No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
I got my citi secured card about a wk ago and it has a 200.00 limit
I charged about 150.00 so had avail 50 dollars in credit. I paid in cash at a Citi branch 220.00. When I left the bank the automated system said I could charge 270.00
It appears that if you overpay your account with them, at branch or over phone, since you cannot pay online this way, you are able to charge what you have paid, this has been my experience thus far
I just wanted to let everyone know that has this card, if you have a low limit, just keep infusing the card with cash and you will be able to use that amount in cash that you have paid, plus your credit line
This is also what I rep told me...
Hope this helps
I did not get the name of the rep, however, he told me if my account was charged an over the limit fee I should call back and give them a code (he gave me this code to call back with) and he said they would take care of the fees.
When you think about it I am not going over the credit line because I am giving them cash WHILE I still have available credit on my account, so technically I am never going over. In addition, I never have made nor will make a single purchase over my 200 CL...I feel in this case I might run into a problem. My purchases are all small, but I make a lot of them
In one week I paid $425.00 to the card and probably charged $385.00 or so
If the system allows me to spend over my credit limit because there are payments sitting on my account, well that is technology working at its best...that's how I see it...
Andy, you may want to check how this reports on your credit report.
It may say that your credit line is $200 and that your high balance is $220. Therefore, on your credit report, it looks as if you've gone over your limit.
This would likely only affect you if someone does a manual review. It could look to someone reading your report as if you've gone over your limit.
Just an FYI... I used to work in the fraud department at Citi. Most of the time you're not allowed to overpay without it tripping the system. That would start making the fraud department review it and may also send it to the CREW department(credit risk). It also won't up how your credit limit is reported.
Why not charge just to the limit and then use extra cash you were going to "overpay" with?
If the card were appearing on my credit report I would not be handling it in this fashion, however, this card won't show up on any of the bureau reports for 18 months so I don't have to worry about this detail now.
It triggered a fraud alert once. I have called in few times and asked various reps about overpaying and all tell me...its fine.
As far as being a "credit risk" because I am sending in too much money too soon etc...I personally think that is ridiculous...in today's economy and considering that this particular bank had to be bailed out by the US Govt, if I were this bank I would be delighted to get every cent I could at this point in addition to considering how many millions of card members are defaulting and such
Now, if those payments started being returned....then if I were the bank I would really worry.
The reason why I am not using the extra cash for ordinary spending is because I want this bank to know that I have the cash to pay on the card and I am able to handle a larger credit line, hence all the payments..... this is what I hope they might get out of all of this...
@Andy77 wrote:If the card were appearing on my credit report I would not be handling it in this fashion, however, this card won't show up on any of the bureau reports for 18 months so I don't have to worry about this detail now.
It triggered a fraud alert once. I have called in few times and asked various reps about overpaying and all tell me...its fine.
As far as being a "credit risk" because I am sending in too much money too soon etc...I personally think that is ridiculous...in today's economy and considering that this particular bank had to be bailed out by the US Govt, if I were this bank I would be delighted to get every cent I could at this point in addition to considering how many millions of card members are defaulting and such
Now, if those payments started being returned....then if I were the bank I would really worry.
The reason why I am not using the extra cash for ordinary spending is because I want this bank to know that I have the cash to pay on the card and I am able to handle a larger credit line, hence all the payments..... this is what I hope they might get out of all of this...
Why does this card not show up on credit reports for 18 mos?
@LynetteM wrote:
@Andy77 wrote:If the card were appearing on my credit report I would not be handling it in this fashion, however, this card won't show up on any of the bureau reports for 18 months so I don't have to worry about this detail now.
It triggered a fraud alert once. I have called in few times and asked various reps about overpaying and all tell me...its fine.
As far as being a "credit risk" because I am sending in too much money too soon etc...I personally think that is ridiculous...in today's economy and considering that this particular bank had to be bailed out by the US Govt, if I were this bank I would be delighted to get every cent I could at this point in addition to considering how many millions of card members are defaulting and such
Now, if those payments started being returned....then if I were the bank I would really worry.
The reason why I am not using the extra cash for ordinary spending is because I want this bank to know that I have the cash to pay on the card and I am able to handle a larger credit line, hence all the payments..... this is what I hope they might get out of all of this...
Why does this card not show up on credit reports for 18 mos?
The Citi secured card reports to all three CRAs. There was a misconception floating around from some illinformed Citi person that it didn't until it was unsecured. Not so. I've had one for several months and it reports.
How long did it take to show up on your reports?
My account was opened on 10/13/09 and I started using the card on 10/24/09
Nothing on any reports as of yet
When I called CSR they told me it did not report and sent me this letter:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding your Citi® secured account.
Credit history is not reported on this account because the
account is secured by a Certificate of Deposit (CD). However, if
this account becomes two months delinquent, the past due status
will be reported to the credit bureaus along with the payment
history from that time forward.
While your account remains secured, no other type of reports will
be made to the credit bureaus.
We hope this information is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
S. Larson
Customer Service
FEDERAL REGULATIONS REQUIRE THE STATEMENT PRINTED ON THE REVERSE
SIDE