Citibank Canada Raised my Interest rate

[lorenzo1000]

Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

I opened my statement today to discover that Citibank has raised my interest rate on my platinum mastercard from 12.9% to 17.5% starting with my June 2009 statement. This is a card that was originally a Canada Trust gold mastercard years ago but when TD bought out Canada Trust they had to sell the card and Citibank was the purchaser. It was always 12.9% with a yearly fee, can't recall what it was but it wasn't more than $40. They have have eliminated the yearly fee(big whoop) but it's costing me 4.6%!!!

Now I have been carrying a balance for quite a while but have always made my payments on time. I called them but they wouldn't budge. To be honest I have a large amount of debt at the moment so there's not a lot I can do except for not use the card and pay it down.

It seems like searching around online this seems to be happening to a lot of people in the US as CITI takes government money and then gouges their customers.

[CSR]

ugh, you shouldn't be carrying debt on a CC due to the extremely high rates.. yikes! Do you have LOC with a lower rate/

[jmc0]

even 12.9% is too high to carry a balance, there are other CC and LOC that's much lower- I recommend you look into those.

[Jucius Maximus]

A lot of rates for CCs and LOCs have been going up recently. The real problem here is that you have revolving credit card debt, and you should declare WAR on that and pay it off ASAP.

My LOC also went up, but I don't care because I don't owe anything.

For you, maybe you should get the MBNA 0% for 12 months card and use that to help eliminate the debt more quickly.

[dealhunt]

Its a cruel cruel world.

Now that lending is more restricted, and seeing your debt
on your credit report, they have raised the interest rate
because they know you have little alternatives to paying
them more. I would try to apply for LOC and low-rate CC's
but they are more apprehensive about large debt loads
these days.

Its a cruel cruel world.

When your chips are down, they come begging for more.

[lorenzo1000]

I did try to get in on the lower rate rate MBNA cards but was refused.

Thanks for the advice regarding the alternative financing and the fact that I shouldn't be carrying debt on a card with an interest rate that high, it's something I already know. At this point there's no other alternative for me because even though I don't miss payments it seems like the credit well is drying up for me.

I realize that I will have to get out of this myself by paying down the debt asap, i was just wondering if CITI has raised anyone else's rates in Canada?

[hugewallet]

it is alarming that even MBNA declined your application. What is their reason?
If you cannot get credit from MBNA, then others will turn you down more likely.

yes, you have to work hard to get more income to pay off the debt. 12.9% is way too high rate for keeping balance for extended periods.

I did try to get in on the lower rate rate MBNA cards but was refused.

Thanks for the advice regarding the alternative financing and the fact that I shouldn't be carrying debt on a card with an interest rate that high, it's something I already know. At this point there's no other alternative for me because even though I don't miss payments it seems like the credit well is drying up for me.

I realize that I will have to get out of this myself by paying down the debt asap, i was just wondering if CITI has raised anyone else's rates in Canada?