Paying ATO tax bill with Citibusiness gold?

[Yoz]

By Citi telling no one everyone who paid ATO got caught by an unannounced change. Their position on this is very ordinary.

Eeeh. While I understand that it's bothersome I suspect the exclusion has always been there but has only recently been enforced.

It's hard to complain about a company enforcing the terms and conditions of an agreement that was there upon signing up for the card.

Unless I'm mistaken it's fine to be a little upset but not at Citibank - they've done nothing wrong here. If anything they've allowed you to benefit for no apparent reason for the last X months?

 

[Jack_OC]

Eeeh. While I understand that it's bothersome I suspect the exclusion has always been there but has only recently been enforced.

It's hard to complain about a company enforcing the terms and conditions of an agreement that was there upon signing up for the card.

Unless I'm mistaken it's fine to be a little upset but not at Citibank - they've done nothing wrong here. If anything they've allowed you to benefit for no apparent reason for the last X months?

The issue is not that they've enforced the T&Cs, it's that they've suddenly started to enforce a very ambiguous condition in a way that they have not done before, and they chose not to tell anyone in advance that they were going to start doing so. They appear to have admitted in the e-mail reproduced earlier on in the thread that the decision to enforce this condition in this way was based on a "recent review". So why did they not publicise the change in policy once that review was concluded? Even now, the only reason I know about this change is because of this forum - as a Select customer, Citi has told me nothing about it. That's what they've done wrong, and that's what people are annoyed about.

Bear in mind that paying ATO bills with a Visa card incurs a 0.48% fee. That can amount to a large amount of money on a big tax bill, and it's primarily pocketed by the card provider, i.e. Citi in this case. No-one in their right mind would use a credit card to pay these bills unless there were significant rewards points involved. So if Citi had done the decent thing and announced this change of policy, no one would have used Citi cards to pay ATO bills since the change took effect. So why didn't Citi inform its customers of their new policy? There is no plausible answer to that question that will make them look particularly good from a customer's perspective.

 

[Yoz]

The issue is not that they've enforced the T&Cs, it's that they've suddenly started to enforce a very ambiguous condition in a way that they have not done before, and they chose not to tell anyone in advance that they were going to start doing so. They appear to have admitted in the e-mail reproduced earlier on in the thread that the decision to enforce this condition in this way was based on a "recent review". So why did they not publicise the change in policy once that review was concluded? Even now, the only reason I know about this change is because of this forum - as a Select customer, Citi has told me nothing about it. That's what they've done wrong, and that's what people are annoyed about.

Bear in mind that paying ATO bills with a Visa card incurs a 0.48% fee. That can amount to a large amount of money on a big tax bill, and it's primarily pocketed by the card provider, i.e. Citi in this case. No-one in their right mind would use a credit card to pay these bills unless there were significant rewards points involved. So if Citi had done the decent thing and announced this change of policy, no one would have used Citi cards to pay ATO bills since the change took effect. So why didn't Citi inform its customers of their new policy? There is no plausible answer to that question that will make them look particularly good from a customer's perspective.

Agree they should have handled this better but at the same time I think it's perfectly within their rights to do it.

If it had happened to me I'd be fairly upset but again I think they're well within their rights to enforce their T&Cs as intended.

Seems to be a widespread change not limited to Citibank though? I'm sure I've read about this happening to other credit cards - albeit with a mailout informing people of the changes.

 

[cove]

I transferred my Citi points to Kris Flyer just in case they thought about going back a couple of months or years to reverse awarded points. ATO and Citi is now over for us.

 

[Yoz]

I transferred my Citi points to Kris Flyer just in case they thought about going back a couple of months or years to reverse awarded points. ATO and Citi is now over for us.

Yeah. It's a bit of a pain.

It weirdly enough does not affect me despite my credit card being used for business. I suppose that just highlights that I should be focussing on making more money instead of posting on this forum

I'm just hoping they don't stop awarding points for BPay!

 

[cove]

Most folks on AFF want more Frequent Flyer points so Yoz you can be the one who is "different" in our crowd.

 

[kpc]

I transferred my Citi points to Kris Flyer just in case they thought about going back a couple of months or years to reverse awarded points. ATO and Citi is now over for us.

Oh well, all good things eventually end....how many SQ suites did you enjoy?

 

[burmans]

Oh well, all good things eventually end....how many SQ suites did you enjoy?

I don't think cove is saying it will end, it's his use of a Citibank card that has ended.

 

[cove]

I have switched to another card to run up Kris points so that SQ Suites are not over....it's just the beginning kpc. Clearly we need to do dinner again so you can get totally warped.
Have not cut up the two Citi cards and today I picked up almost 30k of points in a sweet spot that exists. Citi owed me about 180K of ATO points so I am closer to square today than yesterday.

 

[Yoz]

Citi owed me about 180K of ATO points so I am closer to square today than yesterday.

Was that on the Citibusiness Gold? Wouldn't you hit the point cap after one payment if your GST is paid quarterly? o_o

 

[cove]

Yoz I have the uncapped Select cards and I used to put 30 or 40 ATO bills on them each year. That has stopped.

 

[Yoz]

Yoz I have the uncapped Select cards and I used to put 30 or 40 ATO bills on them each year. That has stopped.

Wow. Can see why you are considerably miffed about the change.

Hope you noticed after the first few went through; rather than losing out on all of them ._.

 

[kpc]

I have switched to another card to run up Kris points so that SQ Suites are not over....it's just the beginning kpc. Clearly we need to do dinner again so you can get totally warped.
Have not cut up the two Citi cards and today I picked up almost 30k of points in a sweet spot that exists. Citi owed me about 180K of ATO points so I am closer to square today than yesterday.

I was referring to 1.33 SQ pts per $ paid to ATO at 0.48 % surcharge with Citi select. I know you have other cards to pay the ATO but not as great as the Citi Select...

 

[Newk]

Yeah. It's a bit of a pain.

It weirdly enough does not affect me despite my credit card being used for business. I suppose that just highlights that I should be focussing on making more money instead of posting on this forum

I'm just hoping they don't stop awarding points for BPay!

wash your mouth out with soap

don't give them (and us) too many ideas please

 

[DaveB]

Recent changes made by CC brands have always been flagged in advance and I am not aware of any totally cutting off ATO payments.
Citi have had the opportunity for a number of years to more effectively package the Select card up with other products. They have plainly blown it.
Any goodwill has gone out the door with Tiger Woods.

 

[MarcB]

Just found this thread - I just looked at my statement and can see that my current points balance does not reflect the ATO payment I made this month. Is everyone else seeing this to be the case? i.e can we assume that the ATO Payments merchant account has been flagged as zero earn permanently? I have the citibusiness card.

 

[cove]

YES it is OVER from Citi on all their cards.

 

[antcap]

YES it is OVER from Citi on all their cards.

Note that this includes the VirginMoney Visa cards marketed by Virgin Australia (managed by Citibank)

 

[MarcB]

YES it is OVER from Citi on all their cards.

So how was this communicated? If they're relying on the "government charges" in the T&Cs, that's a weak argument and I'd seriously suggest that FOS would be keen to hear about. That term appears in every T&C and is designed to prevent accural of points on government fees and charges that are charged to your account by Citibank (i.e. in the same category of interest charges etc). Was there a formal communication?

 

[oobi doobi]

So how was this communicated? If they're relying on the "government charges" in the T&Cs, that's a weak argument and I'd seriously suggest that FOS would be keen to hear about. That term appears in every T&C and is designed to prevent accural of points on government fees and charges that are charged to your account by Citibank (i.e. in the same category of interest charges etc). Was there a formal communication?

No communication what so ever. I lost approx $40000 worth of points (80000 pts) and rang them to query it. After some discussion they offered me 10000 points as final compensation. I will be changing cards later this year after spending $700 in Feb for the card.