a sign-up bonus on a low limit.

[Anonymous]

OP, had the exact same thing happened to me when I first started using my Citi DC card. Made large payment ($2500) and Citi said it would take 10 days to clear.
Called Citi csr and made a conference with my bank to have them confirm my info. Payment posted the same day and never had a problem since then. Took me 10 minutes total.

[EAJuggalo]

I'll call them tomorrow and have it cleared.  Would have been helpful if they would have told me this when I made the payment on Friday and I could have had them call my CU and have it cleared up immediately.  But immediately after the payment it told me my entire credit limit was available, and then started declining charges at 1:15 on Saturday afternoon.  My CU closes at 1.  Oh well, let me work on my Samsung pay Chase offer.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've never had any issues with Citi always a pleasure doing business with them.

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Seeing as their chat reps are worthless just like their front line reps, I can't see how it's ever a pleasure to do business with Citi. 

I guess it could be if you never have an inquiry and need to deal with customer service as their card perks are really good, but that's about it. 

[Grabiela]

The same thing happen to me with Banco Popular of Puerto Rico. Some time its take 8 days so my payment can be clear and ready to use i hate when that happen. I did call then and they said its take one year of payments so that can stop.

[EAJuggalo]

My credit union is weird.  It has started processing all ACH debits after closing the business day following the charge.  Even for automatic charges.  One of my sons' daycare charges every friday, I see it didn't process until after close of business today, or at least didn't show on my online banking.  Same thing with my Citi payment, even though I made it friday morning before opening of business it didn't show until after close today.  I called Citi this afternoon and they told me they couldn't call my bank to verify payment until after my online shows it as cleared, so I get to call them back tomorrow afternoon again to get this lifted.

[Anonymous]

I never had any issues with Citi holding payments for me, but I do also bank with them, so when I make a payment to my Secured Diamond card it is immediately deducted from my checking account and available in my credit. OP You can always call or chat with Citi and tell them you want to make a debit card payment to your account, I just paid $100 today with my new debit card from BoA and it was immediately available after I got off chat with Citi. My CL is $200 and I regularly make payments in full with no issues

[OmarR]

Someone mentioned "I don't know why people think that banks want to manage several payments per billing cycle."

I don't think anyone thinks that. I do it weekly because it allows me to scrutinize/analyze my purchases more easily as I look for incorrect amounts, incorrect tips, fraud, etc., especially from a memory/recollection point of view. And I do understand that I can still scrutiny on a weekly basis WITHOUT making a weekly payment. But as someone else also mentioned, if I am ready to pay now, why wait?

OP, If I had a good payment & useage history with Citi DC and they kept doing that to me, I would just give your QS the swipes. My Citi DC is my daily carry backup card, but only a $19.99 monthly bill and PIF is what keeps it active.

When I was younger and new to credit, I had an AMEX that had a CL of ~$800. If I had to make a large purchase, sometimes even larger than my CL, I would PUSH a large payment (like $1600) several days before, let the payment clear, and than make my purchase.

Yeah, they didn't like that.