Reduction in Transfer Rates to Velocity/Krisflyer

[scwappy]

Wording of my response. Think it is exactly as some others have posted.

"Thank you for your email.

We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and regret that
on this occasion you had been inconvenienced. Citibank is dedicated to
its customers and your feedback is valued.

As per Rewards Terms & Conditions, if we change the point value of
individual goods or services in the program to reflect changes in the
price charged by our suppliers for those goods or services, or if
particular Rewards is unavailable, we will notify you on our rewards
website at the time you redeem your Reward.

Under the rewards general terms and conditions, the 90-day notice is
based on if a certain rewards program is removed in whole or it is a
change to the way points are earned in the rewards program. The 90-day
notice period does not apply to this situation.

If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please let us know
and we will be happy to help."


Grrrrr!!!!!

 

[CJEMNMAC]

agree this appears to be against T&C but what are people actually wanting as an outcome?

Not sure about others, but my whole purpose of having this card is the VA/SQ earn effectively $1 = 1 point with fee free.

I would be happy with conversion at the previous rate, transfer the entire balance out for redemption and then review if there are any / better alternatives for my situation.......Oh and I would be happy with a further 3 months at the old rate as well

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

If Virgin changed the cost of points it will be interesting to see what ANZ do, given they recently increased the transfer rate to Virgin on the Rewards Black card.

Don't buy into the 'argument' which a Citi rep might give you. The Visa interchange fees on the Signature and Infinite changed on 1 November from about 2% to 1.35%. VA and SQ wouldn't have changed what they charge for the points, just Citi has less from the interchange fee to pay for them. Instead of notifying customers of an upcoming change, they instituted an instant devaluation with no notice to maintain their profit margins, and made it apply to existing points balances to give themselves a one-off profit.

 

[bismarck]

Not sure about others, but my whole purpose of having this card is the VA/SQ earn effectively $1 = 1 point with fee free.

I would be happy with conversion at the previous rate, transfer the entire balance out for redemption and then review if there are any / better alternatives for my situation.......Oh and I would be happy with a further 3 months at the old rate as well

Me too.

Fortunately I currently have 177 points in my CB account so am well placed to review if there is a better option.

Feel for the people with millions who have suffered a significant devaluation.

Even if the 90-day notice period is not required, it would surely just be good corporate behaviour to give notice. Surely the avoid customer retention/acquisition costs would offset the slightly higher cost of transfers. Has certainly broken my trust in the bank. Was thinking about signing up for Citigold but not sure anymore.

 

[token01]

Watching the way Citi has dealt with this you would risk your private banking with them now?

"Sorry Sir rules changed overnight without notice. We now charge 20% of your private holdings as a transactional fee. Im afraid Theres a wafer thin clause that wouldnt hold up even in Judge Judy's courtroom that we will stand behind."

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Has certainly broken my trust in the bank. Was thinking about signing up for Citigold but not sure anymore.

Don't. I had enquired about it a few months ago, specifically because they offer a superannuation service. The adviser helpfully informed me that if I invested in their super, I would get one financial review of the portfolio each year at the generous price of about $3,500. I don't care how much super you have, that's just a fee gouge on top of all the platform/management fees you're incurring. Even the job title of the 'adviser' (can't remember exactly what it was) implied they were primarily focused on selling products to generate commissions for the bank.

I am done with them. I'm only retaining my fee-free Signature for the Priority Pass benefit now - until they devalue that with no notice and unilaterally.

 

[diningdecadence]

Even if the 90-day notice period is not required, it would surely just be good corporate behaviour to give notice. Surely the avoid customer retention/acquisition costs would offset the slightly higher cost of transfers. Has certainly broken my trust in the bank. Was thinking about signing up for Citigold but not sure anymore.

that's the thing that doesn't make sense to me - surely those that have points balances in the 7 figures have earned Citi plenty of $.

They are effectively saying that the revenue they generate via the interchange fees is not at a level they consider profitable when considering the cost of points citi has to purchase, in particular for these 2 programs.

 

[Franko Costa]

Even when they scale back the points, it still a very valuable card for me given the annual fee is $350 (They half it every year for me when I call up)

 

[bismarck]

Don't. I had enquired about it a few months ago, specifically because they offer a superannuation service. The adviser helpfully informed me that if I invested in their super, I would get one financial review of the portfolio each year at the generous price of about $3,500. I don't care how much super you have, that's just a fee gouge on top of all the platform/management fees you're incurring. Even the job title of the 'adviser' (can't remember exactly what it was) implied they were primarily focused on selling products to generate commissions for the bank.

I am done with them. I'm only retaining my fee-free Signature for the Priority Pass benefit now - until they devalue that with no notice and unilaterally.

Good feedback. Thanks. Nearly went with them for my mortgage as they had a competitive rate....glad I didn't now.

I'll also be retaining my Sig as fee free for life. Can't find anything else in the market worth paying an annual fee for. 0.75KF/$ is still one of the better offers out there.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Called up and pushed to get through to the cancellation team supervisor to chase up a response to my secure message and case update..

Lady ( Abbey ) was very down in mood.. She advised the volume of calls on this has been huge and the directive from management is maximum 10,000 points compensation... She implied that is not satisfying customers and management are looking into it.

I said the continued calls and messages probably won't stop until Citi management stop being silent on the issue and actively talk to customers and try and bring this to a suitable resolve.

All she could say is I agree with you..

They all get a little nervous when you ask for their name and extension for the FOS / ACCC complaint..

 

[yohy?!]

just got a reply to my secure email, similar to others stating T&Cs blah blah blah. Although they strangely acknowledge:

However, kindly note that previous point value will no longer be reinstated.

A bit of a clanger I would think to admit this is a devaluation?

Also they slipped in this that my complaint has also been escalated which I believe may be a stalling tactic to try and avoid FOS cases being opened.

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Don't buy into the 'argument' which a Citi rep might give you. The Visa interchange fees on the Signature and Infinite changed on 1 November from about 2% to 1.35%. VA and SQ wouldn't have changed what they charge for the points, just Citi has less from the interchange fee to pay for them. Instead of notifying customers of an upcoming change, they instituted an instant devaluation with no notice to maintain their profit margins, and made it apply to existing points balances to give themselves a one-off profit.

This! And obviously they would have had plenty of notice (more than 90 days) about the interchange fees drop to 1.35%

I don't think they are so "smart" to avoid giving 90 days notice so they could book a one-off profit for the points devaluation (nice drop in liability in their books), I simply think they are too dumb & disorganised to plan in advance and when November 1st came they tried to fly under the radar and hope no-one would notice / complain.

Anyway - either too smart or too dumb, that's irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. I don't think FOS / ACCC will let them get away without giving 90 days notice as clearly stated in their T&Cs so I'll keep pushing for compensation & escalate accordingly.

 

[RayEarth2162]

Wording of my response. Think it is exactly as some others have posted.

"Thank you for your email.

We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and regret that
on this occasion you had been inconvenienced. Citibank is dedicated to
its customers and your feedback is valued.

As per Rewards Terms & Conditions, if we change the point value of
individual goods or services in the program to reflect changes in the
price charged by our suppliers for those goods or services, or if
particular Rewards is unavailable, we will notify you on our rewards
website at the time you redeem your Reward.

Under the rewards general terms and conditions, the 90-day notice is
based on if a certain rewards program is removed in whole or it is a
change to the way points are earned in the rewards program. The 90-day
notice period does not apply to this situation.

If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please let us know
and we will be happy to help."


Grrrrr!!!!!

I note that Asia Miles redemption has been removed entirely. Used to be 2:1 redemption for Signature card holders. Did anyone get the 90 days notice (I may have missed it)?

 

[M@rcoPolo]

I note that Asia Miles redemption has been removed entirely. Used to be 2:1 redemption for Signature card holders. Did anyone get the 90 days notice (I may have missed it)?

I don't think Asia Miles transfer was ever an option for the Signature...

 

[RayEarth2162]

Ah. Must be memories from my Select card days. Thanks.

 

[Alanslegal]

I just ranted on their Facebook page just to stir things up a bit, just like the many dozens before and after me have done so too.

We must stick to the key point that 1) the changes to conversion rate is significant and 2) they failed to give us notice. Anything else (especially Citibank's opinion that it is Velocity / Kris Flyer causing this) is irrelevant.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

I don't think they are so "smart" to avoid giving 90 days notice so they could book a one-off profit for the points devaluation (nice drop in liability in their books), I simply think they are too dumb & disorganised to plan in advance and when November 1st came they tried to fly under the radar and hope no-one would notice / complain.

I stand corrected M@rcoPolo. This is Citibank we're talking about, smart is probably not an adjective which should be applied!

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Just lodged an ACCC complaint via the website and attached a full copy of the T&C drawing attention to clause 6.2

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Just lodged an ACCC complaint via the website and attached a full copy of the T&C drawing attention to clause 6.2

Can someone please post direct links to submit ACCC & FOS complains? Any other relevant organisations we should target?

We should also post such links to the Citibank Facebook page, both in the visitor's posts section and as comments to their own posts.
Gotta love social media

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Can someone please post direct links to submit ACCC & FOS complains? Any other relevant organisations we should target?

We should also post such links to the Citibank Facebook page, both in the visitor's posts section and as comments to their own posts.
Gotta love social media

https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/contact-the-accc/consumer-complaint-form