Citibank Master Card - Interest Rate Increase from 11.9% to 19.9%

# 41 for May 18, 2002

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on May 17, 2002:

From: Email User

RE: Citibank Master Card - Interest Rate Increase from 11.9% to 19.9%

When I received my March 2002 Citibank statement, I saw my interest rate had been increased from 11.9% to 19.9%. I thought this was some kind of error, since I have never missed a payment or been late, I had recently decreased my overall consumer debt by $20,000, and I have been an excellent Citibank customer for nearly a decade. I called Citibank and was informed that a change to card member agreement was included with my January statement (I must have missed it). The change said Citibank could access my Equifax records and make adjustments to my interest rate if I didn't meet certain criteria. According to the woman I spoke with, my account's interest rate would be reduced back to its previous 11.9 while I had 60 days to clear up my report with Equifax. My Equifax records were fine. I score (as of today) a 715, which is pretty decent. So I called back Citibank today (5-18-2002) to see where my interest rate would be set. I was shocked to learn that a) My interest rate was never lowered back to its previous rate; and b) Citibank had no intention of decreasing my rate from 19.9. I explained to a Citibank supervisor that I have an outstanding customer record, a good Equifax score, a 6 figure income....all to no avail. When I mentioned that I get weekly offers in the mail for low rate balance transfers that, even after the intro period, are vastly lower than 19.9, it didn't seem to matter. It is astounding that Citibank would set up policies that enable them to lose a good customer like me. I wish I could come up with an e-mail address so Complaints.Com could send this letter to someone at Citibank with some sense, but I could not find any e-mail addresses for Citibank at their website. If Complaints.Com can find an e-mail, you certainly have my permission to forward this letter. The resolution I am seeking would be a return to my previous 11.9 rate. In the meantime, however, I guess Citibank is going to lose a really good client. That's a shame, because prior to this instance I always thought of Citibank as having a good program with good customer service. Sincerely,

G. Fellman

Email User