[Offer Closed]: Citibank Gold NO ANNUAL FEE FOR LIFE

[Andyzx]

Hi to all contributors, I too took advantage of the card and thought great all these benefits and not too many downsides.

Well I have found one downside and it can be an expensive one.

If you have a statement balance of $1,000 and pay off $900 i.e. not the full and total complete statement balance the interest free period is lost, your card becomes a cash advance card and you pay interest at almost 20%

The killer
The interest is not on unpaid balance but the TOTAL BALANCE.

Example: if you had a purchase for $1000 on the 1st of the month and had to pay this 55 days later, but only paid an amount less than the total balance e.g. $900. In addition, had put another $1500 on the 1st of the following month you get this.

$1000 x 19.24% / 365 x 55 days = $28.99 plus $1500 x 19.24% x 55= $43.48 a total of $72.47 interest because you didn’t pay $100 or not the total balance.

This compares with other credit cards that will charge you $100 x 18% x 55 days = $2.71. ($2.71 vs. Citi $72.47:evil: ). They will also charge you for the outstanding amounts unpaid of the next statement but if paid in full its still usually only $2.71

You may have seen in the paper that Citibank is concerned that people don’t read the fine print, I did and still go stung because their words, or lack of them, are not clear :shock: .

As you can guess my Citibank card is now in the draw and likely to be cut into several pieces and retuned in the near future:-|.

Cheers to all the contributors, I think it’s a great card just pay it off each month and that means all, in full, the total statement balance and don’t, as I did get the payment wrong by missing $100 off on a $10,000+ payment, it hurts .

 

[ioki]

Hi to all contributors, I too took advantage of the card and thought great all these benefits and not too many downsides.

<SNIP>
The killer
The interest is not on unpaid balance but the TOTAL BALANCE.

<SNIP>

i've just discovered ANZ gold calculate interest the SAME way!!

 

[NM]

Its really important to understand how your cards work.

With some, once you miss paying the full amount in one month, you are charged interest on all new purchases from the date of the transaction and that will continue until you have paid off the total balance for 2 consecutive months. So missing one payment can cost you a lot in interest and can take a long time (at least 2 months) to get it back to having an interest-free period.

 

[wxlen]

Its really important to understand how your cards work.

With some, once you miss paying the full amount in one month, you are charged interest on all new purchases from the date of the transaction and that will continue until you have paid off the total balance for 2 consecutive months. So missing one payment can cost you a lot in interest and can take a long time (at least 2 months) to get it back to having an interest-free period.

Most cards work this way. Even if you miscalculate by $1 it can cost you tens of dollars as andyzx pointed out. The interest rate is astronomical on the $1 not paid off. You automatically lose the 55 day free grace period. Best always to round up when paying.

wxlen

 

[NM]

Most cards work this way. Even if you miscalculate by $1 it can cost you tens of dollars as andyzx pointed out. The interest rate is astronomical on the $1 not paid off. You automatically lose the 55 day free grace period. Best always to round up when paying.

wxlen

Indeed. I am very careful to ensure its over-paid before the due date.

 

[Cyberdog100]

I actually thought all credit cards charge interest on the full balance if you don't pay everything off, Commonwealth did this to me once a few years ago when I forgot to pay and then paid everything the following day but it was too late and had a charge of over $70!

However i wasn't aware that if you don't pay off in full, that then even new purchases are charged interest from day 1, thats the really scary thing!

I haven't had an interest charge due to late payments or anything for years now and i always round up to the nearest $1 when paying, so I can't see myself having any problems as long as I don't forget to pay!

Is the standard Citibank Gold the same or just the free one?

 

[NM]

However i wasn't aware that if you don't pay off in full, that then even new purchases are charged interest from day 1, thats the really scary thing!

Not only that, but you don't get back to having the interest-free days again until you have paid off two consecutive balances in full before the due date. So you are charged interest for all purchases from the transaction date for a minimum of 2 months!

 

[Cyberdog100]

That definitely sounds a bit misleading to me, considering its advertised as 55 days interest free.

I've had a look at the terms and conditions, and it seems to get even more confusing!

16. (d) (i) states that: the account must be paid in full each statement to maintain the interest free days.

(d) (ii): If not paid in full, you will get intrest free days when 2 consecutive statements are paid in full

(d) (iii): if you haven't paid in full by the due date for 2 consecutive months, the interest free period is not applicable.


So by the above, (i) says you must pay all in full each month to get interest free days, (iii) says if you haven't paid 2 statements in full, then you don't get interest free days.

Seems very contradictory to me!

As i said earlier I dont think i'd have any problems, but just knowing that they do this is an unsettling feeling, and its made worse by such contradiction in the Terms and Conditions!

 

[Febs]

Seems pretty straight forward to me..?

- Pay off in full to receieve the interest-free period.
- If you don't, you then have to pay off in full for 2 months to receive the interest-free period.
- If you don't do that, no interest-free period for you ever again.

That's how I read it.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Cyberdog100]

Thats not how i interpreted it. The confusion between points (i) pay in full each month to maintain interest free days and (ii) if you dont pay off in full for 2 months then no interest free days.

To me its contradictory whether you lose interest free after 1 month of partial payment or 2. I'll be playing it safe in either case, but like i've said before its an unsettling feeling.

 

[NM]

Thats not how i interpreted it. The confusion between points (i) pay in full each month to maintain interest free days and (ii) if you dont pay off in full for 2 months then no interest free days.

To me its contradictory whether you lose interest free after 1 month of partial payment or 2. I'll be playing it safe in either case, but like i've said before its an unsettling feeling.

Clear to me. You lose interest-free days if you miss payment by due date on any month. Once you lose the interest-free days, you need to have two months of paying off in full to re-establish your interest-free days.

Think of the benefit of interest-free days as something like a medal you are provided with in recognition of your good payment history. While you hold the medal, you get up to 55 days interest free with the card. If you miss paying in full by the due date (even by a dollar) you have to hand back the medal and you no longer get any interest-free day. Now everything charged to your card gets charged interest from the transaction date.

To have the medal returned to you, you must pay off the total statement balance by the due date for two consecutive months. Once you have achieved that milestone they return the medal to you and once again you get up to 55 days interest free on all purchases.

That is the intent of the policy and the way it is enacted by the banks. If you want to argue the legal wording of their terms and conditions, then engage a lawyer and/or complain to the relevant authorities.

 

[azurenights]

FYI, per the info pack - Zurich Assist intl. travel insurance conditions- which may mean you don't qualify for insurance on your trips:

• requires purchase with citi card of overseas travel ticket;and
• requires you take a Citi Gold statement proving ticket was purchased with the card (or through Citi's 'take flight' or 500 reward points programs)

Unlike ANZ Gold (Allianz or QBE?) policy which activates through $250+ card expenditure (such as for a hotel room, not necessarily tickets).

Luckily I paid for this year's ANZ Gold through rewards.
Beware Citi and Zurich's insurance conditions!

What exactly is the problem here? If you pay for an overseas flight ticket with the citibank gold card then you get free internal travel insurance right?

 

[Febs]

Not that I ever plan on not paying off my balance in full, but out of curiosity - if you lose your 55 day interest-free period, when does the interest apply from? The day you make the purchase, or the day that the actual purchase shows up on your account? The difference between the two is often several days (and obviously, much longer for taxi's etc...)

Eg: If you lose your interest-free period, purchase a $100 item, then pay it off the following day, will you pay interest on it? What about if you pay it off the same day? Before it shows up on your account?

Sounds like it's almost worth cutting up the card once you permanently lose your interest-free period.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[serfty]

For most cards it is the purchase date.

 

[NM]

Its the "transaction date". That is the date that shows for the transaction on the statement. Every transaction shown on a CC statement will have a transaction date listed.

 

[serfty]

Its the "transaction date". That is the date that shows for the transaction on the statement. Every transaction shown on a CC statement will have a transaction date listed.

:idea: Ding! That's the word I was looking for.

It's normally the same as the purchase date unless the purchase is made late in a day, then it can often be the day after.

My ANZ Visa statement shows two dates: Processed & Transaction. Amex only shows the Transaction date.

 

[solidmushroom]

I've just applied 25/01/07 at 16:40 for a upgrade on this link Citibank Gold Card

as I've had a silver citibank card with the same $2,000.00 limit since 1998
when i was 18.

funny thing, I've been thinking about applying for sometime, today, the day I finely get around to doing it, citibank sends me a letter to up my limit by a misly $1,000.00 to 3,000.00


I got a fuzzy Application Reference, so citibank are still processing it

p.s I have 23,000.00 in a citibank online cash mangement account, I thought I'd be an "instant win"


cheers,

 

[Holly]

Yeah, I too applied via the same link start of this month. The application ref number is useless via the "my application status" thing on Citibank's website. I raised that with the customer service person when they called me to verify some details. Apparently we must call up each time in order to find out...but she still could not confirm for me on how my application was going! They have since called a couple of times this week to request me to fax them further info...! From other people's experience- is it common to request tax assessment info? Now, I'm again awaiting for their response...let's hope I get a straight answer soon! :-|

 

[auriga]

Recently applied for both citibank gold, and wizard mastercard.
Wizard was extremely painless, just a phone call to verify that I did indeed apply and that I have a sepatate mailing address. Card was in the mail a few days later. The only downside--- tiny credit limit.
Citibank was extremely tedious. Made numerous phone calls, did checks, needed to fax them tax assessments, then claimed did not receive the faxes, etc. Did get a big (unwanted) credit limit, but I would much rather not jump through the hoops.

 

[SeaWolf]

I have heard Citibank can be a bit painful to get the card from. Do they usually call your employer as well? I've just changed jobs and only been there about a week, I was going to apply, but if they're going to knock me back because I've just got a new job, I might not bother.