Just got an email from NAB letting me know that they will be moving me to the new MyCard. I wonder if this is the end of the annual fee free for life on the original Citibank premier card.
https://www.mycard.com.au/#accordion-a078a935eb-item-1cdf853…
It didn't say much about the actual change. It's basically a 'heads up' email.
The email to cardholders formally notifying them of the change will come later this month. Any updates to the terms and conditions will be in this email.
Hmmm, so, no mention of fees, fee structures, product features etc.
Just basically - "change is coming, that is all".
Honestly, why communicate anything if there's nothing to communicate?
why communicate anything if there's nothing to communicate?
So, they can read threads like this and come up with newer ways to 'screw' us all
aka
Enshittification
The Greedy NAB bank is either moving all original Citibank customers to thier own products or removing all original Citibank benefits.
I had a Citibank Plus Transaction Account with a Citibank Plus debit card.
It was a wonderful card that had no overseas transaction or ATM fees.
From my point of view they will be charging hefty NAB fees on all overseas transactions from 5 November 2025.
See here:
https://www.nab.com.au/personal/bank-accounts/transaction-ac…
So yes, it appears that this is the death of all your original Citibank benefits.
Time to move on and find a better card/account.
Plenty to choose from
The Citi card also comes with Priority pass membership, I guess they taking it away too?
That's what I liked about it the most.
Sadly, I forgot to use my lounge visits in a Chinese Airport this year, because my Internet access did not work there (to load up the smartphone App).
Seriously I don't get the point of buying out a bank (Citi) for $1.2b, removing the benefits of the original products and moving the client base to vanilla NAB. NAB should know people will leave and close their accounts if they removed the benefits, which was the reason that most if not all the original customers first signed up for.
This is the wording I got:
In November 2025, we'll be moving to MyCard, complete with a new card name and fresh look, powered by a new system.
With a new MyCard App and MyCard Online plus continued access to the valuable features and benefits of your card, this move marks a step towards a simpler, more digital customer experience.
Brought to you by NAB.
This is on the MyCard website:
Since 1 June 2022, NAB has been the provider of your credit card.
As we enter the next chapter, we’re excited to announce we’re moving to a new brand, complete with a new name, fresh look, and powered by a new system.
With the new MyCard App and online platform, plus continued access to the valuable features and benefits of your card, this move marks a step towards a simpler, more digital customer experience.
Brought to you by NAB, one of Australia’s big four banks.
MyCard. Your ticket to more.
got the same email, and in the same free for life citi premier card (former Citi Signature)
if they are forcing me to pay, I will for sure cancel the card (free for life is the only reason to keep this card really…)
Don't cancel, if they try to change the terms to introduce an annual fee you should make a formal complaint
Dont think there's much customer right here, they will just remove all benefits sooner or later
NAB did the same with the previous Citi PlusTransaction Account (which has no international transaction fee)
Initially when Citi plus customer got transferred to NAB, they provide the same no international fee to ex-Citi customers
But just a year after, they announce to cancel this benefit to those ex-Citi customers
I think it's a bit different for the former Citi transaction accounts because they weren't advertised or marketed as being $0 transaction or ATM fee for life etc., so Citi and then NAB are free to change features or add or remove fees.
On the other hand, the credit cards were sold to people as a '$0 annual fee for life'
@terrypoon: Unfortunately that's true. I got the same email. Killing off a brand or product is the most effective way to stop supply of goods or services that is losing money with the least legal obligations. Notice how the new card doesn't have any obvious NAB branding on it? My guess is NAB wants to limit the blowback on it's name.
if they are forcing me to pay, I will for sure cancel the card
I will cancel too.
I also have more than 80K or 90K Citi points in there, and I'll be forced to move them too :-\
Ive got the same email. Let;s see what features will be impacted. Why is it called Mycard and not NAB card (some types of their existing ones)?
My guess is that it's a disposable brand, to minimise bad publicity for NAB.
i got the email as well .
I haven’t got it yet either. My card is going if they want me to pay for it!
in fairness i think that is the point…..
This is how "family & friends" get treated
I'm guessing transfer out your reward points asap?
I missed some of the transfer bonuses, and I am guessing that should be a Velocity transfer bonus in November.
(They usually have one in May and November, annually)
I reckon we should preemptively link them to this thread so they don't take away the free for life card lol
Well this is a way for them to cut the fee free for lifem technically its not the same card anymore…😵
Its weird, as they are converting all branding over by end of November 2025 (less than 8 weeks away), yet you can still apply for a new Citi Credit Card as of today.
My gut feeling is that NAB are moving existing Citi card holders to the new brand in order to scrap any of the obligations they were required to meet and were put in place before they owned it such as "fee free for life" on rewards cards. But they will still offer new Citi branded cards with product "features" that NAB has approved to allow.
The fact they are doing it so quickly shows they want to stop the lack of revenue from the fee free reward card holders, now that the merchant fees on credit cards are not the cash cow they once were. The fact that there have been "no annual fee for life" offers on current reward cards for quite a few years is telling.
My fee free for life card is almost 20 years old.
These are a great set to guesses.
My gut feeling is that NAB are moving existing Citi card holders to the new brand in order to scrap any of the obligations they were required to meet and were put in place before they owned it such as "fee free for life" on rewards cards. But they will still offer new Citi branded cards with product "features" that NAB has approved to allow.
That's not why it's happening.
The reason is because NAB are currently paying Citi heaps of $$$ to use their brand name and for Citi to continue to support the current credit card clients (e.g. via the app and call centre etc.) under a transitional services agreement from when the deal was done in 2022.
As the transitional services don't last forever NAB need to move all the clients over onto their own systems and are rebranding at the same time.
That was my train of thought initially until I realized that NAB was still promoting and offering Citi branded Cards to new customers as of today (Why not their own NAB branded cards). So that logic no longer seems to makes sense.
NAB has finished building their Card Card white label system (several years in the making) and has recently shifted Coles Credit card to that new system. It appears Velocity will be next, followed by existing Citi customers using MyCard brand.
My guess is that all "new" Citi customers will then move over to new system while keeping the Citi brand.
If you look at the disclaimer at bottom of Citi Australia website it does state that NAB is licensed to use the "Citi" brand on a "temporary" basis, so NAB still may get rid of Citi brand in the future.
My guess is that all "new" Citi customers will then move over to new system while keeping the Citi brand.
Wrong.
Just got the email. Wonder what's happening.
Citi Premier Card account is moving to MyCard
Anyone found out what will happen to citi points?
Probably the final move by NAB in the enshitification of their banking system.
They did away with the Citiplus card.
They ruined 86400 and Ubank.
Now the only thing left worth having, this "fee-free for life card" is about to be killed.
I'll give them the chance to tell us what they're doing in the next email, but don't expect it to be good news.
They've been screwing everything up for a long time.
The only way the big 4 banks can keep their market share is to buy everything the ACCC would allow them to.
Yep.
And specifically on the Citi credit card business: after NAB acquired it -
And step 3 is now looming: NAB ending Citi's fee-free for life card. This will be the final nail in the coffin of reasons to retain a Citi/NAB card.
Unless NAB honours Citi's fee-free for life commitment given to applicable cardholders, it's hard to see why any (well-informed) Citi credit card customer would stay, after NAB's "enhancements".
The Payall offer was always meant to apply for a limited time period and not for people to schedule payments way into the future, so I don't have an issue with it being turned off.
The cashback offers might return in a different format after the rebranding happens.
The 'fee free for life' card has continued even though Citi changed card branding/card types and then sold their business to NAB. So it's fair for current cardholders to expect this arrangement to continue
I admire your optimism.
@New Chump: I'll keep my fingers crossed. If NAB try to charge an annual fee to the fffl cardholders I expect they'll (rightfully) get heaps of complaints
@YesPleaseThankYou: I agree, I think they are unlikely to add an annual fee, instead they will just strip the benefits.
I am still burnt by Macquarie cancelling Hiltons Visa free for life CC, now refuse to use any of their products. So I have no hope for this one with NAB.
Don’t forget the “cheque to self” feature for balance transfers.
NAB ended the free Citi Payall offer.
PayAll is what Citi used to plump up its book in readiness for the sale. NAB took the bait.
They're so proud of the 1 June 2022 accomplishment they mention it numerous times, without enough realisation that IT WAS 3 YEARS AGO and this is all they can tell us about.
and… "plus continued access to the valuable features and benefits of your card" yeah, after they've removed all, travel insurance, cashback, payall…
I have the old paperwork on the fee free for life. It just says Annual Fee: $0 while you hold a Citibank Rewards Credit Card - Signature.
Obviously it's called premier now but maybe moving to MyCard changes the whole product to get out of it?
It shouldn't make a difference, the card is currently issued by NAB and is branded Citi Premier. The new card will be issued by NAB and branded MyCard Premier.
Let's hope this is just a branding exercise.
Does Citibank not want to compete with HSBC as an international bank anymore?
citibank australia was sold to nab in 2022
Citi still exists in Australia for institutional clients but they sold all of their retail products to NAB
Hsbc australias retail offering is on the block and nab is the frontunner!
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/hsbc-s-reta…
I happened to cancel my prestige this morning before the announcement, but in anticipation of another $700 annual fee hitting.
Pretty safe bet that whatever this moved to it would have been further Enshitification of the card.
Well I hope they get massive backlash like 28 degrees did when they announced monthly fees
Let's all band together for that.
Band 28. Nice.
GSM?
And what was the outcome of the backlash? All they did was give some customers a waiver for the fee for 1-2 years
They came begging to me with their "sorry we messed up" email but the damage had already been done. Bendigo Bank ftw!
Yeh but they didn’t reverse their overall policy. All they did was target some customers with some waivers for a limited time
Ugh, I HOPE this doesn't mean you have to redeem your points before the change. I am hanging out for a Velocity transfer bonus.
Likewise had about enough of this card. I only hang on due to the benefits etc.
Even the benefits were getting worse, the changes to insurance (excess of $600 or something stupid) really diminished the value for me. I've been looking for an excuse to cancel the card - this is it.
There is absolutely no way that the points earning will be better under this new branding too.
There should be a VFF bonus transfer in November.
Surprised they didn't start the email with…Great News! Your card has evolved
Great News! Your card has evolved, and so has the annual fee! Lol
Based on their recent investor/results presentations end of 2025 seems to be their target to move everyone to their white label product and seemingly exit Citi from the market.
Virgin Money seems to be moving to a new app in the coming weeks too
I have this card and collected some points too. Now wondering what's the best way to cash in the points? Redeem as gift cards?
I convert to flybuys. Not sure if it is as good as other points but it works out to 1% of spend as flybuys which are reasonably easy to use and I don't like trying to use points for flights, prefer to just get the best deal available at the time.
I convert to flybuys points when they have the '15% bonus flybuys points' deals. I believe they've only had two of them so far. But if the 'free for life' is stripped away from me, I will demand bonus transfer points. If I fail, then I just transfer points to Flybuys. You don't ask, you don't get.
NAB is the most generous bank in terms of fees, though. I was just thinking today about closing off a few accounts, and I found myself concluding that NAB classic is probably the one I would always keep. They might just keep the freeloaders.
Should I use all the Citibank points I've accumulated from the Signature card before the change happen?
I would assume the conversion rate wont be better after the change
but probably can wait till the next announcement with details about the card fee etc.
hopefully there will be another round of velocity bonus campaign where i can transfer all my points
I am absolutely going to. In fact I'm doing it now. Nothing will get better.
VFF points transfer should have a bonus transfer promotion in November, as they usually do.
I think I've come to the realisation that no grandfather plan is immortal. I recall having a Subway card from a specific store where you buy one Footlong and get another free. I used this card from 2006 to 2012. The shop moved from food court to the outside area and it was game over. Same management but they played dumb. "Oh no this is no longer valid. It was from the old store". My gut tells me our 'free for life' privileges will be stripped away from us.
(╥﹏╥)
The only good to come from this is getting all the old OG's of this community in 1 thread.
Shout out to the OP of the Citibank deal. Both saved me a fortune in fees and free travel around the world.
Shame if this is how the 2 decade deal ends.
Love seeing this thread of all the free for life cardholders come together. No one else would understand the pain if we lose the perks. Almost feels like a brotherhood that has spanned over a decade. I'm definitely down for a mass complaint/protest if they decide to strip the benefits.
I have easily made over $10k of travel insurance claims and racked up about 500k of credit card points which I'm not sure what to do with. I usually fly Qantas than virgin (as I use their partners a lot). I might do the flybuy conversion as one other said or wait to see if anyone else has better ideas.
Shout out to the OP of the Citibank deal.
I got mine in 2014, but this is the earlier deal I could find, because OzB history does not go back further than 2015 :-\
Citibank - Signature Fee Free for Life (14 APR 2015)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/190295
Thanks for heads up, this got me concerned about whether they'll honor travel insurance as I've paid for some travel dates after my card's expiry.
*honour
For those of us OG’s who’ve been exclusively using this card - anyone had a sticky beak at next best options outside of chasing/churning through offers?
I’ve just been accumulating points and converting evouchers at around $600-700pa. Having the citi card separate from my mortgage has been good given I’ve been with 4 different lenders in the same period. That being said I’m now with Macquarie and on first look their black card offering is reasonable:
Looking at my current spend history I’d accrue around 50,000 more pts per year so say $8-900 a year in vouchers.
I have been looking as well and so far Macquarie is the only card issuer that I've found that has no (standalone) annual fee for a card that earns points, but you need to have a home loan with them.
Everyone else either has an annual fee or no rewards points.
Banks probably use OzBargain in reverse to ensure they're not giving away anything they don't need to.
but you need to have a home loan with them.
Do they stipulate the 'minimum' amount for the home loan ?
( I could get a very, very small home loan, just for the sake of it, haha )
Everyone else either has an annual fee or no rewards points.
Bendigo bank have a card that has zero annual fee and with travel insurance.
However, no rewards points.
The only decent card that I found / used in last few years, and which had good rewards with Priority Pass,
is the St. George Amplify card, but the annual fee is in the high $200s.
The Coles No Annual Fee Mastercard is worth considering given the $0 AF, even though the points earn rate is lower, and with a cap. "Collect 1 Flybuys point per $2 on eligible purchases up to $5,000 in each Statement Period"
another to recommend is HSBC Platinum Qantas
https://www.hsbc.com.au/credit-cards/offers/platinum-qantas
while only 1st year annual fee free
you earn 1.5 QFF per $1 spend
pretty good for everyday spending
and since it earns qantas points directly
no worries about conversion rate change
Fee Free for Life
But I'm still alive :/
But your card isn’t or at least not in the same way it was before
It's free for the life of the product, not free for the life of the consumer.
And the product is able to be killed.
nab are not yet indicating that they're killing the product. On the contrary, they're indicating they're migrating their back-end and continuing to provide the same credit product and credit limit. Changing the card name, or colour, doesn't change the fundamental product.
Time will tell.
Have nab kept the standout features of the Citi products it has already transitioned to the new platform? No.
So my money would be on the credit cards following the same pattern.
Got the email and immediately jumped on here for the comments
It’s like a who’s who of OG ‘fee free for life
‘ alumni 😂 it’s like we should do a poll on it
But in all seriousness, I’m bummed as I’ll struggle to get approved for a card now so thanks to those who have suggested other possible cards (some are with banks I already am a customer at so may be able to utilise)
Add me to the list of lifers lol - is this the original post (great first post btw!)?
I would prefer it to stay the same.
But if they do change I would prefer to be offered a choice of products ….Eg. Low fee card with no rewards.
Why would you want to pay a fee for no rewards?
i'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here and assume he meant low fee card (with rewards) OR no rewards (with no fee).
I just don’t want fees.
I care more about keeping my exisiting credit limit than a rewards system for example.
Cashback offers are no longer available on the Citibank app.
Oh no! What'd your email say? I haven't got one yet…