Citibank Plus Accounts with Low Balance Being Closed?

LBrunoBear on 30/05/2023 - 15:35
Last edited 30/05/2023 - 18:22 by 1 other user

This morning I logged in to Citibank to find my Citibank Plus transaction account had disappeared.

Went on to live chat to query this and was told that my account was closed since it had less than $5 and had been inactive for over 12 months. I didn't think it was possible as I had transferred a few cents into the account when I heard they were discontinuing Citibank Plus. Surely a deposit is considered activity?

I then asked the agent what has happened to the money in the account. The response was 'unfortunately your account can't be reactivated and this was a business decision in line with the account's terms and conditions.' Wtf? They stole my $0.03 !!

Anyone else experienced this?

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Comments

  • GG57 on 30/05/2023 - 15:38
    +4

    You went on live chat with Citibank, and then posted here, all for $0.03?

    • franco cozzo on 30/05/2023 - 15:47
      +11

      …are you new here?

    • BrunoBear on 30/05/2023 - 15:53
      +5

      It's not really the amount that bothers me. It's the fact they closed an account with zero notice and also their response which suggests they are entitled to keep the money. If they did the same over many accounts it would be a tidy profit.

      • CrowReally on 30/05/2023 - 16:17

        You make a great point, you should go onto the chat (again) and tell them that.

        I reckon if you keep at them for another twenty minutes you'll get a transfer.

    • JIMB0 on 30/05/2023 - 21:14
      +1

      I have a couple of 2c cheques from ING when they closed my accounts. Instead of cashing them I put them on display. Would have cost them at least 100x face value to send.

  • keejoonc on 30/05/2023 - 15:47
    +2

    You transferred 3 cents? Seriously?

    • franco cozzo on 30/05/2023 - 15:48

      …are you anti-coins?

      • keejoonc on 30/05/2023 - 15:57

        Do you always put … before a sentence?

    • BrunoBear on 30/05/2023 - 15:56
      +1

      Yes

    • Cluster on 30/05/2023 - 16:04
      +7

      This is OzBargain. We'll crawl over broken glass for 4 cents.

      • Aleigh123 on 30/05/2023 - 16:11
        +1

        But of course, only if it's 4 cents or greater. 3 cents or less is just a forum post…for now.

      • pharkurnell on 30/05/2023 - 16:19
        -1

        No.. no i wouldnt.

    • pharkurnell on 30/05/2023 - 16:27

      My mind blue screens just trying to…

  • Stopback on 30/05/2023 - 16:09
    +1

    Ty op saved me 1 dollar

  • pharkurnell on 30/05/2023 - 16:18

    Troll post of the week

    but you may find most banks do similar and you may find it in terms/conditions … Im sure there was 1 person up in arms few years ago about similar, they also lost their life savings of <5cents.

    • SlickMick on 31/05/2023 - 08:08
      +1

      I disagree. I've been forewarned that my Citibank account is likely going to be closed.

      Citibank handled this poorly. Ubank sent emails for months warning to withdrawal remaining low balances because account would be closed, until a final last chance, before they eventually closed the account.

  • markathome on 30/05/2023 - 16:41
    +2

    Take them to https://www.afca.org.au/make-a-complaint

    This may seem extreme for 3c. But it's a slippery slope.

  • dcep on 30/05/2023 - 16:45

    same as ingdirect , they always inactivate my acct every few months

    anyone know if credit card suffers the same fate if not used after some time ?

    • BrunoBear on 30/05/2023 - 16:50

      Same thing also happened with my ING account, but they did give plenty of notice by email and it was easy to reactivate the account and balance after contacting them. In this case they seem to have permanently closed the account and money gone poof.

  • jolee3 on 30/05/2023 - 16:52
    +1

    I think only a transfer out of the account is considered activity. I remember I tried to withdraw from a Citibank account when I was overseas a few years ago and it didn't work as it was inactive. I was confused as I had transferred money into the account a few weeks earlier specifically so I could withdraw it overseas, but customer support told me that only a transfer out of the account is considered to be "activity".

    I've now got a scheduled transfer going out and a scheduled transfer going in as well.

    • HardQuiz on 30/05/2023 - 17:02

      I always test the card before going overseas.

      But I don’t think nab will continue all the benefits of the old Citibank.

      • jolee3 on 30/05/2023 - 17:27

        Yes I definitely should have! Did not think of it at the time in the rush to get everything else ready. The account login etc gave no indication that it was inactive so I didn't realise it would be.

    • md333 on 31/05/2023 - 12:06

      Interesting to hear that. I set up a regular transfer in to try to stop mine going inactive too. Haven't actually tested it for ATMs, though I was able to put a fair bit in before a recent trip and take it out again. Should probably close the account anyway as it has been useless for me for a few years due to lack of supported ATMs where I need them, and better ways to transfer money overseas.

  • burningrage on 30/05/2023 - 17:16
    +1

    I think you need to transfer $1, not cents. I got the same email but after 30 days, still alive.

  • mbck on 30/05/2023 - 18:23
    +1

    Not a big loss tbh. It used to be important for travelling.

    I mean there's ubank now for travel too. And their app is 100x better.

    And people's fave here, HSBC global 2%.

  • star-ggg on 30/05/2023 - 18:40

    I guess Citibank is trying to cut as many legacy accounts as they can.

  • tonka on 30/05/2023 - 19:26
    +1

    Happened to me as well, I had a positive balance in my Ready Credit account over $10 they stole it and closed the account.
    I had a positive balance in my Visa account over $120. They closed the account and stole it.
    Didn't respond to my queries or complaints.
    I was shocked.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/05/2023 - 20:00

    I received an email a couple months ago saying there was no activity, and that my account would be closed if no further activity. I sent $1, account was not closed. Did you miss an email?

    • BrunoBear on 30/05/2023 - 20:06

      Only if it went to the spam folder and got deleted. I don't see any emails from them apart from the usual monthly statements.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/05/2023 - 20:08

        Probably. This was the subject "<First Name>, important information on closure of your Citi Branded Deposit Account"

        "Thank you for being a Citi branded deposits customer. However, we noticed you have not used the above account in over 12 months.
        As this is the case we are providing notice that we will close your Citibank Plus Transaction Account from <date> in accordance with clause 14.3 of the Transaction and Savings Accounts Terms and Conditions.

        How to keep your account open
        Simply make a deposit into your account via Citi Online or the Citi Mobile® App by <Date>. "

  • mike6969 on 31/05/2023 - 07:52

    I noticed another weird thing a couple of days ago with citibank Aus. You can't send to remittance companies. But with a NAB account it's fine. They are trying to make existing customers leave citibank accounts obviously. Any day now they'll add a fee for international transfers and then we'll all leave it. Just like they did with nab gold banking several years ago

  • kusala on 31/05/2023 - 08:44

    It has probably been reported on OB that Citibank Plus accounts, online saver accounts & term deposit accounts have not been available for new customers since 20 May. I am in Thailand a lot, so wouldn't like to lose my my Citibank Plus card with its fee free ATM withdrawals. I also use it regularly for online purchases, so hopefully, the account isn't in danger of being closed. I will test tomorrow whether it is still works for Wise transfers.

    • kusala on 31/05/2023 - 16:27

      I just tried to transfer money via Wise with my Citibank Plus card, but the bank declined the transaction. Afaik, it is still possible to transfer using PayID - will test this later.

  • Roney on 31/05/2023 - 13:54

    I've tried informing my Citibank Plus of intended spending in my recent trip to Europe. Long call queue and useless online notification. So the card stays inactive again.

    • elanda on 31/05/2023 - 14:28

      FWIW I was also unable to notify them before I used the card multiple times in Europe this month, but I didn’t have any issues.
      On the other hand, with Latitude 20 Degrees, I’d notified them both via Messenger and by filling out the same form as I did last year, and got a reply saying I didn’t need to let them know … only to return home to a voicemail from their fraud alert dept about my spending in Europe. Thankfully they didn’t cut me off when I didn’t respond (I wasn’t using international roaming).

  • YesPleaseThankYou on 31/05/2023 - 14:48

    Does anyone in here ever read terms and conditions?

    14.3 When we can close your account with notice
    We may close your account (excluding a term deposit prior to the maturity date) at any time by giving you at least 30 days’ notice.

    Under the following clause, the OP is entitled to their 3¢:

    14.5 Refunding the balance of a closed account
    If your account is closed by you or us, any credit balance of less than $5 Australian dollars or foreign currency equivalent (the balance determined by including accrued interest not yet credited) at the date of closure, will not be returned to you.

    This does not apply to the Citibank Plus Transaction Account or the Citibank Online Saver.

    Otherwise, we will return the balance to you (unless the law prevents us from doing so or it is unclaimed money – see section 16). If the balance is in a foreign currency the amount will be converted to Australian dollars using the Citi Exchange Rate before being returned to you.

    Source: https://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/MCG17006_0919.pd…

    The OP should:

    • BrunoBear on 31/05/2023 - 14:56

      Thanks for that. As much as I would like to escalate things further, i will let it go this time because i want to milk the citi payall benefits and don't want to draw attention to my account.

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