Gosh I hate credit cards. I'm actually going through debt settlement right now (even though I'm getting screwed with this also) because of the interest rates that are on my credit cards and how they're pushing through the roof. I have 6 cards with balances on them, totaling $16,000 and I was paying over $2,000 a month on them total. Well, 3 of my cards was bought out by Chase. My 5-9% APR went over 30% for absolutely no reason. My credit score was over 800 and I had never been late on my payments nor paid just the minimum, but Chase said that due to the previous buy-outs of the other companies they had to raise the APR. Then the interest pushed my cards over the limits and fees starting packing on. Thats what $300 in interest a month does to you. Well, fuck you Chase. The first month I went late on one of my cards - I get a phone call from Chase 5 days after it was due telling me my $480 minimum payment was now $1295. They tacked on the regular late fee and some HUGE charge which they called the 'default fee'. Their default fee was always listed as like $29 or $39 in the paperwork I received, not $700+. This is why I had to file for debt settlement, I had no choice. If I hadn't lost my job, those bitches would be paid off.

[Edited on September 24, 2009 at 5:10 PM. Reason : ]

9/24/2009 5:05:47 PM

Quote :

"Another question: FIA card services will let you pay your mortgage with an FIA card. The Fidelity MC Rewards card that I've had since 05 falls into this category. Sadly money spent on mortgage payments doesn't earn reward points, but I'm curious if having my mortgage go on the card automatically and then have the card direct debiting my checking account would be better for my credit score than just coming directly out of my checking account. I've got mortgages on my house plus two rentals so it would end up being something like $50k annually. http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/01/pay-mortgage-with-credit-card-for-free.html"

10/14/2009 1:22:02 AM

My rates haven't changed much at all as of yet.

I have two credit cards which I don't use for much except automatic draft payments for my cellphone and my cable. essentially keep a steady history with a low ratio and profit.

the only time i have been fucked by one of these guys was when (then MBNA) was responsible for both of my cards and I was moving. I called to change my address on my cards and they only changed it for one. that same month I paid a credit card bill the day it was due online which didn't process until the next day and counted as a late fee. since the address never was changed i wasn't aware this took place and they subsequently reported on my credit, 30days late, 60days late, 90days late, etc... I didn't find out until much later. I called, bitched, got a 0% rate and they removed those comments from my report. still, it was a hassle and it sounds as if they are much less willing to work with people now.

10/14/2009 2:14:55 PM

I have good credit, always pay my balances in full, etc and only use credit cards for the rewards. I've had two credit cards closed by Citi recently because "they are discontinuing this program".

Basically they were tired of me making money/rewards off them. It is their right to be able to close the account on me, but it is bullshit that it fucks up my credit score when I basically did nothing wrong.

The whole credit score calculation is complete bullshit.

10/14/2009 4:53:58 PM

my damn citibank card jumped up to 16.99%

I called and got it reduced to 14.99, but damn, it was at 6.99.

11/2/2009 6:19:27 PM

^^you can call them up and have them re-open the account (and keep the history + credit limit), just ask them to convert it to a different card they still offer.

11/3/2009 8:34:52 AM

^ I actually called them yesterday and they basically said no we cannot offer anything like that and then told me to pay the remaining balance. The 2nd account just got closed on Oct 31st. Fuck Citi.

11/4/2009 10:20:43 AM

Yeah I'm pretty glad I don't have a Citi card.

11/4/2009 1:18:04 PM

You guys arent playing Citi right.

I have been a citi customer for over 8 years. I have two cards with them. I also have a 800 credit score, and there should be NOTHING in my profile to explain a 15%+ APR they just sacked me with.

I called them and told them I was closing the card. They asked why, I stated the ridiculous rate, and I had plenty of other options. The guy said the best he could do was 14%. I said "Then I want to close this card immediately." Got transferred. This new guy gave me a song and a dance, and I told him there is no way I am paying 15% on a card, that I had been with them for a long time and had been a good customer, and that my credit rating and financial standing has only gone up. If they couldnt lower the rate to below 10%, then I wanted it cancelled.

They lowered it to 6% for 6 months. After that, it will go back up. I told him when it went back up, I was going to cancel it. He stated to call back in 6 months, and they would see what they can do.

So while I didnt beat the system, I had options to at least temporarily making the situation better. But before you do this, make sure you have a place you can transfer for a better rate if needed.

11/4/2009 1:30:04 PM

^ I do not give one shit about the rate on my credit card because I do not carry a balance. All I care about is the rewards. Citi fucked me by closing my longest two standing credit card accounts because they no longer wanted to support the rewards program.

Fuck them and the credit rating system that allows actions like Citi took to negatively impact my credit score.

11/4/2009 2:16:41 PM

i did an online request to all three credit bureus, got an old bullshit collections taken off and my score went up 50 points, took all of 15 minutes, no questions asked

11/4/2009 2:23:14 PM

did anyone else have a "late payment warning" on your citi bill this month? It says if I do not make the minimum payment by the due date I would be charged a $39 fee and my interest rate will go up to 29.99%. I have never paid a bill late and never not even paid the full balance, so that little threat pissed me off. My interest rate already went from 12 to 20% with always paying the balance in full on time. I want to change cards, but I've had this one for years and its the only one I have, so its good for my credit.

11/4/2009 8:37:48 PM

lol Chase couldn't raise the limit on a fixed rate transfer I did with them a while back so they tripled the minimum payment even though I've never missed one or been late. Fuckers.

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 8:43 PM. Reason : oh well, need to pay it off anyways]

11/4/2009 8:43:27 PM

Quote :

"did anyone else have a "late payment warning" on your citi bill this month? It says if I do not make the minimum payment by the due date I would be charged a $39 fee and my interest rate will go up to 29.99%. I have never paid a bill late and never not even paid the full balance, so that little threat pissed me off. My interest rate already went from 12 to 20% with always paying the balance in full on time. I want to change cards, but I've had this one for years and its the only one I have, so its good for my credit."

I don't get paper statements, but on their website, they have this same warning below the amount due field... scares the shit out of me every time I see. I've never been late/below the minimum either... I think they're just trying to get the word out... maybe they're trying to be somewhat conscientious?

11/4/2009 8:56:25 PM

more like cover their ass

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 9:02 PM. Reason : a]

11/4/2009 9:02:45 PM

or that

11/4/2009 9:04:18 PM

i don't give a shit about the rate. as long as the rewards checks keep flowing they can put whatever interest rate they want on it...why care about the rate if you dont carry a balance?

11/4/2009 9:54:35 PM

^I tend to agree, but I guess a lot of people use credit cards to actually borrow money...

My only real gripe with Citi is that they are neutering the ThankYou rewards program. Fixed Points flight redemption used to be the best deal, now they basically charge by the mile. Next best deal were store gift cards, now all the good retailers (Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot) are gone and it seems like they're phasing out the $100 redemption level altogether (the few remaining stores mostly don't have an option for $100, and redeeming for $50 you get penalized 1000 points).

I love my Citi card (Forward), but it's getting harder and harder to actually spend the heaps of points I rack up. I had to buy my last PS3 from Kmart (with Land's End gift cards), for fuck's sake.

On top of that, it looks like they're in the process of phasing out my 5% cash back on gas, groceries, and drugstores card.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 9:36 AM. Reason : gf]

11/5/2009 9:35:48 AM

^mine just gets reward points that you use at their store to purchase items at a discount... I'd rather have cash back... so this rewards program is garbage to me... though I got the card for 0.0% APR for one year, not the rewards. Yay free loan! I'm about to pay it off though... the introductory rate is about to expire

11/5/2009 10:08:24 AM

^what card is that (with the weird rewards)?

I've currently got $48,000 on 0% loan from Citi, due to expire in Feb. Too bad the 0% deals are drying up, the last few years have been like the Wild West.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 10:16 AM. Reason : df]

11/5/2009 10:16:12 AM

credit card rewards programs are the biggest scam on this planet

11/5/2009 10:35:45 AM

how are they a scam? the only way I can see it being a scam is if people stupidly attempt to purchase more to get the pts. If I pay my normal bills each month on a credit card and periodically cash in pts ive earned for rewards, I fail to see how I am getting scammed.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 10:43 AM. Reason : ]

11/5/2009 10:41:13 AM

3% cashback ftw!

11/5/2009 11:06:26 AM

^^ this

11/5/2009 11:20:49 AM

^^3% cashback? Which card is this?

11/5/2009 12:51:52 PM

Chase Business

11/5/2009 1:02:19 PM

Oh, so limited categories? If so, you can do better.

11/5/2009 1:08:53 PM

I think it's 3% for gas, groceries, and restaurants which include most bars I go to and 1% for the rest. In the end I average about 2.5% cashback.

11/5/2009 1:10:58 PM

hmm... might have to give that one a whirl when they inevitably kill my 5% gas/groc/drug card.

11/5/2009 1:30:44 PM

They also have a similar card, Freedom? which gives you 3% back for your top 3 categories each month or something like that.

You have to wait til you have $50 worth saved up to actually get the cash but that only takes about 2 months for me on average. I don't keep a balance, but I'm happy to see the APR is still at 9.99 and the limit is still at 15K.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]

11/5/2009 1:31:52 PM

Yea i've thought about getting a freedom card for awhile, just didn't know if I wanted to take the minor hit in my credit for them pulling my report as well as lowering the average age of my accounts.

11/5/2009 1:36:03 PM

Does average age matter? I just thought it was the oldest open account which mattered.

11/5/2009 1:38:29 PM

I could definitely be wrong on that. I've had one credit card for 6ish years, and the other for 2 years. Never missed a payment, took the free credit line increases when offered but over the past year I haven't gotten another offer for an increase on either. The Chase Freedom card seems pretty nice so I've thought about applying for that to 1) get a card that seems to have more reward value and 2) increase my total credit limit in the process.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 1:41 PM. Reason : ]

11/5/2009 1:39:18 PM

Yeah, average age is actually one of the heaviest factors. The length of your history is also important (so in that sense your oldest account comes into play twice... which is why you NEVER cancel accounts that are older than your average).

Credit pulls actually don't matter that much, they're usually very temporary hits (3-4 points average)... I apply for new account pretty regularly and still maintain a great score.

I've already got a Freedom, but don't really use it (actually forgot I had it!) My main card these day is a Charles Schwab that gets 2% across the board deposited straight into a brokerage account. Best part of that card is no foreign exchange fee.

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 1:44 PM. Reason : d]

11/5/2009 1:42:11 PM

My mistake.

"New accounts will lower your average account age, which could actually lower your score by up to 10 points."

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/21/pf/debt/credit_scores/index.htm

11/5/2009 1:44:17 PM

^true, but at the same time you're adding more available credit which will decrease your utilization ratio, bringing the score back up a bit.

The main thing to remember is to keep your old accounts, and get the limits on those as high as possible.

11/5/2009 1:45:55 PM

48K on one card, how did you get one with a limit so high?

11/5/2009 1:45:57 PM

I asked something similar several months back. The longer I waffle, the newer my account will be whenever it matters if I do decide to open a new credit card haha. I'm really wanting to get a house. Have a decent amount of money saved up but I've been waiting for the wife to get a full time job (no luck ). I'd love to take advantage of the extended home buyer's credit (close by April) and am trying to lift my score as high as possible before then.


Which leads me to my other question. Since Citi and Chase both have stopped offering me the automatic increases in credit line, I could always just request an increase and take the small hit for pulling my report and increase the amount on that card. But, out of curiosity, has anyone on here gotten an increase request to go through by calling or emailing them and NOT having them pull your credit report?

[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 1:48 PM. Reason : ]

11/5/2009 1:46:24 PM

^you used to be able to call them up and talk the CSRs into just about anything... not so sure how it is these days... can't hurt to try. Just make sure to be clear up front that you do not want your report pulled.
As far as getting a new card vs. buying a house, I'd recommend holding off on the card. Even though getting one now won't affect your score THAT drastically, you're talking about a LOT of money on the mortgage for even a fraction of a percentage point. I'd want to maximize my chances of getting the best rate, the 3% you'll be getting in CC rewards isn't going to offset that.

^^I periodically apply for new Citi cards whenever they've got incentives ($100/$150 with first purchase). Once I get my check, I just call and cancel the card and roll the new credit line into my old account with Citi. Also, I used to use the online increase button pretty much weekly. My highest limit is with Amex, they once approved a 25k credit limit increase without checking my credit.



[Edited on November 5, 2009 at 1:56 PM. Reason : de]

11/5/2009 1:54:25 PM

right, the rewards arent a factor for me really. ill take them, but they are just secondary. The main thing is just increasing my available credit in order to boost my score if possible. I think I might just try and increase the amounts on my current cards.

11/5/2009 1:56:55 PM

That's probably what I would recommend. That way you're not risking anything. Just call them up and entice them by making it seem like you're about to start spending a shitload of money on that card.

11/5/2009 2:01:31 PM

What's the 48K from, student loans?

11/5/2009 2:34:34 PM

no, it's just what my credit limit happened to be when i got offered 0% for a year. I just take the money and park most of it in a high-yield savings account, sometimes dabble a little in the stock market w/it.

11/5/2009 2:43:24 PM

hah, more complaining similar to other people in this thread. Credit score over 780, never missed a payment/never carry a balance, been with them 6 years, etc. Got a notice (obv general and not directed at me personally) that my APR on my Citi card will be jumping from 19% to 24.9% as of December 20th. It already jumped from like 14% to 19% earlier this year.

Even the way they stated it in the letter doesnt leave a lot of room for negotiation. They basically said, 'you can accept these changes by doing nothing or you can opt out. To opt out call us at xxxx# and we will assist you in closing the account' or something similar. As usual, since I don't carry a balance, its trivial, but its the principle. I might try and use this as the leverage I needed and call and request an increase on my credit line (specifically requesting it without pulling my credit report).

11/10/2009 10:02:31 AM

1 month ago... Smath74:

Quote :

"my damn citibank card jumped up to 16.99% I called and got it reduced to 14.99, but damn, it was at 6.99."

FUCKING BULLSHIT.


They did not reduce my rate as promised and I just got off the phone, and they did not include any notes about our conversation, and the do not want to honor it.

In fact, I called, and apparently they sent a notice that my card was going to be raised AGAIN to 20.99%. This is with a perfect history and excellent credit rating.

I went up three layers in the customer representative hierarchy, and now they are going to pull the conversation from a month ago and an even higher supervisor is going listen to the conversation and see if that rate was offered.

it is so frustrating.

12/2/2009 6:15:59 PM

^something tells me you shouldn't wait on pins and needles for a call back. after reading through this thread almost all of the problems can be traced back to two sources - Citi and Chase. Citi is bankrupt. Their whole company was founded on shady business practices and it all came crashing down, so why is anyone surprised that they are trying to screw you? As for Chase...I had a Bank One card years ago and I think the company was bought out by Chase because my card became a Chase card. Immediately after this happened I began getting inundated with junk mail, email, and even phone calls (on my cell phone) from Chase offering more "deals." I cancelled it shortly thereafter. And I didn't take it up any customer service train trying to wiggle into a better rate - I just cancelled. I don't want to do business with a company that either doesn't know how to treat customers or doesn't care.

I have an AmEx and a Mastercard through USAA that have been at 7.75% for as long as I can remember. A pretty good cash rewards program too. I realize that most people don't have access to USAA though...I also opened up a Capital One card a few years ago just as a backup and it has remained unchanged at 7.9%. I've also found them to truly be "no hassle" too, so I'd recommend Capital One for all you having problems with rates jumping around.

[Edited on December 2, 2009 at 6:51 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2009 6:50:02 PM

Chase is pretty fucking corrupt too if you do any reading online about them.

For me I did a fixed rate balance transfer for 2.9% for the life of the loan. They had other options for lower %'s but they were only for a few months or so.

So, about 6 months after I do that they triple my minimum payment percentage since they couldn't raise the interest rate. I called them, they said if I would agree to getting rid of the fixed rate portion of my deal that they would drop the minimum payment percentage back down.

But, I've got the money so fuck them.. I'm paying it all off at the end of the year. Sons of bitches.

[Edited on December 2, 2009 at 6:58 PM. Reason : ok i just noticed i posted the same story a month ago..haha, d'oh]

12/2/2009 6:56:25 PM

AAAND FUCK YOU CHASE

/credit card debt

12/16/2009 7:30:25 PM

Quote :

"^ I do not give one shit about the rate on my credit card because I do not carry a balance. All I care about is the rewards. Citi fucked me by closing my longest two standing credit card accounts because they no longer wanted to support the rewards program. Fuck them and the credit rating system that allows actions like Citi took to negatively impact my credit score."

Some of you may realize this, but as an FYI for others that seem to think its your right to get free rewards...the money for that shit has to come from somewhere. Some cards (ie AmEx and Discover) charge higher fees to merchants to cover some of the rewards. But a Visa card through Citi? They don't recoup nearly as much, so they need the interest payments. Several banks made the statement months back that they were going to start cutting away some of the freeloaders.

12/16/2009 8:06:38 PM

I've been mooching off chase rewards for a few years and couldn't be happier.

12/16/2009 10:37:49 PM