Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: WI
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023, I logged in to my CITI account to make a payment on my Costco CITI Visa card. My billing statement cut on XX/XX/2023, had a statement balance of {$200.00} and a minimum payment of {$41.00} with a due date of XX/XX/2023 ( Attachment XXXX ). 

When I went to the payment page ( Attachment XXXX ), it gave me four options : XXXX. To make the minimum payment of {$41.00} ( calculated based on the original statement ), XXXX. To pay the remaining statement balance of {$1.00}, XXXX. To pay the current outstanding balance on the card of {$1700.00}, or XXXX. To pay a custom amount. 

I selected the second option, to pay the remaining statement balance, as I always do, to zero out the current billing statement. When I selected option two, I received an error message, indicating that I still owed {$39.00} to satisfy the minimum payment to avoid going late ( Attachment XXXX ). In other words, I was put in a position where I was forced to OVERPAY my remaining statement balance or be penalized with late payment fees. Thats absurd. 

Obviously, CITI knew I only had {$1.00} remaining on my billing statement and gave me the option to pay that amount. However, when I attempted to pay it, their system wouldnt allow it. How is it legal to force an overpayment to meet a minimum that has not been adjusted to match the amount actually due? This could easily be remedied by adjusting the backend of the program to recognize when the remaining statement balance is LESS THAN the minimum payment due and having the minimum payment due automatically adjust to match the remaining last statement balance. Its not rocket science. Instead, CITI is essentially extorting an overpayment under the pain of late fee penalties. Even though the excess payment is credited to the account, I should not be FORCED to pay more than my statement balance. The late fee listed in CITIs fee schedule is up to {$41.00} '' ( Attachment XXXX ) Im basically paying the equivalent of a late fee by simply trying to pay off my current billing statement balance. Thats insane. 

In short, if an option is given to pay the remaining statement balance, and that balance is less than the remaining statement balance, you should have the right to pay the remaining statement balance to, in effect, zero out that billing statement. 

I am not sure what would happen if, after the end of my last billing cycle, I had made no other charges and my outstanding balance was XXXX. I suspect I would have been able to pay the {$1.00} since you wouldnt be able to submit a payment that exceeds the outstanding balance. Im not sure why this is different, because, for billing purposes, we are talking about a single billing cycle, not about the outstanding balance remaining on the account. And certainly, a customer should never be charged a late fee for paying off the remaining statement balance. Im in essence being penalized for being a responsible customer. I pay off my balance, in full, every month, so this really irks me. For people who are cash-strapped, this potentially presents a much more serious issue. 

I did reach out to CITI about the issue and the representative admitted it was odd, but it was how the system was. I did pay the minimum that exceeded my remaining statement balance because I had no other option. It is my hope that you will investigate this practice and bring it to a swift end.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation