Ooooh! 3rd post in 3 days. Fortunately it’s a different topic today. I’ve calmed down a lot since last night’s spew, but my heart still skips a beat every time I think of it.
Anyway, I got a letter to day from Citi:
We’re writing to let you know about an important change we’re making to your account. Effective April 1, 2010, an annual fee of $60 is being added.
The reason we are making this change is to maintain the quality of our service amid the rising cost of doing business. However, because we value you as a customer, we wanted to give you an opportunity to have the annual fee credited back to your account.
Here’s how it works. Each year we’ll credit the $60 fee back to your account once you have made $2,400 in purchases during that year. That comes to an average of 200 in spending a month, an amount you can reach by using your card for purchases you already make, like gas, groceries, cell phone plans or your cable bill.
As always, you have the right to opt out of this change and close your account. Please read the Notice of Change in Terms and Right to Opt Out beginning on the back of this letter so you are fully aware of all your account changes. If you have questions, call 1-866-915-9425.
Wow… credit card companies must be pushed back a lot to now include annual fees. Unfortunately, I know longer use this card on a daily basis as the rewards structure is no longer beneficial to me. I keep it around as an emergency card since my credit limit on it exceeds $10k.
I was hoping I would be able to consolidate this card onto a different account, one hopefully without annual fees, but it looks like this is the only remaining Citi account I have. I’m going to give them a call later this month and see if I can switch my account to a non-annual fees (even reward-less account).
I would like to avoid closing this account, since it’ll hurt my credit score, especially if this account has been opened for a long time.
There was a Consumerist article on this just a few days ago: Avoid Credit Card Annual Fees: Just Charge $2,400 Per Year
Interesting… JerusalemCherry says:
I just called Citi at 800-950-5114 They advised “ALL” CitiCards will now have annual fees due to the congress changing laws etc. She advised even, non rewards cards do too. They also said the Citi-website will be updated with info soon. The customer service rep at Citi also told me its not fair to the Citi customers since tax payers bailed Citibank out etc.
I guess even non-rewards Citi cards will have an annual fee. Bummers.