Consumer complaint received 2025-02-14 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Unexpected increase in interest rate
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
To Whom It May Concern : I am writing to file a formal complaint against Citibank concerning the misapplication of my credit card payments, resulting in unjustified interest charges on my account. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue directly with Citibank, the matter remains unresolved. 

I hold a Citibank credit card account ( Citi AAdvantage ending XXXX ). As of XX/XX/XXXX ( statement posted XX/XX/XXXX ) I had three promotional balance transfer offers on this account : [ 1. Balance Transfer Offer # 5 : Promotional APR : 0 % ; Promotion Expiration Date : XX/XX/XXXX ; Balance as of XXXX Statement : {$3400.00} ; Post-Promotion XXXX : 27.49 %. 
[ XXXX. Balance Transfer Offer # XXXX : XXXX XXXX : 0 % ; Promotion Expiration Date : XX/XX/XXXX ; Balance as of XXXX Statement : {$1400.00} ; Post-Promotion APR : 27.49 %. ] [ 3. Balance Transfer Offer # 6 : Promotional APR : 0.99 % ; Balance as of XXXX Statement : {$3600.00} ; Post-Promotion APR : 27.49 % .Promotion Expiration Date : XX/XX/XXXX. ] In XX/XX/XXXX, I made the following payments totaling {$3500.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX : {$2500.00}, XX/XX/XXXX : {$600.00}, and XX/XX/XXXX : {$400.00} ). According to my understanding and per the regulations, these payments should have been allocated to the balance with the highest Annual Percentage Rate ( XXXX ) first, which, after XX/XX/XXXX, would be Balance Transfer Offer # XXXX at an XXXX of 27.49 %. However, in my XX/XX/XXXX, statement, the balances were as follows : XXXX. Balance Transfer Offer # XXXX ( 27.49 % APR effective after XX/XX/XXXX ) : {$3300.00} ; XXXX. Balance Transfer Offer # XXXX : {$1100.00}. XXXX. Balance Transfer Offer # 7 : {$1400.00} ( unchanged ). This indicates that the majority of my payments were applied to Balance Transfer Offer # 6, which still has a promotional APR of 0.99 % and a later expiration date, rather than to Balance Transfer Offer # 5, which is accruing interest at a much higher rate. 

On XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, I made {$1500.00} payment in total with a good intention to cover my Balance Transfer Offer # XXXX. But at that time the structure of my balance has changed. It is not until XXXX that I realized this problem. And interests have been blowing at a rate of 27.49 %. 

Intends to Fix the Issue with Citi Customer Service Team I contacted Citi XXXX times on around XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. On my first call in XXXX, the Citi representative admitted this was a technical issue that the payments were incorrectly allocated and escalated my case to internal review team ( higher level, unreachable through phone ). The representative promised that Citi will reach out with a letter to inform the results. I made a second call to follow up. After consulting the other representative 's supervisor, they changed the explanation that my payment allocation on early XXXX was based on the structure of my XXXX statement structure. I challenged this explanation that the interest had being charged at a rate of 27.49 % on my outstanding balance in balance transfer offer # XXXX, and my payments were intentionally made after that BT offer expired on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Citibank 's failure to comply with payment allocation regulations under Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 ( CARD Act ) has caused financial harm by increasing my interest expenses unfairly.

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