Consumer complaint received 2024-01-17
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MD
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from XXXX with the subject line Your revolving credit limit has recently been revised which is not the typical language used when communications such as these are distributed to consumers via email, nor is this appropriate. Typically, when alerting consumers relative to changes such as these the email subject lines will state there have been changes to your account however this was not the case. After receiving the email, I opened it and read the verbiage within the body of the email only to find out that they had decreased my original credit limit from {$5800.00} to {$2900.00} leaving me with a balance of {$2800.00}, resulting in an available credit of {$80.00}. With an available credit of {$80.00} this significantly increases the chances of me exceeding my available credit limit which would allow Citi Bank to charge me for undisclosed charges ( i.e. over the limit charge, and interest charged to standard advances, etc. ) which are not listed in the initial credit card disclosures that were included in the initial prescreening application. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was charged for an Advanced Transaction Fee of {$80.00} + Interest Charged to Standard Advance Fee of {$39.00} ( $ 29.99 % Variable ) ; totaling {$110.00}, based on the cash advance I withdrew in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX  ( i.e. XXXX  and XX/XX/XXXX ) in the total amount of {$1600.00} ). I made a minimum online payment on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$69.00} ( i.e. {$41.00} was Interest Charged to Standard Adv ) which decreased my current balance to {$2.00}, XXXX, leaving me with an available credit of {$100.00} however, with me only making the minimum payments towards the balance based on how low/and little available credit that I have, this confirmed that Citi Bank developed a fraudulent business strategy to purposefully make a profit off of credit card holders which is a direct violation of ( CFPB ) Consumer Finance Protection Bureau : Federal Truth in Lending Act ( 12 CFR Part 1026-Truth In Lending ( Regulation Z ), Section ( 10 ) OVER-THE-LIMIT-FEE : Any fee imposed for exceeding a credit limit ; Official interpretation of 60 ( b ) ( 10 ) over-the-limit-fee. ( 1 ) Applicability. The disclosure of fees for exceeding a credit limit does not include fees for other types of default or for services related to exceeding the limit. For example, no disclosure is required of fees for reinstating credit privileges or fees for the dishonor of checks on an account that, if paid, would cause the credit limit to be exceeded. After taking time to better understand what was going on with my credit limit decrease, I called on the same day that the email notification was received on ( i.e. XX/XX/XXXX ) at XXXX and spoke with an agent in reference to the information I had received. I explained that using illusive, deceptive verbiage in reference to the rationale/and justification to support their decision relating to decreasing my credit limit was fraudulent and advised that sending an alert/notification via email was a violation of the ( FCRA ) Fair Credit Reporting Act, because credit card companies are required to use either the electronic letter system or mail, and as a result of their lack of adherence I would be reporting them to the government for fraud. The agent shared that they supported my decision and explained that I would receive a letter in 7-10 business days to explain further and in turn I disconnected the call. I then proceeded to call back at XXXX and spoke with another agent. In turn, I requested assistance with locating the Citi Disclosures online as they typically are posted publicly and was told by the agent that this information is confidential and can not be shared with you since this information will be listed within the letter you will receive via email in 7-10 business days. I refuted his response and explained that I as the account owner I am entitled to this information and I should have access to this information, and if Citi Bank didnt have anything to hide then the disclosures would be public. I advised that this was fraud and shared that I would be reporting them to the ( CFPB ) Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the ( FTC ) Federal Trade Commission for fraud. Less than 24 hours later ( i.e. XX/XX/XXXX ), I received a notification via email with the subject line Weve updated your credit limit. Upon opening the email, it instructed me to click on the button within the email itself which redirected me to the mobile app, where it rerouted me to the electronic letter system ( i.e. documents and statements ) within the Citi Bank mobile app in reference to my credit limit decrease. Once I was in the document and statements section and retrieved the letter it merely stated that we frequently review cardmember accounts and credit reports. After a recent review, we lowered the credit limit on your Citi Diamond Preferred Mastercard account. Your credit limit is {$2900.00}, of which {$0.00} can be used for cash advances. However, within the letter that they sent me via the electronic letter system in the mobile app, it still did not include the updated Citi disclosures which would reveal what the applicable charges are if I exceeded my revolving credit limit ( i.e. over the limit fee ), based on their forceful, heinous, business practices that are driven by profitability at all costs ; yet again violating of ( CFPB ) XXXXonsumer Finance Protection Bureau : Federal Truth in Lending Act ( 12 CFR Part 1026-Truth In Lending ( Regulation Z ), Section 60 ( e ) ( 3 ) PROMPT RESPONSE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. ( 1 ). PROMPT DISCLOSURE. Information is promptly disclosed if it is given within 30 days consumer 's request for information but in no event later than delivery of the credit or charge card._ ( 2 ). INFORMATION DISCLOSED. When a consumer requests credit information, card issuers need not provide all of the required credit disclosures in all instances. For example, if disclosures have been provided in accordance with 1026.60 ( e ) ( 1 ) and a consumer call or writes a card issuer to obtain information about changes in the disclosures, the issuer need only provide the items of information that have changed from those previously disclosed on or with the application or solicitation. If a consumer requests information about items, the card issuer need only provide the requested information. If however, the card issuer has made disclosures in accordance with the option in 1026.60 ( e ) ( 2 ) and a consumer calls or writes the card issuer requesting information about costs, all the required disclosure information must be given. If a consumer requests information about items, the card issuer needs only provide the requested information. If, however, the card issuer has made disclosures in accordance with the option in 1026.60 ( e ) ( 2 ) and a consumer call or writes the card issuer requesting information about costs, all the required disclosure information must be given. _ ( 3 ). MANNER OF RESPONSE. A card issuer 's response to a consumer 's request for credit information may be provided orally, or in writing, regardless of the way the consumer 's request is received by the issuer. Furthermore, the card issuer must provide the information listed in 1026.60 ( e ) ( 1 ). Information provided in writing need not be in a tabular format. Within the pre-screening Citi Disclosures it doesnt state that if you do not pay off your cash advance within a specific amount of time, that you cant make/or complete additional cash advances, which serves as yet another confirmation that this credit card is being treated as a revolving personal line of credit that is being marketed/and exploited to consumers as a completely different product and not being clearly/or conspicuously disclosed in the documentation exploited to consumers. The initial pre-screening information does not disclose the type of credit card account ( i.e. fixed or revolving ) the Citi Diamond Preferred Credit Card is and it doesnt list the actual credit bureaus in which Citi Bank uses to determine pre-screening eligibility ( i.e. XXXX, XXXX, or XXXX ), so you are not aware which credit report they reviewed to retrieve your information until a significant event such as this occurs. After these events, I reviewed my XXXX report on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  and confirmed that there is nothing significant on my account to cause Citi Bank to decrease my credit bank, in fact my XXXX credit score recently increased XXXX points and is currently XXXX and does not contain any reported collection accounts. My XXXX credit score is XXXX, and unfortunately, I couldnt access my XXXX account, to review my credit score. Nothing regarding my credit has changed significantly, and the only reason Citi Bank decreased my credit limit significantly was for their own gain from a business perspective to decrease risk associated with new lines of credit while simultaneously forcing me/and other consumers to pay off their balance as soon as possible, because they fraudulently marketed a product ( i.e. personal line of credit stipulated by a drawback payback period ) which as a credit card deception and fraud, without the consent of consumers. Citi Bank uses illusive, and evasive verbiage ( CFPB ) Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Solicitation ( 12 CFR 1022.20 ( b ) ( 5 ) ) in reference to their Citi Diamond Preferred Credit Card is now treating it like it is a personal line of credit. Cit Bank failed disclose and/or list within their pre-screening Citi Disclosures that this credit card had a revolving credit limit which seemingly confirms that this technically is not a credit card, but was marketed as a credit card and according to Citi Bank they are considering it an actual personal line of credit and not a credit card. By doing so, this allows Citi Bank to classify the account as a revolving credit account/or revolving line of credit wherein, if you as a consumer do not pay off the balance within a specific amount of time, then they will decrease your available credit limit, forcing you to pay off the balance, using threatening, harassing, forceful, deceptive, heinous, stalking business practices which include/and or not limited to : sending multiple payment reminders per day after decreasing your credit limit ( i.e. 3 or 4 per day ) and then once a payment is made they continue to send you emails asking for feedback, and sending you additional marketing solicitations from their business partners, to portray that they care for you as a consumer ( Personal Lines of Credit vs. Credit Cards ). Not to mention, I had to complete additional online research to truly define and understand what type of product I had with Citi Bank because their customer service agents were not helpful and could not provide me with the information that I needed while speaking with them over the phone or in person. The only other disclosures that I found online outside of the electronic letter system ( i.e. mobile app ) were from XXXX, which was from 6 years, so I know that this information is outdated. Below you will find calculations that I discovered by reviewing the Citi Disclosures from an analytical perspective ( i.e. reading between the lines ). -- -- - APR for Cash Advances : 29.99 % ; ( Variable, will vary based on market ) ; however, Citi Disclosures states that the Cash Advance APR is calculated by adding [ 8.25 % + 21.74 % = 27.99 % ] ( i.e. Cash Advance APRs range between 27.99-29.99 %, variability based on the market, for example ). -- -- *27.99 % is the APR for purchases which will vary with the market based on the prime rate ( i.e. 27.99 % + 8.25 % = 36.24 %, for example ). Prime rate as of XX/XX/XXXX is 8.25 % based on market however, variable rate APRs will not exceed 29.99 %. -- - *VR-APR : 29.99 % - PR : 8.25 % = 21.74 % ( The calculation to represent the numerical value of 21.74 % is not disclosed within the Citi Disclosures document that is distributed to consumers who meet the pre-screening criteria based on their credit report and debt/to income ratio.

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