Consumer complaint received 2025-05-14 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: MO

Complaint narrative:
Due to repeated offers for new credit cards and balance transfers through the mail, I decided to check on my status with my current Citi Simplicity credit card company yesterday, XX/XX/XXXX. I was shocked to hear over the phone that they started charging interest on my purchases, going from 0 % for the promotional rate to XXXX % without my knowledge over the past year. They told me that my rate changed again in XXXX to a higher XXXX, without ever notifying me. As a result, I have incurred over {$1300.00} in interest that started in XX/XX/XXXX through today. They have never sent me a notification of these changes. Somebody with the company said I agreed to paperless billing, and therefore, I should have been paying more attention to my emails. On another call to seek resolution, they admitted it is often difficult to find the changes and that I need to look very carefully at the end of the statement online. I never enrolled in paperless billing ; they put me on paperless billing without my consent, and this resulted in interest accruing without me knowing. 

Further, none of my emails from this company relate to any changes. None of my online statements offers a clear indication of any changes. These subtle changes are located after reading through multiple pages of my statements online, inconspicuously, which I believe were intentionally hidden so that consumers like me would be unaware of such changes. Furthermore, this company told me yesterday that my balance transfer ended in XX/XX/XXXX after over a year of 0 %, and has been earning interest without my knowledge. I feel that hiding their changes of fees and interest embedded deep in the company 's online statements is sneaky and is an unfair business practice. 


On the other hand, I feel that I have done my duty by paying every month on time through autopay for the past XXXX years. They do not consider and value my upstanding record. Instead, the company has secretly been modifying my monthly automatic bank withdrawal to accommodate their fee/interest schedule changes so that I make the minimum payment. This company never contacted me to inform me that my {$220.00} coming from my bank was insufficient to cover my minimum monthly payment. 

At this time, my family of XXXX is experiencing a significant financial crisis. My wife has not worked for over a year and is applying for XXXX. Her family has helped with the grocery bill numerous times to feed us and our XXXX. We could have used over {$100.00} of monthly funds to help us with food and gas. Instead, we have had to completely empty our savings account to pay for basic needs. 

If the company would have informed me in advance of the changes in a conspicuous manner, I believe I would have acted accordingly and responsibly by reviewing other options, such as a personal loan or other credit card offers to decrease my financial burden. 

Therefore, we seek a resolution from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Thank you for your assistance in helping my family.

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 non-monetary relief