Using Citibank Cheque to self

LHelmutson on 05/03/2016 - 23:58

Was looking at the Citibank signature credit card with 18 months balance transfer at 0%.
Was going to try and apply for this card with the highest possible credit limit they will allow, then use the cheque to self feature up to the 80% limit and deposit the money into my ING online saver account to earn 3.5% interest for the 18 months.
Has anybody else tried this strategy?

I'm also wondering how much credit Citibank will give me?
In the fortunate position of having the mortgage fully paid.
House is worth ~$600k.
Income ~$65k
ANZ platinum reward cc with $10k limit (always paid in full each month)
Citibank simplicity card with $6k limit. ( Only got this card for 5% paywave rebate. Will cancel this card before applying)

Financial

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Citibank Australia
Citibank Australia

Comments

  • mskeggs on 06/03/2016 - 00:12

    Don't know the rules, but I applied for a Citi card when I got a Citi bank account for atm use when travelling. My income is a bit higher, but I still owe on the mortgage.
    I didn't need, or particularly want the card, but they approved me at $50k, which is absurd. It is 5 times the limit on my westpac card that I actually use. Due to this, I looked into the balance transfer business, and worked out I could have made a couple of hundred dollars if I put it on my mortgage redraw.
    In the end I didn't bother as I was a bit nervous I would screw it up and try and transfer $50k on the last day and find I had a $10k daily limit or something and would get stuck with paying a month of the 22% card interest.

    But they seemed very generous with the credit limit!

    • Helmutson on 06/03/2016 - 13:59

      Thanks mskeggs,
      That's good to hear that they are generous with the credit limit. Gives me hope. Your right about leaving the "paying off" to the last moment. I'd probably only leave the money deposited for 17 months just to be sure of no interest being paid on my behalf.

  • Peck on 06/03/2016 - 00:29

    I can't find it now, but I recall reading somewhere that Citibank were charging some sort of fee on these (I am sure that it has a title, but to me a fee is a fee) If this is true, then by the time that you pay tax on the income you might not be that much ahead.

    • Helmutson on 06/03/2016 - 14:13

      Hi peck, I had a good look at the terms and conditions and their rates and fees section and I can't see any fees attached to the balance transfer offer. I didn't think about income tax on the interest earned. Will have to do some more sums.

      • Peck on 06/03/2016 - 14:23

        I would say that you would be ok regarding fees in that case. When I read it, it stuck out and hard to miss it.

        • omghi on 08/03/2016 - 01:21
          +1

          The last few times I looked at citibank balance transfer offers there were balance transfer fees of around 1-2% of the BT. It was pretty clear in the advertising of the offer.

          I can't see any offers on their site at the moment so maybe there isn't one with this offer.

  • RockyRaccoon on 06/03/2016 - 10:05
    -2

    It says

    18 months balance transfer at 0%

    So the amount you have already on another credit card is what they pay out and then you have 18 months to use this at ING etc.

    So to get this money depends on your existing cards rules on taking money out of the credit card. - Cash advance fee. Then you have to pay interest on that cash advance until Citibank pays it out.

    The only way to avoid this is if you have a purchase to the value of the cash you want to take out.

    Frankly there is too much effort and risk - eg if it takes 30 days to settle. paying 20% on the 30 days cash advance to the first credit card, vs getting 18 months of 3.5% money which you will pay income tax on, would amount to much profit. Probably net 8-9 months of free money

    Worth thinking about but probably not worth doing.

    • Peck on 06/03/2016 - 11:54
      +2

      I don't know about this offer, but usually Citibank offers will let you do Cheque to self of 80% of your credit limit. And you don't have to do the 'pay off other credit cards' thing. If interested, then Citibank are extremely helpful on the phone ( Philipinos are very customer service orientated)

      • Helmutson on 06/03/2016 - 14:15

        Yes I'm not planning on balance transferring any credit card debt, just a pure cheque to self of 80% of the credit limit and depositing it in my ING account for 17 and a bit months.

        • RockyRaccoon on 06/03/2016 - 16:50

          Some gooses have voted my comment down.

          But the key point is the 0% interest rate is for balance transfers NOT outstanding balance.

          But hey its your money go for it…. ROFL

        • Helmutson on 06/03/2016 - 17:49

          @RockyRaccoon:

          Hey mate, thanks for commenting. I'm not sure who negged you but it wasn't me.
          Citibank seem to be unique in that they allow the cheque to self feature and treat it as a balance transfer (as far as I'm aware. I've enot tried it yet).

        • RockyRaccoon on 06/03/2016 - 21:26
          +2

          @Helmutson: Fair enough, if that truly is the case then it would have been very informative for the gooses to at least indicate this, like you have.

          I just would really be careful, as Citibank has in the past had staff give advice that is wrong, and the one who pays isnt the staff member.

          let us know if it works

          Cheers

        • naritas on 07/03/2016 - 12:49

          @RockyRaccoon: You make an extremely valid point about being careful and double checking when getting an opinion from a staff member of a large company like Citibank. We'd recommend that any person evaluating an offer from a credit provider get the details of the offer, and any answers to questions they have, provided in writing. That way if there is a dispute they'll have something in black and white to refer back to.
          Furthermore, with large organisations in particular, if someone is seeking an opinion on a particular structure or account alteration, ensure that the person you are are dealing with is properly authorised to give you an opinion on the matter at hand. Some people may be surprised to learn that the entry level customer service team personnel are often not authorised to provide any guidance regarding products. In the majority of organisations, entry level customer service exist only to verbalise the details listed on the company website and make the simplest of account changes. As such, to avoid wasted time, ask if they are authorised to provide a comment on the matter at the beginning of the chat. If not, request a higher level person with the appropriate training and authorisations.
          Hope this helps.

  • PVA on 06/03/2016 - 15:40
    -2

    thats a cash advance you are doing, they will charge the normal monthly rate (prob around 20%)

    • Peck on 06/03/2016 - 15:45
      +1

      Often with new customers and sometimes with old, they will offer balance transfer/cheque to self. I have done it twice without any fees. And no interest as long as pay the minimum.

  • baaz on 06/03/2016 - 19:10

    Did you take annual fee into account?

    Signature Card: Its around $199 pa, but 0% is for 6 months only
    Platinum Card: Its $325, 0% is for 18 months.
    City Simplicity: NO Annual Fee, 0% for 6 months. I think this is the only "No Annual Fee" card from Citi atm.

  • donbot on 07/03/2016 - 11:18

    anyone already on the citibank signature free-for-life card managed to get a 0% balance transfer offer in recent months? Couldnt really care for how long (longer the better), but I'm after a bit of mortgage offset goodness on a card I'm not currently using.

    I've tried about a month ago to get one - no luck. Want to know if someone has had better luck.

    • socceroo on 07/03/2016 - 20:36

      I checked with Citibank a week ago and was told no offers on BT.
      The only option for 12 mths no fee BT at the moment is the Amex Essential offer, but they're probably not as generous as Citibank with credit limit.

      • donbot on 07/03/2016 - 20:48

        Bugger. I know there are BTs out there, but would rather not take a credit file hit for one, particularly when I have the card sitting at zero balance waiting.

        Hopefully something soon.

        • andyman1908 on 07/03/2016 - 23:09

          Ive got the fee free signature card and im currently on my second 0% balance transfer. Its due to expire in May I think. I had used the card for everyday spending previously as it has the best rewards points of all my current cards. It just sits in my drawer doing balance transfer and I use my other rewards point credit card.

        • donbot on 08/03/2016 - 08:45

          @andyman1908:

          Yeah I just came off my 2nd 0% BT in January… maybe ive been a bit ambitious to get a 3rd so quickly.

  • llllllllllllll on 21/03/2016 - 09:59

    May I ask how do the calculate the monthly minimum payment? I'm planning to get a cheque to self for mortgage offset.

    • Baysew on 21/03/2016 - 10:22

      (http://www.citibank.com.au/aus/credit_cards/cards_faqs.htm)

      How is my minimum payment calculated?

      Your minimum monthly repayment is (rounded up to the nearest dollar):
      The greater of $30 and 2.00% of Card Balance; or
      Where a Late Payment Fee is charged, the greater of $30, and the sum of 1% of the Card Balance, Late Payment Fee and interest charged for that month; or
      The Card Balance if it is less than $30, plus any Monthly Instalment for that month.
      Card Balance - the Closing Balance less any Instalment Loan balance and Monthly Instalment for that month. Payment is due on the date specified on your Credit Card statement.

      • llllllllllllll on 21/03/2016 - 10:29

        Thank you, base on the comments here. I assume when the promotion period is over, you'll just close the credit card, wait for another promotion to apply and get another cheque to self?

        The promotion usually does not exclude existing/former customers?

  • hotpotato on 21/03/2016 - 15:15

    You can get up to 80% your credit limit to be cheque-to-self. However, you will lose the 55 days interest free period for all your expenses using the card. Any outstanding balance on the card will be charged from day one at the card's interest rate, which is about 20%.

    So if you really want to use that 80% payment to self, make sure you have zero or very little outstanding balance on the card, and don't use the card ever, until you have paid back all the money.

    • CheapskateQueen on 26/03/2016 - 14:32

      is this still the case with the changes that mean repayments go to balances with the highest % rate?

      I was thinking about applying for the Citi Platinum Rewards Credit Card which has annual fee but 60K bonus points (worth $300 in visa prepaid cards) and BT for 18mths (well 12 mths bcos i would cancel at month 11-12 so not to incur another annual fee). You need to spend $2K in 3 mths for the bonus points which i figured I could do now because my repayments should pay that off firsT?

  • Sshanaz on 31/03/2016 - 12:00
    Merged from Citibank Credit Card and Personal Cheque

    There was a thread few weeks ago where the people explained how to get Citibank credit card and then get personal cheque which is generally 80% of your approved credit limit. I think the balance transfer was 0% for 18 or 24 months. Can someone please guide me how to get this personal cheque and which credit card is eligible?

    I want to put this personal cheque amount into my offset account to save me some interest.
    Thanks

    • tomsco on 31/03/2016 - 12:27

      I think most would have gotten it with the Citibank Platinum or Signature. I know I did it with the Platinum.

      I think in the online process there is a check box to select cheque to self instead of BT to CC. Otherwise you would have to call them to process.

  • Baysew on 31/03/2016 - 19:50

    http://www.citibank.com.au/aus/credit_cards/creditcards.htm

    Also features the one " As shown on TV"

  • kevmev12 on 11/04/2016 - 16:36
    +3

    Hi guys. I know this thread is over a month old, but I just wanted to let people know my experiences with Citibank.

    I've been with them for a while and in 2014 I was able to successfully upgrade my Clear Platinum to their Signature card during the fee-free-for-life promo period; getting their minimum $15000 credit limit.

    In June last year, I was in a bit of a rut money-wise (no thanks to car rego, green slip, insurance, and a interstate holiday coinciding all at the same time…). Learning from the experiences of other OzB members, I decided to call up Citibank and 'cancel' my Signature card - reason being that I found another bank offering a BT of 0% for 15 months (that part is true, the offer was from HSBC), and that I had some credit card debts I'd like to consolidate (that part is not necessarily true…). They put me through to their customer retention team and after some small talk and acting like I really didn't want to cancel but had to due to circumstances, they offered me a BT of 0% for 18 months - fee free. Then for some inexplicable reason, they said I'm eligible to have my credit limit increased to $30000, which allows me to get $24000 for my BT cheque-to-self (BT is up to 80% of your credit limit). Keeping my excitement down, I said yes to all that and about a week later, lo and behold, a cheque for $24000 arrived in the mail. So I put $12000 into my mortgage, and put the other $12000 into my ING Savings Maximiser to pay off my other debts and to play with.

    There's still a bit of discipline involved though; I still have to pay the monthly minimum repayment (about $400 per month), and even though this is basically an interest free loan, I still need to pay the whole thing back (minus all the minimum monthly repayments) at the end of the 18 months. I've put that Signature card in the drawer so as to not use it during the BT period - I use my AMEX Platinum Edge for everyday purchases and 28 Degrees for online. It has also forced me to save more money every pay day, which is a great thing. I was able to use a bit of that money to go on a 2-week trip to Japan recently; coming back home with no credit card debt was a fantastic feeling!

    Given some of the recent Citibank advertising for BT attracting a 1% or 2% fee, I'm not sure if the 'threaten to cancel' method still works and you get the 0% BT for free. But I guess there's no harm in trying. What's the worst that could happen? They call your bluff and cancel your card? Big deal! Just say you want a bit more time to think about it. I've never had a bad experience with Citibank, they've always been extremely eager to help. I'm not affiliated with Citibank in anyway, and I'm definitely not a big spender. I've been a Citibank credit card holder for at least 5 years and the total amount of interest I've ever paid to them is probably less than $4.

  • Samsungnote10 on 03/05/2017 - 23:22

    Was wondering. We have a citibank sig for life that we use every month and pay off.

    However our account has become positive recently.
    Is the cheque to self completely free? And still possible?

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