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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It happened to me last year with Citibank and I was ticked off because it was my longest open account and I had been keeping it just because of that. I had moved and changed the automatic billing that had previously been on that account and forgotten to set up a new one and they closed the account with no warning.

I was mostly pissed because when we moved we got a new mortgage with Citibank, so I have a loan with them for over $700k and they cancel the card with a $7k limit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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. ?

I'm sure they are fine with that since they still get their merchant fees!

[Anonymous]

I've worked my entire career for credit card companies. I have worked with the CEO of citicards as a consultant. I've never heard anyone, in a formal or informal setting, call someone who stashes their card in a sock drawer a deadbeat.

They know it happens, they don't make any money off of you, and yes there are still costs and risk associated with that open account. There are various actions they can take, one of which is to close your account. There are a multitude of reasons why they might do that instead of sending you a notice or an incentive to use the card; one example is it may be an older card product that they're trying to remove from the market.

Btw, the idea that card companies hate customers who pay their balances in full every month is also incorrect. They just want you using the card. Credit cards are a volume game and high volumes let them spread fixed costs and gives them greater negotiating power with networks and merchants.