Consumer complaint received 2026-03-05 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Charged too much interest
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
We made a purchase at Home Depot using their heavily advertised XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX financing promotion, which was actively promoted in-store and recommended by the sales associate. At no point was it emphasized that this was a deferred-interest promotion where interest would retroactively apply if the balance was not paid in full. Unfortunately, due to a significant and unexpected loss of income, we were unable to pay the balance in full by the end of the XXXX-month promotional period. I called in XXXX of XXXX to ask if there was any type of grace period while we tried to come up with the money. The representative I spoke with told me that the interest wouldn't be applied until XXXX, so we had a few months to try and gather the money. In XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Citibank and was told the Citibank applied all accrued deferred interest at onceamounting to approximately XX/XX/XXXX of the original balance. The minimum payment had gone up to an amount we simply couldn't afford. I asked whether any assistance or relief options were available. I was offered a program that would close the account and prevent further interest or late fees, along with a quoted monthly payment amount. I clearly stated that I could not afford that payment. I was told that this was my only option. I called again in early XX/XX/XXXX to reiterate that the payment amount was unaffordable. During that call, I was told that the account was already significantly behindsomething that made no sense to me, as I had made the payments I believed were due for XXXX and XXXX under the new arrangement. After reviewing prior statements, I discovered that Citibank had increased my minimum payment from {$180.00} in XX/XX/XXXX to over {$800.00} due in XX/XX/XXXX. During that time, I continued logging into the online portal and making payments of {$180.00}, {$200.00}, {$270.00}, etc. I would not have knowingly made partial or random payments if an {$810.00} minimum payment had been clearly displayedI would have immediately called to address it. When I asked the representative to confirm whether the online portal reflected the increased minimum payment accurately, she stated she could not verify that. I also asked whether this payment status had been reported to the credit bureaus, and she again stated she could not verify that information. I was ultimately told there was nothing Citibank could do to lower the payment, and that the XXXX arrangement was not cancellable. However, I reiterated that in XXXX I explicitly stated I could not afford the quoted payment and was told I had no other choice. At no point was it disclosed to me that the account was already behind due to a dramatic increase in the minimum payment, nor was that increase clearly brought to my attention. This situation reflects a lack of transparency, inadequate communication regarding payment obligations, and a failure to reasonably assist a consumer experiencing a documented financial hardship. These deferred-interest programs are aggressively marketed, yet offer little flexibility or support when unforeseen circumstances occur, placing consumers in an untenable financial position. I hope more people become aware that these XX/XX/XXXXfinancing programs are often not the deal they appear to be. Nearly XX/XX/XXXXof consumers are unable to pay the balance in full before the promotional period ends, and when that happens, the bank charges a substantial amount of deferred interest on the entire original balanceregardless of the fact that timely payments were made throughout the promotional period.

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