Consumer complaint received 2025-01-03 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a payment of {$1600.00} to my Best Buy Visa credit card. This amount included {$180.00} for the minimum payment and {$1500.00} specifically intended for my promotional balance. Additionally, {$140.00} was supposed to be allocated to the promotional balance from an excess payment made in XXXX. To ensure proper allocation, I contacted Citibanks allocation team directly, explained my intent, and was repeatedly assured that the {$1500.00} would be applied to the promotional balance. I even recorded the call to confirm these assurances and clarified that the remaining promotional balance after payment would be {$720.00}. 

However, upon reviewing my account on XX/XX/XXXX, I discovered that only {$140.00} had been applied to the promotional balance, while the {$1500.00} was incorrectly allocated to an interest-bearing loan. I immediately contacted the allocation team, who acknowledged the mistake and promised it would be corrected within XXXX hours. Despite following up several times and being reassured on each occasion that the adjustment would be made, the funds were never properly allocated. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that Citibank could not apply the {$1500.00} to the promotional balance, despite my clear instructions and compliance with their stated procedures. 

In an attempt to resolve the issue, I visited a Best Buy store and spoke with a customer service representative. They informed me that they were unable to assist because the credit card is managed by Citibank. However, the representative acknowledged that this is a common issue raised by other customers seeking resolution. They expressed frustration, noting that the issues are so prevalent that they would like to see Best Buy switch banks for their credit card services due to the volume of customer complaints. 

This improper allocation is a repeat of issues I raised in a previous CFPB complaint regarding deceptive practices and lack of disclosure by Citibank. Despite following their outlined procedures, including calling the allocation team, checking necessary boxes for payment allocation, and making the payment well within the billing cycle, Citibank failed to allocate the funds correctly. Their delays and inaction appear to be deliberate, likely intended to force me to incur interest charges when the promotional period ends on XX/XX/XXXX. 

This experience highlights systemic issues in Citibanks payment allocation process, including deceptive practices, lack of transparency, and failure to honor customer instructions. The feedback from Best Buys in-store representatives underscores the broader impact of these issues on their customers. I request immediate intervention to ensure the proper allocation of my payment and to hold Citibank accountable for these repeated violations. 

As you can see in the attached document, only {$140.00} was allocated to the promotional balance while the remaining {$1500.00}, while registered online, was not allocated to the promotional balance along with the {$140.00}.

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