Citibank customer loyalty is a joke.

I've been a Citibank customer since 1972, when it was First National City Bank. I've been a Citibank Mastercard holder since 1979. I've got both personal and business accounts at Citibank. I hold a Citibank mortgage in good standing. I've had several Citibank loans and lines of credit over the years with no blackmarks. I even worked for Citibank from 1989 to 1993; during its good years, when it put high stock in product quality and customer relations.

As a freelancer, my cash flow depends on my clients' payments to me so my payment history with Citibank has always been irregular. That is, a late payment last month, an over-payment the next, well over the minimum payment due.

Nevertheless, the card rarely carried a balance over half its rather puny $8800 limit. On average, the card carried a balance of $2200+ from month to month.

It's always been this way. Citibank happily took its late fee and extra interest charges without complaint and said nothing about it -- not even a phone call to warn me that my payment was overdue. Until this week.

I received an automated call telling me that my credit line had been cut by 60% to $3300. There was no warning that this would happen.

A call to two Citibank CSR stiffs was pointless. They were as robotic as the Citiphone IVR system. I was told that because I was late with my August payment that my credit limit had been reduced -- despite the fact I paid off $2,000 on the card three weeks later.

I've probably been late with payments on that card at least 300 times over the past 30 years and Citibank never complained about it before.

This is how the Citibank weasels repay 35 years of customer loyalty? By telling me that I can't be trusted with more that $3300 in credit card debt, despite the fact that I also carry a quarter-million mortgage with Citibank with zero late payments?

This is pathetic.

Frankly, the only thing that separates one bank from another is customer service. Citibank's customer service took a nose dive when it lost John Reed and Larry Weiss.

I use the credit card for business and without a worthwhile balance on it, it's got little value to me. Which means that Citibank has little value to me. I might as well close my Citibank accounts and move them to my credit union, which gives my a higher limit and where I at least get free ATMs.

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I was a Citibank customer for 13 years, rarely paid late. The only time I can think of that I paid late was this past September, I must have missed a statement with the payment due 10/16. Made a double payment 10/26. They bumped my rate up to 25.9%! I emailed and called them to ask why they would do this to a 13 year customer who only paid late once. Their reply "If you continue to pay timely for the next 12 months, we will review your rating" No need, I'm taking my business elsewhere.