(Photo: David Paul Ohmer)

We all know that banks offer overdraft protection because it makes them money, not because they want to be kind to customers. Still, it seems weird--or maybe just brutally honest--that Citibank would cancel Corrie's overdraft protection service simply because she'd managed to avoid any overdrafts since she opened her accounts.

I have a Citibank checking account linked to several other accounts (mortgage, credit cards)... due to balances on all of these, I was eligible for the whole package that included a Line of Credit. I did not really want the line of Credit but agreed to it because it provided overdraft protection.

Over the weekend I got a notice that my line of credit had been closed effective 11/21/09, due to non-usage. When I called for an explanation, I was given the same line - that it was closed due to lack of use. I explained that the whole point of overdraft protection is that it is there on the rare occasion it is needed, but to no avail. I now no longer have the line of credit. It's just ironic, since they were the ones who insisted on opening it for me. As careful as I am about overdrafts, I am now much less likely to use my Citi debit card, since I no longer have the reassurance of OD protection.