Penny-pinching Citibank will put the squeeze on small-fry customers, charging them up to $90 a year by demanding a fee every time their average monthly checking account balance sinks below $1,500.

Starting in February, Citibank will no longer automatically waive its $7.50 monthly fee for its "EZ" and "Access" checking-account holders who make either a direct deposit, or two bill payments online monthly.

A management consultant told the Post that if customers stay with Citibank even after they implement the new fee rule, it will send a signal to other banks that they can do the same with low-balance checking account customers. Hmm, maybe it's time to start looking around for a good credit union?

"Really Citi treatment" [New York Post] (Thanks to Kearas!)
(Photo: Mike McCaffrey)

I'm writing about a longstanding issue I've had with Citibank. Given that it's now 2009 and web account management has transitioned from a fringe benefit to "the way business is done," I frequently struggle with Citibank because they seem to have decided to not support Linux and Firefox as clients for their online credit card account management sites. A quick Google search of "citibank Linux" will pull back loads of hits of people complaining about this issue and all sorts of inventive workarounds. I don't want to mess around with inventive workarounds, I want to be able to access my accounts online from my PC like I do for my cell phone provider, three other banks, my 401k manager, my school and scores of other places where online paperwork takes place as part of the business of real life. I'm even able to do online business with the State of New York, the State of Calfifornia, the IRS and even some obscure federal agencies. It is 2009, if we don't get jetpacks, I at least expect my bank to have a website that supports all the major platforms.

I haven't tried to contact them, because I know for sure I'm just going to get some script about "we've made this decision because of *bs reason here*" and I really don't want to deal with the headache of changing credit cards. All I (and the thousands of others out there who have Linux desktops) want is to be able to access our accounts the same way we are able to access accounts for every other major vendor. The only way this is going to happen is if they get bad press that may shy future business away, specifically, people should know up front that they are not going to provide the same level of service (ie: support for the three major client platforms on the Internet) as their peers before their customers begin the application process.

Incidentally: I can successfully apply for and receive a credit card through Citibank using Firefox and Linux, but after they've got my business, I can't login to manage my account. What's up with that?

Anyway, some people would say that this is kind of a fringe complaint and that Linux doesn't have a lot of market share. I don't really care if it does or it doesn't, apparently the rest of the world has chosen to support Linux (Citibank account management is pretty much the only website I've had problems accessing under Linux in YEARS) and if they're not going to follow industry best practices and instead provide inferior service, they need to be upfront about it. Alternatively, and ideally, they get with the program.

I'm curious, are there other Linux users out there who are frustrated with a company for not providing an online service that works on Linux?

(Photo: HighlandBlade)

I recently received a $15 rebate from a purchase made at newegg.com. The rebate came as a Visa prepaid debit card through Citi Bank. This weekend I used the card for a purchase at OfficeMax. The purchase came to $15.93, so I told the cashier I had $15 on a card (which he referred to as a gift card), and handed him the card and a $1 bill.

He swiped the card and told me the charge went through, then handed me back the card and the $1 bill. At first I assumed I had simply misheard the price or remembered the amount of the rebate wrong, but today I noticed the receipt said the card now had a $-.93 balance. I immediately expected this to turn into a horror story- overdraft fees on a gift card, customer service nightmare- but it was not to be. I called the customer service number on the card and was told by the CSR that their policy is to automatically cover a small amount of overage- I think the CSR said $5- as a courtesy. I was told I did not have to pay the 93 cents, and would not incur a fee.

This was definitely a pleasant surprise, and I have now come away with a better impression of both Visa and Citi Bank. It may not quite be above and beyond, but it is an experience worth sharing.

No, it's not to the level of "above and beyond." Still, it's nice to hear that the bank has such a friendly policy.

The question is, who eats the extra $5? The bank? Perhaps the unredeemed amount (not to mention fees) on thousands or millions of other prepaid cards more than makes up for any overages.

(Photo: pstardesign)

Here's what Victor wrote:

We finally got one of the letters we've been reading about on Consumerist, but this one has a twist.

Citibank is raising the interest on our paid-on-time, good status gold card to 29.99% on November 30, 2009. BUT, they'll give us a rebate on the last 10% of the rate 90 days later on a rolling basis if we continue to pay on time. So charging something, leaving it on the account will incur 29.99% interest on December 1st, but we'll get the 10% part of that back in March, and every month after that.

This seems very convoluted and is definitely annoying. For us, it means that we have a 19.99% rate, but with a 90 day perpetual delay. Fortunately we have a small balance on this card. We've decided to just pay off the card and stick it in a drawer before November 30th. This is too stupid to deal with.

But it turns out that what Citibank is offering isn't a 10% reduction in your interest rate, merely a 10% rebate on the interest you paid under the new rate. Our reader Zclyh3 sent us a copy of the letter, which you can expand to read yourself if you like (click the image to enlarge). We copied the part that explains how the new plan works:

Earn interest back every month.

Here's how — make your payment on time every month.

Each month you do, you will receive a credit on your billing statement equal to 10% of your total interest charge on purchase balances. This can help offset the increase in your purchase APR. Start earning interest back in December and January, and you will see the full credit on your statement no later than February 2010 and monthly after that.

If in any month you do not pay on time, you may not be eligible to continue to participate in this program.

(Photo: TheTruthAbout...)

A report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday said Citigroup was looking to limit its overall consumer lending in the United States to credit cards and large mortgages, and plans to cater to largely affluent customers.

That report also said the bank may sell or scale bank its branches in cities such as Boston or Philadelphia.

Will it work? If you're a bank, is it better to have fewer, richer, more reliable customers? Is this a good strategy for Citigroup after two government bailouts?

Citigroup U.S. retail bank focusing on 6 cities [Reuters] (Thanks, Chuck!)

(Photo: pstardesign)

Well, no. Actually he just called customer service and asked if there was anything they could do for him. To his surprise, he got a "yes." He writes:

A heartwarming story to share with you... I was laid off from my job in march and have pretty much purchased nothing but groceries and the occasional smidgen of gin, in addition to transportation costs, utilities and my mortgage.

I recently received an annual fee of $50 for my Citibank American Express (the card was issued by Citibank South Dakota "pursuant to a license agreement with American Express). I called customer service and asked if it was possible to either waive the fee or change the account to a no-fee option.

Mind you, I also made it clear that my only other option was to close the account and to rely on other credit cards that I have with no fees...

Sylvia, a pleasant customer service rep, transferred me within minutes to Grant, "a customer service specialist," who explained to me that because of their agreement with AAdvantage/American Airlines, they could not waive the fee — however, I was offered a $50 voucher from Citibank, which will be mailed to me and I return... thus covering the membership cost for the following year.

I was quite surprised and pleased by the level of customer service shown... I was also wished luck in my job search... all very cordial and beyond the level of consideration that I anticipated.

How about that? A service story with a happy ending, for a change.

So now you know how to get out of AmEx's dreaded annual fee — just lose your job and get lucky enough to find a compassionate CSR on the other end of the line.

(Photo: DCvision2006)

"This was born out of listening to our customers," said Kevin Brown, chief marketing officer/home appliances. Customers were saying, "We're just in a spot where we're deferring major purchases due to our concern about our personal economy and the national economy."

For the moment, the program will only apply to purchases made between July 6 and August 1.

We're skeptical of these recession guarantees, which seem more like clever marketing than a fail-safe that consumers find useful. And since it's Sears, we'd definitely want to see the fine print before believing anything.

Sears to modify payments if appliance buyers lose their jobs [The Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: raindog808)

Citi is changing its compensation in order to continue to pay its workers the same amount without breaking any rules:

"Citi continues to examine ways to ensure its employee compensation practices are competitive in this very challenging market environment," Citi said in a statement Wednesday. "Any salary adjustments are not intended to increase total annual compensation, rather to adjust the balance between fixed and variable compensation."

Citi boosting salaries to offset lower bonuses [AP]
(Photo:cmorran123)

Expedia's customer service team researched this case, and found that Expedia submitted the round-trip amount ($1,468.80) to Qatar Airlines as a U.S.-based purchase. Qatar Airlines verified that they processed the charge via their central reservation system based in Washington D.C. The customer's credit card company, Citibank, then charged a foreign transaction fee in line with its cardholder agreement with the customer.

It is Expedia's assessment that the customer's credit card company is charging a fee, likely because Qatar Airlines is not a U.S.-based company, per its cardholder agreement. Because the fee was not charged by Expedia.com or Qatar Airlines, neither Expedia nor Qatar Airlines has the authority to reverse this charge.

By this logic, I could get charged a foreign transaction fee by doing business with any non-US company, even if the charge takes place in the United States. If I buy a Sony camcorder or a set of Henckels knives - ding! - there's two percent!

Does this seem fair to anyone?

Warning! Foreign transaction fees are popping up everywhere [Tripso]
(Photo: malpo90)

Here's the offer Craig received today:

Now you can earn cash back in the form of a statement credit simply by paying above the minimum amount due on your account.

Paying above the minimum amount due on any of your next 4 monthly billing statements can earn you a statement credit equal to 20% of the amount you paid over the minimum amount due. You can earn up to $550 in the program.

How it works:

• The ability to charge on your account will be temporarily suspended until your statement credit is posted.
• Upon receiving your statement credit, your credit line will be decreased by the total amount paid over the minimum amount due, plus the amount of your statement credit.
• Timely payment of at least the minimum amount due is required on all billing statements before earnings are credited.
• Earnings will be credited to your account in one lump sum within 3 billing statements after successful completion of the program.

We get the part about putting the card on hold during the program; otherwise the entire plan could be rendered moot by a single charge. But the part about reducing your credit limit by the amount you paid extra seems like a random way to penalize customers for taking advantage of the offer. At least you'll get paid something for it, though?

(Photo: boboroshi)

Banks get a bad rap these days, and many deserve the criticism. Today, however, Citibank saved me as a customer by gracefully and reasonably dealing with my issue. The back story is what makes this interesting.

I clearly remember opening my account in 1977 at the age of 14 with my first $200. Back then it was called First National City Bank and was the only institution with ATM devices. Because I was under 18, my account was flagged as a minor and service charges were waived. Well, that setting lasted until this month when I finally got hit with checking account fees! Can you believe that I got away with service fees for 32 years! The nerve of some people :)

Since this has become my secondary account, I called them to cancel. Venkatesh, the outsourced, overseas CSR noticed that my account was from the dark ages. In fact, it was configured as close to a passbook account as you can get these days. He quickly suggested another checking account option that will work just fine for avoiding fees and does not require changing my account number, (which is much shorter than what they give out these days). I'm not kidding when I say that Venkatesh was really excited to save a long term customer. I could hear the inflections in his voice. He did such a good job that I asked to speak with his supervisor to personally extend my thanks and compliments for such a good job.

So, chalk one up for Citibank in this age of impersonal banking and customer service.

Hire the right people, train them well, and you'll have satisfied customers who don't want to leave. Simple enough in theory, but hard to do in practice. Evidently.

Not that everyone can get personal satisfaction from their work as a bank customer service rep. Maybe Venkatesh is an aspiring actor.

(Photo: kiwanja)

One would think that when you book a flight with an international airline from a US IP address and pay in dollars, they would execute the credit card transaction in the US. However, that is not necessarily the case. I charged four tickets on Aer Lingus to my Citibank credit card for a total of around $2600 and just saw on my statement that Citibank charged a 3 percent foreign transaction fee on that entire amount—even though I booked from the US on aerlingus.com and paid in dollars. Those still traveling in this economy should seriously consider booking through one of the online travel agencies instead directly with a foreign airline to avoid this unexpected charge.

Call Citibank and tell them you don't want to pay a foreign transaction fee for an ostensibly domestic purchase. As a courtesy, they should be able to waive the fee.

(Photo: infomatique)

It's #5 TicketmasterVS #4 Citibank:

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Download the bracket here.

Yesterday, a report from Bloomberg described the likelihood of liquidation at 95%.

Chrysler LLC has a 95 percent probability of entering bankruptcy as time dwindles before its April 30 deadline to cut debt and complete an alliance with Italy's Fiat SpA, an industry analyst said.

The likeliest outcome of a Chrysler filing for court protection would be the purchase of some factories and brands by automakers including Fiat, said Michael Robinet, head of global forecasting for CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Michigan.

"Nobody has a good idea about what's going to" exist of the third-largest U.S. automaker once it goes into bankruptcy, Robinet said in a speech today in Detroit.

The bleak news came after lenders rejected an offer by the Treasury department that would have reduced Chrysler's debt. Now a new offer is on the table. The latest word on the deal comes from the Wall Street Journal:

The Treasury now proposes that the banks and other lenders accept as payment 22% of the $6.9 billion they are owed plus a 5% equity stake in Chrysler, said several people familiar with the matter.

That's up from an earlier Treasury proposal that the banks and other lenders accept 15% of what Chrysler owes them and receive no Chrysler stock.

Chrysler's lenders, including JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup, rejected the first offer and proposed that Chrysler pay back 65% of it's debt as well as offer a seat on its board.

Banks Get New Offer for Debt in Chrysler [WSJ]
Chrysler Bankruptcy Now 95% Certain, CSM Analyst Says (Update1) [Bloomberg]
(Photo:Ralph Krawczyk Jr)

Here's Skye's story:

I have been using my CitiBusiness credit card for years now after having decided to exclusively use a single credit card to avoid the potential headaches that come with multiple revolving accounts. So, although I have nearly 20 credit card accounts open, I use only CitiBusiness and have done so for some time.

At the moment, I am abroad - on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in fact, and have been abroad for work for 7 out of the last 8 months. During this time I depend upon my credit card to pay bills at home, as well as hotel bookings and payment for shipboard services while at sea.

Last week, without bothering to notify me either via email or telephone, I discovered CitiBusiness cards had unilaterally closed my account. According to their online interface they had simultaneously opened ANOTHER account on my behalf but did not provide full details of the account.

Upon inquiring via their SECURE MESSAGING CENTER as to why my account had been closed, after three attempts, I received a rather generic response back stating that there had been a "security breach" and subsequently they had closed my account - again, without bothering to notify me.

After several back and forth exchanges via their message system, I was informed that if I wanted more information I would have to call them. From the middle of the Pacific Ocean of course. At about $3.50/minute to boot. So, because many of my bills and my current charges on the ship are tied to a now closed account, I sucked it up, picked up the phone and dialed.

Of course, the first couple layers of the telephone maze involved punching "0" repeatedly until a human being arrived. Then of course, the number that the CitiBank SECURE MESSAGING SERVICE had conveniently provided for me to call in regards to the issue turned out to be the wrong branch of Citibank and they would have to transfer me.

"Okay," I said, "Just please do it as quickly as you can..."

After which the line went dead and I had to start the process all over again.

On the second round, the customer care representative said that I would have to be transferred to Emergency Services. While being transferred, the line went dead.

On the third round, I asked to be connected immediately with Emergency Services after which the customer care representative came back on the line and said:

"They don't take calls."

I repeated the scenario to the CCR and asked to be referred to her supervisor. "Okay" she said, after which CitiBusiness Cards telephone system killed the call for the third time.

On the fourth round, I was finally transferred to a supervisor who, after hearing the details, said that they couldn't share with me the new account information that they had opened in my name.

"What?" I said..."you mean to say you have opened an account on my behalf (not at my request), are authorizing me to use it, but won't give me the account information so I CAN use it?"

"Um, well, we are sending the account information to your home address" she said.

"I am not home, haven't been home for months and won't be home for another month. I am on a ship in the middle of the Pacific, remember? Since you unilaterally closed out the ONE credit card I happen to have with me, that my BUSINESS is dependent upon, I need this resolved as soon as possible. Oh yeah, this is costing me $3.50/minute too..."

And then, for the first time, there was a glimmer of hope.

Over the phone I heard the following words:

"Okay, so I can't send you your own new account information, but I may be able to re-open your original account temporarily. How long would you need it open for?"

"Four weeks, until I get home" I said, finally feeling like I was getting somewhere...

"Okay, well hold on just a second..."

Click, and the phone went dead, for the fourth time, at $3.50 a minute. After about an hour of this I estimate I had already spent about $190.00 simply trying to communicate the problem to a series of apparently inept customer care representatives.

Ironically, the only reason I started using my CitiBusiness Card exclusively several years ago was because it had been - up to this point - the most user-friendly of all my cards. Unfortunately, they have just proved to me that they are not capable of meeting my needs as a regular, committed customer. At this moment, I am still adrift with the company neither re-instating my old account, nor providing me with full information on the new account so I can actually use it. Which means I have no way of paying my current charges at sea, nor my
bills at home.

Thanks a bunch CitiBusiness Card.

Lately we've been getting lots of emails from consumers who are angry, confused, or left with payment problems because of canceled cards they weren't immediately told about. Considering that security breaches are becoming as common as days of the week lately, we think credit card providers might want to try to improve their customer relationship management over this sort of thing.

(Photo: marcusrg)

It's #4 Citibank VS #20 Sprint:

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Download the bracket here.

"The people who are subsidizing the activities of the banks through their tax dollars are the same people who are furnishing the high profits through consumer lending," Ms. Warren told the WSJ. "In a sense, we're asking taxpayers to pay twice."

The article called out Bank of America for raising interest rates on their credit card customers, and Citibank for offering $5,000 loans — and not disclosing in the advertising that the interest rate was (brace yourselves for this) 30% .
Citibank said that the interest rates on the loan mentioned in the article "compare competitively to similar offers in the market," and Bank of America said that "To continue to offer competitive products and services and responsibly lend in this current environment, we must adjust our pricing."

Meanwhile, consumer advocates, including our own Consumers Union, have been keeping an eye on Pacific Capital Bancorp, a bank that accepted TARP funds and is issuing so-called tax-refund anticipation loans. These loans can come with an interest rate that exceeds 100%.

A spokesperson for that bank said that they were not using TARP funds specifically to issue RALs, but that the funds did allow the bank to be healthy enough to lend a "variety of loans."

Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp were called out for offering "checking account advance" loans that carry an interest rate of 120%. These loans allow customers to borrow against presumably forthcoming direct deposits.

Bailed-Out Banks Face Probe Over Fee Hikes [WSJ]
(Photo:frankieleon)

Banks cut off mortgage brokers [Bankrate]

It's #4 Citibank VS #29 Home Depot:

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Download the bracket here.

Valori writes:

I'm a regular Consumerist reader, but this is the first time I've gotten pissed off enough to actually write to you. With the recent adjustment in payroll taxes that took place after the latest stimulus bill was passed, I decided to send the extra money in my paychecks to The Student Loan Corporation c/o Citibank in order to pay down my loan. I'm already enrolled in their direct debit payment system in order to take advantage of the .25% interest rate deduction they offer, so I made the mistake of writing them a check and enclosing with it a letter to put the extra payment towards the principal balance of my loan with the highest interest rate, which also happens to be the loan with the highest balance, thinking that they would actually do what I told them to do with the check I sent.

I saw the check cleared a few days after I mailed it and thought nothing more of it; however, when it came time for the auto-debit to occur on the 23rd of the month, imagine my surprise when I saw that freaking Citibank deducted the extra payment amount from what was due and only debited the difference out of my checking account.

I called Customer Service this morning and spoke to Unhelpful Jim, who informed me that the only way to make an extra principal payment is to setup an automatic payment on the Citibank website to debit on the same day as my automatic payment is direct debited. I am trying to give this gigantic, screw-up of a corporation even more of my money than I am supposed to and THEY WON'T TAKE IT! No wonder the banking system is in the toilet!

(Photo: sfxeric)

According to Bloomberg, Citigroup said the project will help it save money over time, as part of a space saving measure.

"Senior executives in our corporate headquarters are moving from two floors to smaller, simpler offices on a single floor," the company's statement said. "Based on estimates made when the project was initiated, we expect to generate savings in the next few years well in excess of the project costs."

The project was initiated in June, before the whole global economic meltdown thing really got going.

The new executive suite will be located on the second floor of Citigroup's office on 399 Park Avenue, a floor below the one Pandit, 52, inherited when he took over as CEO from Charles "Chuck" Prince in December 2007. The second floor previously contained offices, which are being demolished, as well as boardrooms and executive-dining quarters.

Plans and instructions for the bank's contractors, on file with the city, specify the installation of at least one Sub-Zero Inc. refrigerator and icemaker in the renovated space, along with "premium grade" millwork and Madico Inc. "Safety Shield 800" blast-proof window film. The project encompasses 17 private offices, each with space for administrative assistants, as well as two conference rooms and open areas with "soft seating," according to the plans.

Should we freak out about this?

Citigroup May Spend $10 Million for Executive Suite (Update1) [Bloomberg]

Alberto.J.Verme@citi.com, Richard.Evans@citi.com, Gustavo.Marin@citi.com, Mary.McDowell@citi.com, Vikram.Pandit@citi.com, Michael.L.Corbat@citi.com, James.A.Forese@citi.com, Jane.Fraser@citi.com, John.C.Gerspach@citi.com, Douglas.Peterson@citi.com, Charles.D.Johnston@citi.com, William.Rhodes@citi.com, Mark.Rufeh@citi.com, Deepak.Sharma@citi.com, Stephen.Volk@citi.com, Paco.Ybarra@citi.com, George.Awad@citi.com, John.Havens@citi.com, Bonnie.Howard@citi.com, Lewis.Kaden@citi.com, Brian.Leach@citi.com, Paul.McKinnon@citi.com, Shirish.Apte@citi.com, Suneel.Bakhshi@citi.com, Stephen.Bird@citi.com, Nicholas.Calio@citi.com, Don. Callahan@citi.com

(Photo: GarotaDesastrada)

(Thanks to Chris!)

What can you think of that costs more than a share of Citibank at its all-time low of $0.97?

We humbly suggest this $0.99 Taco Bell Debit Card Surcharge. Oh, wait. Never mind. It's .99 cents.

(Photo:Ben Popken)
(Photo:cmorran123)

Unfortunately, the iPhone zoom function probably won't work on your checking balance, but we have used an earlier version of the app on a couple of Nokia phones, and it was definitely convenient to have immediate access to your account info no matter where you are. (Assuming you're somewhere where there's 2G/3G access, of course.)

"Citibank Launches Dedicated iPhone Application" [Netbanker]
Citibank Mobile App [Citi.com]

Citibank Hacking Lines Of Credit — Again [CreditMattersBlog] (Photo: Groovnick)

The only really strange item is #1, which we hope is just referencing all the points that follow, but seems to leave open the option that more changes may be on the way, or that point prices for rewards may increase. At any rate, we're cashing in our points now for free books.

After reading your initial story on Credit Card rewards programs taking a hit, I was nervous about how much longer my Citi ThankYou account and its points would be useful. Sure enough, today I received a letter from Citi, to my dismay. Their new terms make it so they can yank points based on credit card activity, assess totally new fees in real dollars, and generally make it harder to use accumulated points. I've OCR scanned the letter and included the text below.

---

As of March 1, 2009, we are changing some of the terms and conditions that will affect your ability to earn and redeem ThankYou Points. The following is a list of some of these changes:

1. ThankYou Network may be revised in a manner that may affect your ability to use the ThankYou Points you have already accumulated;

2. If you make a late payment on your participating Sponsor Account, any ThankYou Points you earned through that Sponsor may not be available for redemption until you pay the reinstatement fee disclosed on www.thankyou.com/help.jspx

3. If your ThankYou Member Account is closed for any reason, you will lose any ThankYou Points in that ThankYou Member Account. If your participating Sponsor Account is closed, you will no longer be able to accumulate ThankYou Points and may lose the ThankYou Points that you earned through that Sponsor and through ThankYou Network. If all your Sponsor Accounts are closed, we may close your ThankYou Member Account;

4. If you combine your ThankYou Member Accounts, any action taken concerning points from one Sponsor Account may affect all the Points in your ThankYou Member Account;

5. If your ThankYou Member Account is frozen, you may be charged the processing fee disclosed on www.thankyou.com/help.jspx to unfreeze your ThankYou Member Account;

6. ThankYou Points will not expire as long as you have qualifying purchase activity at least once every 18 months unless ThankYou Network is terminated;

7. ThankYou Points may not be redeemed and may be lost if your Card Account is not open or current;

8. If your Card Account is closed you will not be able to earn ThankYou Points and you will lose any accumulated ThankYou Points that have not been transferred to your ThankYou Member Account including Flight Points that have not appeared on your billing statement;

9. The fixed flight option for Travel Rewards is no longer available. Please use the online booking tool at www.thankyou.com for variably priced Travel Rewards.

For the complete Terms and Conditions of ThankYou Network, please visit www.thankyou.com. Sincerely,

Kendall E. Stork President and CEO
Citibank (South Dakota), N.A.

(Thanks to tinyrobot!)

The NYT explains:

Analysts said that after fevered speculation last week about bank nationalization, many investors now expect the government to move in that direction, despite statements from the White House supporting a privately held banking system. Stock markets dropped on Friday amid concerns that a broad government takeover could wipe out financial shareholders.

Now, with the government set to begin the "stress tests" on Wednesday, investors want to know which banks will be deemed healthy and which will not, analysts said. Of most pressing concern are big banks including Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, followed by regional chains.

Those stress tests, meant to identify the banks that require government help, seem to be adding stress to the markets.

Fortune says:

Testing big U.S. financial firms seems like a good idea. But bank stocks, which were already hit hard before Geithner revealed the plan last week, have only been under renewed pressure as investors have been taking bets on which banks might fail stress tests - and possibly be forced to sell more stock to the government, further diluting shareholders.

Bank stress tests cause more stress [Fortune]
Stocks Slump on Corporate Woes; Indexes Fall by 3.4% [NYT]

There was also a list of officials who could be called to confirm such requests. The signatures of the officials appeared to match those in Citibank's records and were accepted by Citibank, the complaint says.

In October, Citibank received two dozen faxed requests for money to be wired, and it transferred $27 million to accounts controlled by the conspirators in Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, Cyprus and the United States, the complaint says.

Citibank called the officials whose names and numbers it had been given to verify the transactions, prosecutors said. The numbers turned out to be for cellphones in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain used by the conspirators.

Citibank, in its investigation, later determined the package of documents had come via courier from Lagos, Nigeria, rather than from the offices of the National Bank of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa.

The FBI arrested Amos when he tried to visit Los Angeles. Citibank sent the $27 million back to Ethopia and may soon form a support group with this guy.

Nigerian Accused in Scheme to Swindle Citibank [The New York Times]
(Photo: TheTruthAbout...)

Shares of Bank of America (BAC.N) tumbled more than 15 percent to $3.35, while Citigroup (C.N) slid more than 18 percent to $2.06. For a moment after the market open, Citi traded below $2, contributing to a 4.8 percent drop in the KBW Banks index .BKX.

"There's a lack of confidence in the government to get us out of this and that has people sitting on their hands and not willing to buy," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group in Ridgewood, New Jersey. "There's that fear that we nationalize banks and this market gets killed."

Apparently, even free-market Republican types are embracing the idea of bank nationalization. Reuters says that Alan Freaking Greenspan has "joined a growing list of experts who suggest nationalization is inevitable. "

'It may be necessary to temporarily nationalize some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,' Greenspan told the Financial Times in comments published on Wednesday.

'I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do,' said Greenspan, a champion of free markets who is revered by many influential Republicans.

Well, #$@%.

Even Republicans may back US bank nationalization [Reuters]
US STOCKS-Bank worries sink Wall Street; Citi plunges [Reuters]
(Photo:Atwater Village Newbie)

Thank You Network

(Citibank)

Citibank put a lot of marketing money into convincing customers that its "Thank You Network" was all hugs and sunshine, but it turns out it's the same as any other program backed by a credit card company. Their fixed-point flight redemption offer is going away on March 1st, and earlier this month Adam discovered that they've already lowered the cap from $4200 to $2800, although there was no mention of this change on their website when he logged in to redeem his points. The fine print says they can change terms at any time without notice, and apparently they have, too bad for you if you've been saving up points for the past couple of years.

Citibank's "ThankYou" network (www.thankyou.com) has offered a fixed-point flight redemption offer for a while. 140,000 points, for instance, has netted a roundtrip business class flight valued up to $4200 between the continental U.S. and Hawaii.

Apparently, on March 1st, the ThankYou network will no longer offer fixed flight redemptions. I learned of this only second-hand, from a forum on the web (FlyerTalk). I never received ANY notice from Citibank, and in fact, when I called to confirm the rumor by calling Citibank (the # listed on my credit card), I was told that it was untrue and that nothing was changing.

But here's the more frustrating clincher. When I called to book a flight yesterday, I was on hold for over an hour (!) and the agent refused to book the flight, saying the cap had been changed from $4200 to $2800. I explained that I had not heard of this, and that the site still showed $4200. No dice. Talked to two managers, but they refused to honor the listed price cap.

I was told that:

- Citibank deemed that it no longer wished to honor the earlier offer as of this past Monday.
- Citibank maintained the right to change its redemption levels at any time, for any reason, and without notification.

Home Depot Rewards

(Mastercard)

Home Depot has also decided to reduce the value of your points, only they're taking a more Target-style approach. Jason noticed that not only will he need to redeem more points for gift cards than he used to, but that the value of his points drops if he opts for larger card values. Translation: it's "cheaper" to order two $25 gift cards than one $50 gift card.

I recently logged into my Home Depot rewards card to find that I have 12,000 + "reward" points to spend. In the past I would trade 10,000 points for a $100 Home Depot gift card. Recently, they decided to revamp the rewards system— now the $100 gift card "costs" 12,000 points. But that's not the point- check out the rest of the choices:




3,500 points for a $25 gift card (140 points/$)
8,000 points for a $50 gift card (160 points/$)

HUH? Is that $50 gift card somehow "special"? Perhaps it's a "convenience charge" ala Ticketmaster. "Only one card to keep track of!" That's worth at least 1000 points!

Even better,

55,000 points for a $600 gift card (91 points/$)
125,000 points for a $1250 gift card (100 points/$)

Are they just betting on the idiocy of their customers? I guess so...

I just thought I'd let you know that I noticed that Citi is now putting ads on my "Recent Activity" section on citicards.com. I am really shocked that they would do this. I know many banks put ads/offers on statements but I am shocked that they would put it in there as to make it look like it's my account activity.

We Googled your issue and found a guy who was irritated enough to figure out how to get Firefox to remove the ads.

Is this type of advertising appropriate?

In 2006 when Citigroup signed the 20-year agreement with the Mets, the costliest in U.S. sports, the lender said the partnership would raise its profile among customers. Now the company may lose potential clients because of a backlash against the deal, said David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

"It's quickly becoming the sports-marketing poster child for the entire financial meltdown," Carter said of Citigroup in an interview. "You may be harming the relationships you are trying to build."

The eight banks received a total of $153.4 billion from the $700 billion U.S. bailout and are spending a combined $845 million for naming rights. U.S. banks have had $745 billion in losses and writedowns since the subprime mortgage crisis began in 2007.

The bailed out banks who are paying to name stadiums are:

Wachovia/Wells Fargo, $40 million, Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers

PNC, $40 million, Pittsburgh Pirates

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., $18 million, Pittsburgh Penguins, not renewed

Comerica, $66 million, Detroit Tigers

M&T Bank, $75 million, Baltimore Ravens

Citibank, $400 million, New York Mets

Bank of America Corp., $140 million, Carolina Panthers

JPMorgan Chase & Co, $66 million, Arizona Diamondbacks

The following companies have applied for bailout money but not yet received it:

BankAtlantic Bancorp. Inc., $27 million, Florida Panthers

Raymond James Financial Inc., $45 million, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Citigroup, Seven U.S. Banks Spend on Stadium Deals (Update2) [Bloomberg]
(Photo:)

Citigroup said in a statement yesterday that no bailout funds were being used to name the stadium, but that it hasn't made a final decision about whether or not to go through with the deal.

A week ago, two congressmen, Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) and Ted Poe (R., Texas) wrote to new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking him to "push Citigroup to dissolve the Mets deal."

"Citigroup is now dependent on the support of the federal government for its survival as an institution," the letter said. "As such, we do not believe Citigroup ought to spend $400 million to name a stadium at the same time that they accept over $350 billion in taxpayer support and guarantees."

So, what should we do?

Citi Explores Breaking Mets Deal [WSJ via Gothamist]
(Photo:wallyg)

According to CNN, a Treasury department official informed Citigroup that such a purchase was "unacceptable." According to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, President Obama told Citigroup executives to "fix it," noting that buying a new jet was probably not "the best use of money at this point."

After refusing to respond to requests for comment yesterday, Citigroup released a statement saying they have "no intent to take delivery of any new aircraft."

White House Presses Citigroup to Give Up Jet [CNN]
(Photo: voteprime)

I just made a late payment on my Citibank credit card because the grace period was only 20 days. I got hit with a $3.00 interest charge and a $39.00 late fee.

As a result, I was considering cancelling my card and switching to a card that has a longer grace period. When I called Citibank to explain why I was leaving them, the representative explained that every representative has the power to change your grace period from 20 to 25 days. She changed my grace period and credited the late fee and interest. Apparently, all you have to do is ask! I'm wondering how many other credit card companies have such policies...

Probably doesn't even take the threat of cancellation to get it extended. Know of any others that do the same? Leave 'em in the comments.

(Photo: eliazar)

According to the Post, the jet seats up to 12 and has leather sofas and a customizable entertainment center. There are only nine of these planes in America.

Remember when the CEO of Citigroup said this?

We are committed to helping the financial markets recover as quickly as possible. To accelerate that recovery Citi is putting the TARP capital it has received to work to support the U.S. economy and consumers - expanding the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses responsibly and on competitive terms.

Alas, the plane is made in France, and Citi's purchase will not even support the beleaguered U.S. luxury plane manufacturing industry.

Just Plane Despicable [NY Post]
(Photo: LJGravely)

On Oct. 7, 2008, the firm alleges, it received a "Citibank Official Check" for $367,000, and the firm deposited it into its Interest on Lawyers Trust Account at Sterling Bank in Houston.

A Buckley, White, Castaneda & Howell "employee telephoned Citibank and verified that check number 310096829 in the amount of $367,500 was paid. The firm relied upon this unconditional representation in allowing a wire transfer of $182,500 to a supplier of [the Japanese company] in Hong Kong," the firm alleges in the petition.

On Oct. 10, despite Citibank's "unconditional representation," Sterling Bank informed the firm that the check had been returned as "counterfeit," the firm alleges in the petition. The firm alleges Sterling Bank drained the firm's IOLTA account — taking more than $100,000 — and took $77,000 from the firm's operating account to cover the wire transfer.

...

The firm seeks $182,500 in actual damages for Citibank's alleged negligence and negligent misrepresentation, and it also seeks a minimum of $367,000 in punitive damages.

One of the most frustrating things about advance fee fraud is that banks treat is as a problem for the banking customer and refuse to take any responsibility in it. If they did, they'd probably work harder to prevent it, by doing things like warning customers not to access "available" funds unless they really trust the writer of the check, and speeding up their verification process to identify fraudulent checks faster.

This lawsuit won't address all of those issues, obviously, but we'll be interested to see whether or not Citibank is held responsible for its role in the scam.

"Lawyers Warned to Be Wary of Client E-Mail Scams" [Law.com]
(Photo: stan)