Citibank closed my emergency CC without warning due to inactivity—WTF?!

[Anonymous]

Is slowly paying down a balance with monthly payments but not charging considered "active?"

[Anonymous]

I had this happen to my Citi card as well. I was particularly annoyed since I had a rewards balance that was too low to cash out but still annoying to lose. I ended up reopening the card since doing so recovered my rewards balance. I was also annoyed. I now make a point to put small charges on it every so often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I’m note sure why you think they are in the wrong. They are a business and there’s back office expenses. Are you paying an annual fee? If not, why would you expect them to provide services if you aren’t using your card?

Sorry you are dealing with this, and I totally get why you would want & expect a notice first.

I can see why a business wouldn't want to leave a high balance like that open if it's not being used. A record of using and paying regularly is sort of reassurance for them that you are in the habit of paying, you know?

OP here—thanks. I think the reason this bugs me so much is that I had a 30+ year history with them, and they made money from my carrying a balance at times. It's only been inactive within the past 3 years. I can see your point about them not wanting a large credit line hanging open out there. But I can remember a couple of other cards in the past that lowered my limits due to inactivity. I used to have too many cards with modest limits and finally got down to just 2 and my debit card. It freaks me out to lose that credit line even though we have ample emergency funds. I think some of the stories on DCUM are making me worry more about all the awful things that can happen!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is slowly paying down a balance with monthly payments but not charging considered "active?"

I think so, but I wouldn't assume anything—check to make sure. I think some cards say they can close your account and demand payment in full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had this happen to my Citi card as well. I was particularly annoyed since I had a rewards balance that was too low to cash out but still annoying to lose. I ended up reopening the card since doing so recovered my rewards balance. I was also annoyed. I now make a point to put small charges on it every so often.

OP here—the letter I got said I could still use my rewards for 30 days. There isn't enough there to get anything I want or need and there's no way I'm going to send them even a penny to make up the difference. I actually started the re-application process with them today, but the longer I was on the phone the more annoyed I got, so I just told them to cancel it.

[Anonymous]

Banks can't leave open, unused lines of credit out there. Open lines of credit means that they can't lend that money to someone else due to capital adequacy requirements. It isn't about back office expenses or them making a minute amount of interest and fees from the account. While 25,000 may not be huge for Citi, multiply that by 10,000. You are talking real money there.

I would be very surprised if this were not a specific term of the credit agreement.

[Anonymous]

This could have been resolved by buying lunch one time in the card and paying it off

[Anonymous]

You very well may have received a notice

[Anonymous]

This is ridiculous. Of course they didn’t give you notice so you could further game the system by charging a latte every six months. This is on you OP. I have two credit cards that I alternate between so this never happens. Banks aren’t a public welfare agency, they are businesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Banks can't leave open, unused lines of credit out there. Open lines of credit means that they can't lend that money to someone else due to capital adequacy requirements. It isn't about back office expenses or them making a minute amount of interest and fees from the account. While 25,000 may not be huge for Citi, multiply that by 10,000. You are talking real money there.

I would be very surprised if this were not a specific term of the credit agreement.

OP here, thanks for this info—that makes sense. I'm sure it's in the agreement. They told me on the phone it was 25 months of inactivity and they actually let it go longer than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You very well may have received a notice

OP here, it is in the credit agreement but they verified with me on the phone that they do not send out a specific warning after 25 months of inactivity. They just close the account and send a notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In credit card company vernacular, you are considered a "deadbeat." I'm not even exaggerating a little bit. That's the actual name for people who have a card and don't use it.

Yes, they will cancel it.

What do they call people who pay in full every month, never pay fees, etc. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This could have been resolved by buying lunch one time in the card and paying it off

OP here—you're absolutely right, and I would have done that. You can bet I will be paying more attention to user agreements in the future!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. Of course they didn’t give you notice so you could further game the system by charging a latte every six months. This is on you OP. I have two credit cards that I alternate between so this never happens. Banks aren’t a public welfare agency, they are businesses.

OP here, I know—I should have paid more attention so I could have continued to be a deadbeat gaming the system!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Citibank has been rescued like 4 times by the taxpayers for complete incompetence


Populated by absolute losers.

+1000