Citibank Robbery

[xloadiex]

I have kept my credit on time even when my husband was out of work. Always paid on time and even paid a few bucks more when I could least afford to do so. I have never been late or missed even 1 payment even though we're making enough money now to just get by. Today I get a letter stating they are raising my interest rate from 14% up to 29.99%. I called them and heard "due to the economic times, this is what we have to do." There is absolutely no reason to do this. This is loan sharking. I am in tears and have a good mind not to pay another cent on this account. I could reject this and close the account and stay at my current interest, but closing the account also lowers your credit rating. We are getting royally screwed. Fuck you Citibank!

[Taverner]

1. Pay it off and never spend another dime with them

[asdjrocky]

2. Our government, the people that we elect-

are letting them do this to us.

This is exactly one of the reasons it's hard to believe our reps even give two seconds thinking about the common people.

[Merlot]

3. What are you more afraid of: 29% interest or a ding to your credit report?

Personally, I'd go with the ding to your credit report. It won't be that big of a ding, and you'll probbly get more credit card offers anyhow.

[barbtries]

4. close the account

don't let them screw you!

just my two cents, you gotta do what you feel is best.

[WillyT]

5. Here Ya Go:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQDdAuG5oKw

:shrug:

[Bozita]

8. Good stuff, but she mixed up Ken Lay with Ken Lewis.

[WillyT]

10. Ah... You Say Potato, I Say Potahto... LOL !!!

;)

:hi:

[Warpy]

6. First, cancel that account

By doing so, you can probably argue them into a somewhat lower interest rate on the balance. Then pay that sucker off and don't run another balance on a card if you can possibly avoid it. The new rate is usury.

Don't worry about your credit rating. The way the rating system is set up now, we're all going to be around 300. My own rating is rock bottom because I've stubbornly refused to take out any loans of any type since I paid off my house. I haven't had a credit card since they started to charge junk fees in 1991, and the two used car loans I had were paid off early. The numbers are getting meaningless already, rewarding people who have a lot of debt and punishing people who don't, so pretty soon they'll have outlived their usefulness. They're fucking all the wrong people.

If you need to take out a personal loan in the future, try a credit union or a bank. Use your record in paying utilities and a mortgage if you have one as proof of your ability to pay, it's worked for me.

[Statistical]

7. Generally speaking I say "keep accounts open" BUT...

If you have a substantial balance and can't pay it off in a couple of months .... close the account.

If the balance is low and/or you can pay it down in couple months it may be worth it to keep it open (cut up and with $0.00 balance for rest of your life).

[AllentownJake]

9. The banks are betting against a recovery

I've been saying this since they started playing these games 3 months ago. They are grabbing whatever they can and hiking rates.

If they valued you being a customer in the future they wouldn't be pulling this shit, they are taking bets that people won't be customers in the future.

[Neecy]

11. What they don't realize....

Is that when they've sucked everyone absolutely dry, bye-bye Citibank. A destitute population really won't be in need of their banking or other financial services.

MoFo's. God, this burns me up.

[Jeep789]

13. I don't think they care. These execs aren't attempting to do

what is best for the companies/corporations in the long term. They are out to get as much as they personally can now.

[morillon]

16. I think they also forget about WaMu.

If enough people leave in a short period of time, no bank, no matter how big, can withstand a run. WaMu sure couldn't.

[imdjh]

12. I abbreviate Capital One as "capone" in my files. nt

[morillon]

14. SunTrust is doing the same thing.

On Friday, I got a notification that my Visa's rate is going up by 4 points in January. I've never missed a payment, and I usually keep my balance around 10-20% of the limit. Additionally, we have a mortgage and a couple of checking accounts with them and had a car loan there about five years ago -- all with early/on-time payments. My credit score is in the 700s, and our household income to debt ratio is far away from anyone's definition of a danger zone. (The only thing pulling my score below the 800s is from the aftermath of a little tiff I had with Cigna over a medical bill they paid late a few years ago.)

They're doing this because they CAN, not because I'm a risk. Their BankRate.com score has gone from a relatively healthy 3 to a 1 in less than a year. I keep hearing rumors they're on the verge of insolvency, and I've heard similar things online about Citi. They're opportunistic, short-sighted assholes, as far as I'm concerned.

My plan?

1. No more charges to the SunTrust Visa.
2. Get new checking accounts and a new Visa at a more stable regional bank next week.
3. Over the next two months, move our direct deposits, automatic withdrawals, and mortgage to the new bank.
4. Pay off the SunTrust Visa this month, and sever all ties with the bank by the end of the year. Screw 'em.

They need stable, paying customers like my husband and me. If all the GOOD loans leave their balance sheet, what are they left with? The shitty ones they're so scared of.

My advice would be to keep the card until you pay it off because closing it now will lower your FICO. Don't charge anything more on it, if at all possible, and pay it off as quickly as you can. If you have your checking with Citi, move everything to a solid regional bank that didn't get caught up as much in the Monopoly money madness. You could even check out credit unions. If you want to know how a bank or credit union is doing, go here:

http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/bank-ratings-search.aspx

I'm not a lawyer or financial advisor or accountant or any of that. This is just what I'm planning to do. Hell, I wanted to call them up and terminate my credit card on the spot, but the only person that would hurt is me. Taking all of my family's business away from the bank in an orderly, coldblooded manner keeps my FICO stable and gets me to the same goal, which is to remove any financial support for a bank that screws over its reliable customers.

[csziggy]

15. Are you sure that SunTrust Visa is still from SunTrust?

My SunTrust Mastercard was changed to FIA not long ago - whole different lending company. What was nice is that they reduced my interest rate at the same time and offered 1.9% balance transfer for a year. I transferred my balance on a high interest card over and I'm making more progress paying it off wince not so much is going to interest.

Discover just offered me balance transfer for 0% for six months. I had just paid them off completely and I guess they want my money back on their accounts. I'm thinking of transferring a balance off the FIA card (whose rates are going up soon) so I can pay more off before Discover hikes the rates up. Since I am keeping my payments current, the companies seem to make offers of lower interest rates every time I pay them off. I'll keep transferring my balance until I pay it all off.

[morillon]

17. Yes, it's still from them.

I agree -- the time to get the low interest rate and other perks is when you're signing up. I've got my eye on one bank in particular, and I'll see next week what they're willing to do to roll out the red carpet for new customers.

[LiberalEsto]

18. Transfer the balance to a credit union credit card

Credit unions are supposed to work for their customers, not the CEOs and stockholders. I transferred my credit card balance to a credit union credit card 2 years ago. My interest rate remains steady at 9.9%.

[hfojvt]

19. if you have 12 months of on-time payments

and have not missed payments on other accounts, then call them up again and if the first person doesn't (or cannot) help you, then ask for a supervisor, and if they don't help you then close the account. If you have been paying them 14% interest for a long time, then they should work pretty hard to keep your business. You are already getting screwed at 14% and should pay that thing off as fast as possible.

Do not accept any excuses about the economy. Emphasize that you have been a good customer and that in this bad economy they should try to keep a good customer.

Mention that you will be contacting your Congresspeople and the President and the local news channels and Bank of America (and then follow through on that) because this is about them putting you on default before the regulations take effect that make it more difficult for them to put you in default. As a consumer and a citizen you have some power.

[xloadiex]

20. They are thieves including the Senate

Watching this infuriates me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRWG4Fp4Fwg

It looks like they are trying to jack up everyone before some laws go into effect in 2010. There are other bills that need to be passed.
The Senate just lets them sit there because they are all in the pocket of the banks. I wish we could throw them all out of office.