citibank

Citibank Charges Student Loans Late Fee From 2005

Citibank Charges Student Loans Late Fee From 2005

Sean writes:

When I went to check the statement on my wife’s student loan through CitiBank for November, I noticed a late fee listed. As we signed up to pay via direct debit for the interest rate deduction, we get no paper statements. I checked my records, and our last payment had been processed for the full amount, on the due date. I asked my wife to call and find out why we were being charged a late fee. The representative told her that it was to correct an error from 2005. There is no explanation on the site, and when my wife asked to speak to a supervisor, the supervisor told her that there were no plans to notify people being charged these fees. My wife had to specifically request that a letter be sent detailing these fees.

Citibank's Charge Dispute Forms Have Two Different Addresses

Helen writes:

I’m challenging a charge on my Citibank card right now and have to fill out paperwork for their records. The second page of the form I’m filling in tells me to mail the form back to PO Box 6035, The Lakes, NV, 89163-6035. The self-addressed envelope they provided me with to mail the form back in? It has an address of PO Box 6013, Sioux Falls, SD, 57117-6013. A bit different, don’t you think? I’m just going to copy the form and mail it to both. I have 10 days to get this back to them, so I’m sure that having two separate addresses helps to deny claims i.e. “We never got your paperwork.”

Maybe sneaky, maybe honest mistake, either way, just another reason you definitely gotta scrutinize every line of fine print when you’re dealing with a bank.

Subprime Meltdown Continues: Citigroup To Take $15 Billion Hit?

Subprime Meltdown Continues: Citigroup To Take $15 Billion Hit?

Goldman Sachs has downgraded Citigroup, the nation’s largest bank, estimating that it will have to take a $15 billion hit due to its exposure to the subprime meltdown. Two weeks ago, Citigroup estimated that its mortgage related write-downs would total from $8-$11 billion as its CEO, Charles Prince “resigned.”

Citibank CEO Resigns, Additional $11 Billion In Subprime Damage Predicted

Citibank CEO Resigns, Additional $11 Billion In Subprime Damage Predicted

Citibank’s chairman and CEO Charles Prince announced his resignation Sunday, citing the subprime meltdown as the reason for his departure.

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Citibank downgraded by analysts. “They don’t have enough capital, pure and simple,” says one. “They will have to address that, ASAP.” The subprime meltdown rolls on.[BusinessWeek]

Reader Lowers Credit Card APR From 15.74% To 1.99% By Threatening To Cancel

Reader Lowers Credit Card APR From 15.74% To 1.99% By Threatening To Cancel

After reading our posts about getting your credit card APR lowered by threatening to do a balance transfer to a lower rate credit card, Brandon got his Citibank Mastercard APR lowered from 15.74% to 1.99%. It’s an introductory rate that goes up to prime plus 4.99% after a year, but it’s definitely worth it for the time being. A factor that probably helped him was the $10,000 balance he was carrying, making his business more valuable to Citibank.

Citibank: Everything You Buy Is Fraud, No Matter What You Say

Citibank: Everything You Buy Is Fraud, No Matter What You Say

Consumerist,

Confessions Of A Campus Credit Card Pimp

Here are two of the things a former Citibank credit card pusher told college students to get them to sign up:

“Even if you apply, you can always cut up the card,” and “It’s easy to pay off your balance once you graduate and get a great job.”

The ex-app jockey even fell pray to his own patter. One signup shy of a cash bonus, he filled out one for himself. Five years later, he’s $13,000 in credit card debt. We encourage college kids who spot these hucksters, make like Jesus and overturn their tables.

Citibank Warns Of 60% Drop In Earnings Due To Subprime Meltdown

Citibank Warns Of 60% Drop In Earnings Due To Subprime Meltdown

Citibank is warning investors to expect a 60% drop in earnings due to “dislocations in the mortgage-backed securities and credit markets, and deterioration in the consumer credit environment.”

Ohio Attorney General Sues Credit Card Marketers Over Ohio State "Free Burrito" Event

Ohio Attorney General Sues Credit Card Marketers Over Ohio State "Free Burrito" Event

Ohio Attorney General, Mark Dunn, is suing Citibank-affiliated credit card marketers for violating Ohio’s consumer protection laws during a “Free Burrito” event at Ohio State University.

Roundup Of Various Credit Card Late Fees

Roundup Of Various Credit Card Late Fees

“ConsumerMan” Herb Weisbaum over at MSNBC says that banks have messing around with their late fee structure lately—adding a third tier of pricing, raising fees, etc. Those of you with higher balances might be paying more if you’re late. We think that’s not cool, so we’re posting a round-up of current fees.

Citibank Recruits Students To Become "Credit Card Pushers"

Citibank Recruits Students To Become "Credit Card Pushers"

BusinessWeek has been examining one of the fastest-growing segments of credit card debtors, college students. Last week, they profiled a young man from the University of Pittsburgh who was recruited by a Citibank rep, at his university’s student union building, to get other students to apply for credit cards with free t-shirts and lines like “Even if you apply, you can always cut up the card,” and “It’s easy to pay off your balance once you graduate and get a great job.” For every completed application, he’d receive $5-10, and probably a tiny dark spot on his soul.

Chase Accuses You Of Check Fraud, Threatens To Report You

Chase Accuses You Of Check Fraud, Threatens To Report You

Dan got a new job (Congratulations, Dan!) and moved from Chicago to Indianapolis. The move meant he had to close his Citibank account and open a new one. He chose Chase because they have lots of branches nearby.

Got An Inactive Macy's Store Account? Here's Your New Citibank Mastercard

Got An Inactive Macy's Store Account? Here's Your New Citibank Mastercard

Recently, a Consumerist tipster sent in an internal memo from Macy’s explaining that the store was “flipping” 3.5 million inactive store accounts into Citibank Mastercards. The memo reads:

“Approximately 3.5 million inactive (24-48 months) Macy’s accounts have been selected to “flip” to the Citibank Mastercard. That means the customer will be sent a Citibank Mastercard to replace their inactive Macy’s card. “

ExxonMobil Mails Customer 2,000 Credit Cards

ExxonMobil Mails Customer 2,000 Credit Cards

ExxonMobil sent a box containing 1,000 credit cards to Frank Van Buren, who had requested two (2) new cards to replace one that was about to expire. The cards contained Frank’s name and account number, and would have worked right out of the box since ExxonMobil saw activation stickers as an unnecessary extravagance. Frank saved the two cards he had requested, and spent three hours shredding the remaining 1,000.

He thought that was that. Until another box arrived this week.

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Get $100 from for opening a Citibank “Ultimate Savings Account.” [Poorer Than You]

Earn A Lot More Interest By Opening A High-Yield Online Savings Account

Earn A Lot More Interest By Opening A High-Yield Online Savings Account

Your savings can earn upwards of 4 more percentage points of interest, if you put it one of these high-yield online savings accounts. Here’s seven to check out.

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Big banks are bringing banking to your cellphone so you can easily see how broke you are from anywhere in the world.