This company is something of a nonentity in the credit card market, it doesn’t advertise widely but does, as I’ve discovered, have some hidden depths.
Their offering is restricted to the world renowned Visa, and their card range has three offerings in the UK:
• The Citi / AAdvantage VISA ... Read review
Advantages: They exploit relationship marketing, on-line application Disadvantages: Hidden £10 annual fee, no on-line facilities, limited benefits
This company is something of a nonentity in the credit card market, it doesn’t advertise widely but does, as I’ve discovered, have some hidden depths.
Their offering is restricted to the world renowned Visa, and their card range has three offerings in the UK:
• The Citi / AAdvantage VISA Gold Card that holders points toward American Airline flights for every £1 you spend. These points can be used against offerings from ... ...a member, as are British Airways, Iberia and Qantas. However, if you are not a frequent flyer particularly in the transatlantic market and you run a balance on your cards, with a standard APR or 18.3%, then this card probably won’t be that appealing.
• The Citi Visa Plus, this is their standard offering, giving 6 months interest free credit on balance transfers, and then a reasonably competitive 13.9% APR on purchases, and 15.3% on ... more
This company is something of a nonentity in the credit card market, it doesn’t advertise widely but does, as I’ve discovered, have some hidden depths.
Their offering is restricted to the world renowned Visa, and their card range has three offerings in the UK:
• The Citi / AAdvantage VISA Gold Card that holders points toward American Airline flights for every £1 you spend. These points can be used against offerings from all members of the oneworld alliance of which AA are a member, as are British Airways, Iberia and Qantas. However, if you are not a frequent flyer particularly in the transatlantic market and you run a balance on your cards, with a standard APR or 18.3%, then this card probably won’t be that appealing.
• The Citi Visa Plus, this is their standard offering, giving 6 months interest free credit on balance transfers, and then a reasonably competitive 13.9% APR on purchases, and 15.3% on cash withdrawals
• The Citi Platinum Visa card offers the same interest rates as the Visa Plus, both have a maximum credit limit of £25,000 and left me wondering for a few minutes what were the advantages, other than the status symbol. A closer look showed they provide free legal and medical cover while abroad, if using the card to pay for your travel arrangements. They also provide 12 months extra warranty on electrical items, and aim to get free replacement cards out to holders within 24 hours if theirs is lost or stolen. I didn’t know about this feature, until, losing my card, my replacement arrived within 2 days of me telling them I had mislaid mine. Impressive, what more can I say?
The card also offers reasonable discounts on RAC membership should you wish to jump ship from the AA. I made a substantial saving of £60 on my annual membership, and although I do err towards using the AA, £60 is a reasonable saving at the end of the day.
The rest of this op covers my experience with the Citi Platinum Visa card.
I had a Citi Platinum card quite a few years ago, but lack of on-line facilities, no reward scheme and just being ordinary in the great scheme of things saw them sent to the great credit card heaven in the sky.
But then, one day, while reorganising the old finances (again) a 0% APR on balance transfers for 6 months saw me decide to save myself some money and apply. Having on-line applications for financial services just makes life too easy.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS This was on-line, and, no surprises here, I had to wait for my answer. To be fair contact was swift, and conducted by e-mail, and I was notified swiftly by e-mail when my card was approved.
The forms were quickly received for signature, as the law doesn’t yet recognise the idea of digital signatures in this area, and the credit card received. Now it is not often I read the small print on the credit card paperwork, but for some reason, this time I did.
As well as the industry standard charge of £25 for doing anything wrong with your card such as late payments and exceeding credit limits, I was stunned to discover that if you do not use your card over a 12-month period, then you will receive a £10 charge for the privilege of holding it. This charge also applies if you do not pay any interest on your balance over the same 12-month period. I wasn’t too impressed with this, and vowed that when my balance was cleared, this card would be redespatched to the great big credit card heaven in the sky.
INTEREST FREE PERIOD Should you choose to clear your balance monthly, you will enjoy UP TO 8 weeks interest free credit, but don’t forget that £10 charge. On this basis, there are better deals on the market, such as Goldfish, who, despite devaluing their points value in recent years, still provide achievable goals unlike many other reward cards.
CUSTOMER SERVICE Once the application process has been completed, there is no on-line facility with this card, I must admit I do find this an inconvenience. Their customer service facility is through a national rate 0870 number, although they do answer fairly quickly, once you have worked your way through their cumbersome, yet irritatingly common automated identification system. If you do not wish to speak to a human, you can get computerised balances and pay through their automated system. Staff are friendly and helpful and phones are answered quickly.
BALANCE PAYMENTS These can be made through on-line banking (with your own bank), by post, debit card on the phone, direct debit, at a bank. What a novel idea. I recently tried to clear a £1 balance on my Marbles card to close it. Not one of the high street banks, including HouseHold bank (their issuers) would take a cash payment, and all charged 4 times as much for it.
CREDIT LIMIT The credit limit supplied is generous, despite being 50% of what they gave me last time I held their card.
Some people use this is a measure of how good or bad a company is, but don’t forget, every organisation will have their own lending criteria, and they will consider many things in the process. I earn a reasonable salary, yet someone earning more than me may be offered a lower limit because they don’t have a traceable credit history. Likewise, someone earning less may get more because they do have a good credit history but less financial commitments.
Unlike MBNA, they are not regulars in raising your credit limit without request, indicating I believe, a modicum of concern over sensible lending.
USING THE CARD This is simple, anywhere you see the Visa sign. This is not a card I use regularly, and the first time I did was in a hotel in Preston. Interestingly, the company referred the card and I spent some 20 minutes authenticating myself at the front of a long hotel check-in queue. As the card was issued in Manchester, and hadn’t been touched in over a month, I suppose I should be grateful for their security measures, even if it was embarrassing.
WHAT MADE ME STAY? The balance was dwindling, and the card was quickly considered for removal from my portfolio, until….. I received a letter from them offering me a balance transfer rate of 3.9% APR for the life of the balance, an offer I willingly took them up on. The deadline was short, and their computers crashed, but they extended the offer just for me, this for me, is enough to say, we value your business, and will see them keeping my custom for the foreseeable future.
UPDATED: 11/04 Subsequent statements from CitiCard showed that they did not honour the 3.9% balance transfer, however, a swift call to their customer services department saw all my interest refunded in my next statement. I have also had a number of subsequent balance transfer invitations on the same terms and conditions as previous ones, so am hoping once this has cleared, I can do it again.
What I would say, is that if you do already have a large balance on this card, then like most of the competition, taking advantage of the balance transfer rate might not be a good idea. Any excess payments made each month will be deducted from the balance transfer amount rather than what is on your card already, possibly making a new card such as Egg or Capital One a better bet.
CHIP AND PIN Citi, like, in my experience, most of their competitors, are not quite there yet, although my new card is only valid for 4 months, so I am guessing that it won’t be long.
You may or may not be aware that if you have a chip on your card, that by the end of 2004, you will be unable to use the card unless you have a PIN number. The new machines are springing up all over the place, and I suggest all the banks get their backsides in gear quickly. Otherwise, the Bank of England’s wish to stop people spending on credit will quickly become a reality, as there are bound to be teething problems.
SUMMARY Until recently, there was nothing that made them stand out from the crowd, until 3.9% APR for the life of the balance came around. If they wanted to keep my loyalty a little longer, they succeeded. What more can I say apart from remember that £10 annual fee for not using the card or avoiding interest.
Want one? Run along to https://www.citicards.co.uk/index.htm and check them out for yourself.
Advantages: Good Cashback rate, online servicing now available Disadvantages: Poor Product Information, On-line servicing a pain to set up
...that confusion is due to Citibank themselves - maybe that's why it's no longer available because of all the problems that people have had....
The Application process
The application was made through a link on the moneysupermarket website. At the time they say they can usually approve you online but for me they had to go away and think about it. About a 2 or 3 weeks later a credit agreement popped through the post and I was granted a reasonable ... ...of a week why does Citibank take so long? In addition the lack of Ts &Cs for the cashback indicates either poor communications with customers or a disorganised dispatch operation... Not very good.
Communcations
As I've said I had to call them up a few times to clarify that I was on the right product. The key is call during working hours so that you get someone in the UK answering. If you call outside working hours your call will get directed to ...
ucjtckc 01.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Visa
Advantages: Overall Good Service Disadvantages: No On-Line Service
I've been a Citibank customer since the start on them entering the UK credit card business, I started with Associates Classic Card and it has been moved to the Citibank branding www.citicards.co.uk
Like many Citibank customers I started with a high apr (32.9%) at present there website www.citicards.co.uk offer 6 months interest free for transfers and a low apr off 13.9% but been warned read your documents to check your apr if you sign up. Although ... ...and used it, I never missed a payment and have found that if you phone and complain about the high apr then they will be more than happy to reduce your apr (I am now on the low 13.9%), if you phone every 6 months you find that they update there systems and make you offers, but YOU have to ask Citicard, they won't offer.
Talking off there customer service, I have never had a problem, they are friendly and helpful although they close around 9pm every ...
fjmcguire 22.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Visa
Advantages: Can help to repair bad or poor credit History Disadvantages: can incur high fees if you fail to send payment on time
I guess all of us go through rough times, mine was when I was having my second baby and was on maternity leave. My husband had injured his back and could not work. We had taken out a loan a few years earlier and until that point had never had any problems with repayments. One thing led to another and now we had a bad credit history.
At the time we didn't bother to try and obtain credit elsewhere as we decided that if we wanted something we would ... ...get ourselves further into debt. The years passed and our finances were finally managable again. Thats when we decided it was time to get new bedroom furniture for the boys room, we had two sons now and a daughter and although their bedrooms did already have nice furniture it was old. We found what we wanted but we were refused credit when we applied. Gutted! I couldn't understand it, we'd been straight with our money for a few years and had not ...
denbains 10.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Visa
Advantages: Quick & easy application process. Decision online Disadvantages: No online facilities once accepted
...recently applied online for a Citibank Platinum Visa card following recommendation from moneysupermarket.
I was looking for a new credit card to transfer my existing credit card balances as I wanted to reduce the amount of interest that I was paying.
I shopped around on the moneysupermarket web site as this is a great place to compare financial products and gain the best & most competitive deal.
After filling in a short questionnaire, moneysupermarket ... ...I was presented with the Citibank Platinum Visa and I was impressed with their current offer of 0% APR on balance transfers and all purchases within the first six months of opening, then 13.9% APR (variable) after that.
I decided to apply and this can be done on their website. The application form was nice and easy and not too long. I don't know about you but some of these applications are such a bore! I entered all my details and submitted my application ...
DavidWilcox 15.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Visa
Advantages: Very Easy To Obtain Disadvantages: India Call Centers, Not understanding issues
Thinking about obtaining a Citi Card credit card at all? After reading this you may not want to. I have been with them since About August 2003, payments were made on time every time. In August 2004 my wages were messed up by my employers payroll company, this meant that instead of living on £1000 a month I was living on £700 a month for 3 months in a row.
All my bills to my knowledge were by direct debit so I didn’t really need to worry. I contacted ... ...that my payment had not been made and that a late payment fee was on my account.
I spoke to an Advisor, Bhavnit Gokani in the payment processing department on the 22nd December. He took my debit card details for the sum of, £171 of which they received authorisation for.
Today I called Citi Card and spoke to Reena ext 1819, I made yet another card payment of , £200 of which they also again received authorisation for. I requested a direct debit be ...
pnixon 29.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Visa
Competitiveness of APR
Product package
Quality of Customer Ser...
Reward Scheme
Additional Charges
Security and Privacy
Ease of Application
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Advantages: free £500 overdraft, able to draw money from all ATMs without charge,free internet banking Disadvantages: no high street presence apart from London
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The bank also provides an interest free overdraft of £500 which again is very helpful and unlike someother banks there is no charge for this service. As others have mentioned one can use the visa delta to draw cash from any cash till in UK and overseas for no additional charge.
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sivam 08.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank
Advantages: Convenient, VISA networ for free cash withdrawals, excellent phone and internet banking Disadvantages: Only 3 branches in UK
Have you ever been driving a mate around on your way to a night out and he/she says 'Just need to find a cash machine'?
usually it's a question of tracking down their particular banking establishment but that's not a problem with Citibank in the UK, or indeed anywhere in the world.
Citibank uses the VISA cash network which is every cash machine in the UK. Every cash machine in the UK - for no fee.
If you don't mind not using a branch network (although you can pay in at Lloyds TSB Branches) and are comfortable with telephone and internet banking, it's the ideal account. I have had mine for over 2 years and never had a problem.
Transferring money abroad is a synch and the fee is reasonable while bill payments over the phone (Freefone number provided for telephone banking) are very easy.
I love it. It's convenient for me ...
Advantages: Great Internet and Telephone Banking Service Disadvantages: No High Street Presence
. The phone is generally answered within 30 seconds, and at the busiest times, they play you a message to tell you they are busy ? suggesting you call back later ? but giving you the option to hold if you want to. If they need to check something and call you back, then they really do ? usually within the hour.
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Branch Network ? Only five in the UK - four in London and the other in Birmingham. In five years, I have not felt the need to go into a branch so I do not see this as an issue. You can pay cheques in over the counter at any branch of Lloyds bank free of charge, or you can post them to Citibank.
Cashpoints (ATM) ? Citibank use the VISA network, so you can withdraw cash from any cashpoint displaying the VISA symbol. This is free of charge unless you are using a cashpoint where the operator of that machine ...
averagepunter 17.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Citibank Accounts
