Citibusiness Card Not accepted.

[hedge]

Just a warning to those enticed by the benefits of the CitiBusiness Gold card. I tried to make a large purchase today and it was declined as the merchant does not accept 'corporate' cards - I assume due to the higher merchant fee. Lucky I still have my existing gold cards from citibank which are accepted.

So be careful!

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

so far so good. not had the card declined. not used it too much yet though.

fingers crossed it wont give me any probs in the USA or Mexico next month

does anyone know how long your previous gold card stays active for?? mine expirsed on the 08/11

 

[deepakabc]

I have been using this card for two months and never been declined.

 

[hedge]

I have been using this card for two months and never been declined.

I guess it's fine on normal tx at woolies or coles etc, but I tried to make a $6k payment where the merchant fee would be noticeable.

Your gold cards stay active until the expiry date. But I think that if you use your gold cards, you still get the 1.25 points per dollar (ive seen evidence of this).

 

[ric_melb]

Given that the CitiBusiness Card is a Visa card, one wonders whether a merchant can refuse it. He could be in breach of his agreement with Visa.
Just a thought.

 

[one9]

Given that the CitiBusiness Card is a Visa card, one wonders whether a merchant can refuse it. He could be in breach of his agreement with Visa.
Just a thought.

No with the Reserve Bank changes a merchant is allowed to not accept a particular variant of a card or to impose different surcharges on different variants of a card.

Recently my company received a change to the way our merchant fees were calculated. Corporate, Business & International cards are now being charged higher from our bank (Bankwest) than before when they were charged at a flat rate. NAB did this change a long time ago and it seems most banks have done this now.

We decided not to impose a higher surcharge for Corporate & Platinum cards but to impose a 3% surcharge for International cards. The main reason behind this was because we have a big number of Business customers and we don't want them to go elsewhere, but International cardholders are a lot less important to us and will most likely pay the surcharge.

Another example of Card Variant discrimination is with Woolworths & Coles refusing to accept prepaid credit card gift cards other than those issued by their own brands. ie. If you buy a prepaid Visa gift card at your local 7/11 it will work virtually everywhere that Visa & Mastercard is accepted, except for Coles & Woolworths (and their related stores)

 

[oz_mark]

No with the Reserve Bank changes a merchant is allowed to not accept a particular variant of a card or to impose different surcharges on different variants of a card.

Indeed, the honour-all-cards rule that used to apply has been watered down to some extent, although I didn't know it had been extended past the credit/debit card split.

 

[pauly7]

Indeed, the honour-all-cards rule that used to apply has been watered down to some extent, although I didn't know it had been extended past the credit/debit card split.

How annoying if this is true... wonder if corporate Amex will be in the same bucket....

 

[one9]

How annoying if this is true... wonder if corporate Amex will be in the same bucket....

I think Amex generally charge the merchant the same (usually high) rate for all Amex cards. So doubt it will affect Amex users.

 

[deepakabc]

As soon as i recieved citibusiness i threw the gold card.

can i get another gold card ?

 

[one9]

As soon as i recieved citibusiness i threw the gold card.

can i get another gold card ?

I think at this time only a very small number of merchants are surcharging/declining premium card variants, so I would not worry about it.

By the time the practice becomes widespread (if it does), the environment would have likely changed again. eg. The reserve bank changes the rules or the card issuers could issue alternative cards for those merchants who surcharge/decline etc.

 

[linda_travelbug]

good to know, i was thinking of applying this card to pay for a car purchase $50-55K. so i can get some QFF. If there is a possibility of business card being rejected, maybe i have to rethink again....
anyone managed to make big purchase with this card and have some positive feedback?

thanks

 

[hedge]

Get them to swipe it first and see if it works. Citibusiness card charges a ridiculous merchant fee hence the good rewards.

 

[jingles]

I think Amex generally charge the merchant the same (usually high) rate for all Amex cards. So doubt it will affect Amex users.

I get sick of being told Amex charge high merchant fees, especially when I purchase things on Amex.

Having a merchant account with Amex and paying something under 1.1% is not expensive, especially when visa is 0.93%

The merchant account is not a high transaction one and would only see tens of thousands of dollars a year.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I think mine was rejected in Taipei at an electronics store. They told me the card wasn't working, but didn't have a prob at any other place.

Funny thing was I'd placed the 2 * SSD drives I'd wanted to buy into my small back pack, and it was like 10 mins of the staff on the phone before they said they need cash or another card to do the transaction adn I said just forget it.

Was nearly back to the hotel before I remember I had the 2 drives in my backpack.

Went all the way back and 1 of the staff I dealt with was very confused when I handed him the 2 drives. His engrish wasn't so good, and eventually 1 of the other staff worked out what was going on.

I thought I'd build up my good karma balance but got pick pocketed 1500 BHT during songkran