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Citibank just lost my business
In high school, my father found it important for me to get a credit card to start amassing a positive credit record from which to springboard me into adulthood. The limit on my credit card was $500 and I was sort of afraid to use it. I got over this fear, however, and used my card early on primarily for two causes - buying compact discs, and buying gas. Now, over 10 years later, my credit limit has increased to a shocking $9000 despite never once asking for a credit increase. However, after having an account with Citi for my entire adult life, I have decided to end this relationship due to the events of the past several months culminating in today's event.
#1: Citibank is one of the largest perpetrators of the economic meltdown, and the government has been at such ends trying to figure out what to do with this inept company that they are look at nationalizing 40% of the company in exchange for bailing them out further. The management of this company has been atrocious, and it is clear that simply giving these guys money won't lead to them "righting the ship" on their own. They are simply too incompetent.
#2: Citibank responded to the credit crunch by raising the interest rates on almost all of their customers for almost no reason. My rates more than doubled, up to 29.9%. Previously, under usery laws, this would be considered heinous - in the category of loan sharks. Given that my rates skyrocketed for no reason other than "We have the right to raise rates for any reason" as stated in the letter I received in the mail last month, I don't esp. feel valued as a customer than consistently pays my card off nearly every month or at least keeps the balance low at a reasonable level.
#3: Today I received my Federal and State tax returns in the mail. I went online to check the balance to see how much money I would have left after paying off my credit card completely. I was greeted by a warning screen that informed me that my card was shut off due to the potential of "unauthorized activity" and that a new card was in the mail for me. Interesting news, considering that I had not received an e-mail, letter, or phone call informing me of this serious problem. What happened?
Well, I did a little research, and my best guess is that my identity was stolen. I'm not the only one, as it appears that hackers likely got my information and the information of up to 100 MILLION other cards.
While this is frightening and disheartening, what is worse is that Citi didn't take the time to contact me and in worse situations (such as going on vacation), I could have completely been left to dry. The lack of customer service and looking out for my interests has exceeded the benefit of using this card.
Today, I went to my local credit union and applied for a credit card. Within an hour I received a phone call that I was approved and that I would be getting a new card in the mail within 7-10 business days.
Since I am unable to pay off my other card online, as that feature inexplicably has been shut off for me. I will have to call Citi again to pay off the card. At that point, I will only use this card in cases of emergency. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to get another card from someone else and I can just cancel that card with its ridiculous rates.
When I called Citi today to ask what happened, I was told "it is under investigation and we cannot tell you anything" by Ashram - a difficult to understand Indian guy - that I'm sure was annoyed by dealing with me at such an early hour in the morning in his time. It is quite clear, to Citibank, it is perfectly acceptable to shut down someone's credit without any explanation or notification because their proprietary information (in this case, my personal information) is easily stolen because it isn't protected at the level that it should be. As I was reading through these articles, trying to understand what happened, I read that last year $48 million dollars was lost to identity theft - most of which could have easily been protected with some planning.
Perhaps switching to another card won't protect me any further, as my identity was likely stolen from the processing of one of the companies that I made a purchase from (250,000 companies have their payments processed through the company that was hacked). But I feel much better sending my money through a local business, with local people that I can understand, that I know value customer service and charge a comparably reasonable 9.9% interest rate.
The takeaway value from all of this, is that we all should know that none of our information is safe at all. That any time we purchase anything with a credit card, that information could end up anywhere in anyone's hands. The primary reason we can't trust that our transactions are safe is because the government hasn't regulated the security precautions that need to be taken to protect us. My hope is that this changes soon, and that our government will quickly regulation and/or nationalize these banks that have failed us.
#1: Citibank is one of the largest perpetrators of the economic meltdown, and the government has been at such ends trying to figure out what to do with this inept company that they are look at nationalizing 40% of the company in exchange for bailing them out further. The management of this company has been atrocious, and it is clear that simply giving these guys money won't lead to them "righting the ship" on their own. They are simply too incompetent.
#2: Citibank responded to the credit crunch by raising the interest rates on almost all of their customers for almost no reason. My rates more than doubled, up to 29.9%. Previously, under usery laws, this would be considered heinous - in the category of loan sharks. Given that my rates skyrocketed for no reason other than "We have the right to raise rates for any reason" as stated in the letter I received in the mail last month, I don't esp. feel valued as a customer than consistently pays my card off nearly every month or at least keeps the balance low at a reasonable level.
#3: Today I received my Federal and State tax returns in the mail. I went online to check the balance to see how much money I would have left after paying off my credit card completely. I was greeted by a warning screen that informed me that my card was shut off due to the potential of "unauthorized activity" and that a new card was in the mail for me. Interesting news, considering that I had not received an e-mail, letter, or phone call informing me of this serious problem. What happened?
Well, I did a little research, and my best guess is that my identity was stolen. I'm not the only one, as it appears that hackers likely got my information and the information of up to 100 MILLION other cards.
While this is frightening and disheartening, what is worse is that Citi didn't take the time to contact me and in worse situations (such as going on vacation), I could have completely been left to dry. The lack of customer service and looking out for my interests has exceeded the benefit of using this card.
Today, I went to my local credit union and applied for a credit card. Within an hour I received a phone call that I was approved and that I would be getting a new card in the mail within 7-10 business days.
Since I am unable to pay off my other card online, as that feature inexplicably has been shut off for me. I will have to call Citi again to pay off the card. At that point, I will only use this card in cases of emergency. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to get another card from someone else and I can just cancel that card with its ridiculous rates.
When I called Citi today to ask what happened, I was told "it is under investigation and we cannot tell you anything" by Ashram - a difficult to understand Indian guy - that I'm sure was annoyed by dealing with me at such an early hour in the morning in his time. It is quite clear, to Citibank, it is perfectly acceptable to shut down someone's credit without any explanation or notification because their proprietary information (in this case, my personal information) is easily stolen because it isn't protected at the level that it should be. As I was reading through these articles, trying to understand what happened, I read that last year $48 million dollars was lost to identity theft - most of which could have easily been protected with some planning.
Perhaps switching to another card won't protect me any further, as my identity was likely stolen from the processing of one of the companies that I made a purchase from (250,000 companies have their payments processed through the company that was hacked). But I feel much better sending my money through a local business, with local people that I can understand, that I know value customer service and charge a comparably reasonable 9.9% interest rate.
The takeaway value from all of this, is that we all should know that none of our information is safe at all. That any time we purchase anything with a credit card, that information could end up anywhere in anyone's hands. The primary reason we can't trust that our transactions are safe is because the government hasn't regulated the security precautions that need to be taken to protect us. My hope is that this changes soon, and that our government will quickly regulation and/or nationalize these banks that have failed us.
posted by Will at 10:11 PM
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