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Originally Posted by JesterinOz
Recently looked into getting a new Gold Credit Card with a rewards program and travel insurance. From the detail the two options that suited me the most were Citibank Gold Credit Card and Earth +. I ended up going with Citibank because I already had a Citibank Ready Credit Account with them. I had $16500 credit limit on the Ready Credit Account (balance was actually in the black by a small degree) and had received the regular flyers suggesting I get the Gold Credit Card, so I didn't think there would be any problems. I applied and was declined?? Why? Because I already had a card with a high limit. No discussion (I would have been happy to split the limits). I then spoke to someone at call centre and at their suggestion I put in another application specifying I wanted the Ready Credit card and the Gold Credit each with $5000 limits. Result - Declined Again. Why? It is Citibank policy that was once you are declined you have to wait 6 months before they will look at a second application. When dealing with their robotic call centre staff, reason went out the window. I ended up cancelling my Ready Credit account with them on the spot. This was the last straw for me. I should also point that all the communication during this saga was initiated by me, there was never any contact from them advising that the applications were declined. The other reason for the change of heart is Citibank putting their foreign exchange fees up 2.5% as of the 1 Sep. This all follows on from other horror stories I have heard from friends and relatives in trying to deal with Citibank.
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I agree generally that Citibank have bad customer service, but in this example, I believe Citibank did what most other banks would do.
The credit criteria for credit cards is very complex, and the people who set the criteria, are a small group of people who enter in complex calculations etc. which will take into account most circumstances.
The people who actually assess credit cards don't understand nor have the authority to change the complex rules that the computer credit criteria use.
Sure, your example makes sense to us, but not to the credit criteria which were drawn up for most people. It would be unwise to allow the credit assessors who do not have a full understanding of the complex system to be able to offer you an exception. They could easily get it wrong and offer a high risk customer credit where they should not have it.
Most credit cards and banks have a system that will put a heavy negative weight on the scoring of your application if you have recently had a declined application with them.
I believe that it comes down to the basic idea that automatic systems will do a good job with the majority of people, but they can never take into account all circumstances.
Citibank - Non Existant Customer Service
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