Citibank Plus - No Fee No Overseas Transaction Fee Account

[moa999]

Jessica Tam, Anchew,
Thanks, will wait a bit longer then

 

[Isochronous]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

This is just a bank account so approval shouldn't be an issue for anyone. I will make sure I have this in preparation of 1 Jan when 28Deg goes to ****.

 

[shearsense]

This happened to me too. After 48 hours, I hadn't heard anything so I rang them to enquire whether I really need to have my ID checked given I was already a Citibank customer. I was told that it was all approved on their end and another day or two passed before I got the 'Welcome to Citibank Plus' email.

Yep me too. But there is an extra step involving the signature that I forgot to do, so still waiting on the card.....

 

[RB]

Just to give a few data points & a comment on the Citi Plus debit card that we used in India earlier this month. The Citibank ATM rate at Delhi airport on 4th Nov worked out at 58.258 inr, 6th Nov State Bank of India 58.479, 8th Nov HDFC bank 58.776 (inc 200 rupee fee in calculation-only 1 imposed by an ATM this trip), 12th Nov SBOI 58.424inr, 13th Nov SBOI 58.428, 15th Nov SBOI 58.561, 20th Nov SBOI 57.960.
The DEL ATM had a limit of 40,000 Indian Rupee, the SBOI ATM's had a transaction limit of 10,000 rupee but had a notice that multiple transactions were allowed if you required more ( we did 4 transactions in 1 session). Also an adjustment we had to make was the ATM's expected us to insert the card, quickly extract it & then feed in the PIN-people in front of us at DEL had struggled with this as did we 1st up

 

[ss1801]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

What sort of conversion rates were you getting? Pretty much market rates?

13Nov 0.69208
11Nov 0.694058
08Nov 0.696000
07Nov 0.696884
06Nov 0.70031
05Nov 0.69689
05Nov 0.69509
04Nov 0.690846
04Nov 0.68668

These rates come from Euro drawn divided by cost as per Citibank Statement. Some duplication of dates (the day where conversion took place) could be due to time at withdrawal (Italy & France).

Note: Rates do fluctuate during the days.

 

[Danger]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

13Nov 0.69208
11Nov 0.694058
08Nov 0.696000
07Nov 0.696884
06Nov 0.70031
05Nov 0.69689
05Nov 0.69509
04Nov 0.690846
04Nov 0.68668

These rates come from Euro drawn divided by cost as per Citibank Statement. Some duplication of dates (the day where conversion took place) could be due to time at withdrawal (Italy & France).

Note: Rates do fluctuate during the days.

Without having a look at historical exchange rates in the market on those dates I would guess that these rates compare very favourably.

 

[moa999]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Just an update on my activation.

Card was sent out so I didn't need to do the post office ID.

In activating the card number you need your account number (this is not mentioned) and this only appeared as a confirmation printout when I setup the account, never by email.

I then tried to setup online banking.
Kept on getting a message that is was in a blackout period and couldn't issue one time pin.

After I called the call centre they said it was because I didn't have a mobile number on the card. After calling me back on that mobile we set it up and it now works fine, but certainly not a smooth process.

Have also had Citi agressively trying to sell me life insurance since I signed up.

 

[Cynicor]

Not had the issues you described, and didn't need the account number to activate the card. Think I just used the automated system. My own issues was no pin ever arrived, so called again and they express posted it to me.

Card worked perfectly overseas, at the expected rate etc.

 

[Isochronous]

With the Visa exchange rate and no international transfer fees, this includes bank telegraph transfers to bank accounts overseas.

This is very attractive. Does it work seamlessly with Citibank in other jurisdictions? I'm thinking of setting an account with Citibank up in HK.

 

[here2go]

Instant Citibank transfers is the spin.

 

[yohy?!]

With the Visa exchange rate and no international transfer fees, this includes bank telegraph transfers to bank accounts overseas.

This is very attractive. Does it work seamlessly with Citibank in other jurisdictions? I'm thinking of setting an account with Citibank up in HK.

Yep I use a citi account in both au and hk and the international transfers are instant at decent rates with no fee

 

[Isochronous]

Yep I use a citi account in both au and hk and the international transfers are instant at decent rates with no fee

Great to hear. When you say instant - do you have separate logins for Citibank website and is there a process to register accounts with each other?

Also how does the rate compare to the Visa/MC rate used by the Debit Card, 28Deg, Bankwest Platinum, etc?

 

[Programme]

Does anyone have any experience with overseas credits to this account through the Visa card?

Thinking in the context of the TRS in Singapore where you can either collect in cash or have the refund credited to a credit card.

 

[Formal Hall]

I've had overseas merchants refund to the citibank Plus Visa card with no issues, and Singapore in particular is very citibank friendly (lots of branches and ATMs) so you will be fine, and will be credited at the prevailing competitive exchange rate on the card.

 

[thehound]

Does anyone have any experience with overseas credits to this account through the Visa card?

Thinking in the context of the TRS in Singapore where you can either collect in cash or have the refund credited to a credit card.

I've done this several times and I'd recommend it. Not only do you get a good exchange rate on your refund, but you avoid taking home unwanted foreign currency, and you avoid award points being deducted from your account for the credit like if you used your normal rewards-earning credit card.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I've got the card and have used it in a number of countries at a good rate, etc. - happy with the card.

My son now has a different issue. Does anyone know if an o/s employer can pay into the card in foreign currency? This would presumably convert to $A within a day or two?

My son's issue is that his employer (PNG Govt) has discovered that they can no longer pay him in $A and must pay him in Kina; meaning that he then needs to convert it to Aus and cover the fees, etc.?

Thanks, JV

 

[DeKa]

I've got the card and have used it in a number of countries at a good rate, etc. - happy with the card.

My son now has a different issue. Does anyone know if an o/s employer can pay into the card in foreign currency? This would presumably convert to $A within a day or two?

My son's issue is that his employer (PNG Govt) has discovered that they can no longer pay him in $A and must pay him in Kina; meaning that he then needs to convert it to Aus and cover the fees, etc.?

Thanks, JV

Of course they can. Fees are zero as noted here: http://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/Feesandcharges.pdf

 

[Isochronous]

Would be even better if Citi had a retail presence in PNG, then you could just open a local account and take advantage of free international transfers.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Would be even better if Citi had a retail presence in PNG, then you could just open a local account and take advantage of free international transfers.

Yes, I had thought of that but unfortunately they don't have any branches in PNG at this time. (Guess you already knew that!)

JV

 

[ric_melb]

I guess it may depend on where and how the PNG Government pay your son. Presumably they are paying in PNG in Kina. This would no doubt either entail depositing against a Visa debit card number, or directly to the bank account involved, using Australian BSB number etc. I imagine this would be done through the PNG Government bank. I doubt Citibank Sydney run any Kina accounts so it would seem the amount would have to be converted to AUD and sent to Citibank Sydney. If that was so I would expect the PNG bank would convert the currency and charge the fee. So conversion rate free and fee free may not occur.
Reality may see it differently.