LaJollaInvestor said:We should all take these reports as a warning to use any cards we care about.

It seems as if a lot of Lenders are culling their customer base and dumping customers that are viewed as risky or unprofitable.

As much as a pain as it is to manage small balances I am going to make certain I keep my cards active.

This is pretty much what I do on the personal side of credit. I only have 6 active cards, all of which I actually use at various times. I just focus on getting CLIs on those and keeping them active.

torchedlh said:From the gist of the thread, it sounds like accounts (esp high limit ones) are being closed from inactivity. I dont really have any accounts like that, as all of the high limit ones have large BTs.

For better or worse, I am still very suprised that these companies would give me over 100k in credit (I have about 55k in BTs). I am 21, have 3 years of credit history and stated my parent's income as the HHI. This is a stupid question that I should know the answer to: can Chase and Citi decide to raise my BT interest/close those accounts if they decide my credit profile is too risky? Up until now I had assumed if it was only if i defaulted on another card or missed a payment etc. Thanks

I would not be amazed if you they did the same thing to you that they did to me. No, they can't change your terms. If they try, you have the right to refuse the change in your agreement. That means the account would be closed but you'd be able to pay off the balance under the terms of the current agreement (i.e. 0% for a year). They can however close you account without notice (and that literally means without notice) but you'd still keep the terms on the account.

If you have any cards that you want to keep, especially if they are with Chase or Citi, I would pay down some of the balance. For example, I have one of the Chase Cash Rewards cards (5% groceries/gas/drugstores) which is not available anymore. That's why I paid down all my balances because I prefer to keep that over getting 5% back on

zapy said:[Citi loaned me $$ to pay for my daughters college tuition then after they did that they did an account review of a card that had a zero % interest for life 22K balance. They decided that I was NOW a credit risk. They jacked my interest to 29.99% and interest started accruing at about $650-700 a month. My $220 payment became over $700. I tried to reason with them. They would not reduce the rate.

I will be filing BK soon as Citi is ready to sue me while a few other creditors are ready as well. You see, I am screwed and screwed over.

Lets us get this straight to make sure we all understand what happened ok?

You were paying your 0% for life offer every month ON TIME never paid it late 1x. And Citi raised your interest rate to DEFAULT RATE for no reason at all? Citi no longer raises people accounts based on Universal Default CLAUSE for over 1 year(which means even if you paid another creditor late citi will not raise your rate with them to default rate) now as BOA, Citi and Chase agreed in front of congress under oath with threat of litigation to make it illegal they would not do it so congress said as long as they do not do it they would not enact any new law regulating them any further. So I am sure the media would love to hear of a case were Citi did just that as a matter of fact I am sure congress would too as currently it is popular to have hearing about banks where Congress threatens to put banking CEO in jail for unfair lending practices or accuse the oil companies of making too much money.

So if your story is 100% correct and you did not leave anything out I am sure NYT would love to hear your story.

sechs said:I have one personal and one biz card. Received letter last week that personal card was closed for too many inquiries. Had eight inquiries at CRA in question at last check... but three are from Citi.

Called up yesterday, and the manager stated that the lack of activity was the reason that the account was closed. I have not used the card in over a year. She suggested that I wait 30 days and reapply. After pointing out that would cause more of the inquiries that officially closed my account, she went back and just reopened it. Maybe fifteen minutes total on the phone.

If Citi wants to get rid of me, why was it so easy to reopen the account?It operates as a completely automated process. Human intervention can accomplish almost anything within reason, you just have to find (and convince) someone competent enough.

zapy said:Citi loaned me $$ to pay for my daughters college tuition then after they did that they did an account review of a card that had a zero % interest for life 22K balance. They decided that I was NOW a credit risk. They jacked my interest to 29.99% and interest started accruing at about $650-700 a month. My $220 payment became over $700. I tried to reason with them. They would not reduce the rate.

They are not allowed to change the terms in the agreement unless you messed up first. Did you ever forget to make a payment or not pay the minimum balance on this or any other Citi card? That's what would cause the rate to go to the default.

Glitch99 said:It operates as a completely automated process. Human intervention can accomplish almost anything within reason, you just have to find (and convince) someone competent enough.
So, how does this close-open cycle save Citi money?

Sounds like they're playing on the rebate psychology, to the end of losing customers.

torchedlh said:What about if you miss a payment on another Citi card? I am dissapointed to say I let one slip but I think I'm luckily that it wasn't one that had a BT. I'm a little nervous...

I was told by Citi that if a review is triggered on one card it will be triggered on all your cards. This is apparently a fairly new policy.

zapy said:Unfortunatly it is not new --- they had clauses allowing changes any time for any reason.

Yes, the $500 increase added to another universal default card has met me at about $1K a month too much. With just paying for college for my daughter and wife I was making ends meet till ShittiBank decided to make changes. It's all in their agreements. Some cards even have a clause that if the account is closed you get jacked up to the default rate. They do that so when they increase your rate for no reason you cannot cancel the accouint and pay at the old terms.

If the terms said closure of the account would change the interest rate to the default, than you should have known about this in advance. Don't complain about your own ignorance of the terms of your agreement with Citi. It was not hard to figure out that the credit market would be tightening and random reviews could happen. If you're borrowing money, be very sure you know the terms of the agreement unless you can immediately pay it back.

mrteeth said:The following notice just popped up online for one of my citi credit card accounts:
"Account Alert: A review of this account has shown recent high- risk activity. Please contact our Customer Service Unit at 1-800-950-5114."

Funny thing is that there is no activity on this card and there never has been. It's been sitting in a sock drawer since it was activated.

Should I call?

Update: Although I have not received any letters from Citibank my account is still showing this alert online.

I'm wondering if it would be wise for me to request a reallocation of most of the credit limit to one of my active cards, though I'm worried that any further review at this point could trigger immediate closure.

zapy said:Unfortunatly it is not new --- they had clauses allowing changes any time for any reason.

Yes, the $500 increase added to another universal default card has met me at about $1K a month too much. With just paying for college for my daughter and wife I was making ends meet till ShittiBank decided to make changes. It's all in their agreements. Some cards even have a clause that if the account is closed you get jacked up to the default rate. They do that so when they increase your rate for no reason you cannot cancel the accouint and pay at the old terms.

You are pathetic. Hasn't anyone told you that the credit card business is not a legitimate enterprise?

Be the predator, not the prey.