Without warning, Citi decided to close a swath of gas-station co-branded Mastercard accounts nationwide. The trouble seems to have started October 15. Quan was one of the affected customers and the credit card company was pretty disingenuous about it when called.

Quan writes:

I just wanted to let you know about a recent problem (10/15) with the Shell branded Citi Mastercard. Apparently, on October 15th, Citi decided to close thousands of accounts without notice. When I personally called to see why my card was closed, they CSR’s response was ” Something on your Equifax report prompted us to close your account. A letter was supposed to have sent out to you, but there was a delay. You will receive your letter shortly, which will provide further details.” She would/could not tell me what was wrong exactly. Curious, I decided to check my credit report and NOT to my surprise, absolutely nothing negative was recently added! I decided to do a google search to see if others have experienced similar issues and I found out I was not the only one.

So, they are closing accounts for no apparent reason and telling their (former) customers that there is something wrong with their credit report when there really isn’t. The best part is that Citi is not going to be paying the rebate we have earned for purchases in the previous month because the account was closed. For some people this is quite significant because they use this card as their primary card. I have not confirmed, but apparently, the 15th was chosen as the date to close accounts because that is the day before the billing cycle ends, which allows them to forgo giving us our rebates.

Some background info on the card: This is a shell branded Citi Mastercard that gives 5% rebates on all Shell gas purchases. I use this card exclusively to purchase gas and have always received a monthly rebate equal to 5% of all my shell gas purchases and 1% for all other purchases. The majority of the time I pay my balance in full each month, which allows me to maximize my savings (obviously).

Did Citi cut off your gas-station branded credit this week? Does this affect your personal finance situation? Sound off in the comments.

Citi starts closing Mastercards without warning [MSNBC]
(Photo: Kenny Hindgren)

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