# I am losing my mind with Citi Bank
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 17, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912 "2024-10-17T11:44:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/21 "2024-10-17T14:19:30Z")
I see the situation has been resolved, but before I opened the thread (only having seen the preview of the OP) I logged into my account with no problem. I did see I have a bill due on the 10th, so I paid it today.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/22 "2024-10-17T14:24:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> > [@Ellecram](#):
> >
> > I will keep that in mind - I hate clearing the cache for some reason.
> > No clue why.
>
> In Ye Olden Dayes of little bandwidth, a cleared cache meant several sluggish websites for awhile.
>
> Nowadays you probably couldn’t tell the difference if you never cleared cache or did so every five minutes.
Oh I remember Ye Olden Dayes lol!
I can’t believe I’ve been using computers since 1987. Internet since 1997.
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/23 "2024-10-17T14:26:02Z")
> [@OldOlds](#):
>
> I simply cannot get a live person, and they want to charge me a fee to pay by phone. Because their website is down.
Just want to say this sort of thing should be f\*\*\*ing illegal. I don’t know what the law allows, and I don’t care - it shouldn’t be permitted. This is why we need a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the power to crucify companies that behave this way toward customers. Especially entities like banks, which are something close to necessary services.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/24 "2024-10-17T14:27:33Z")
> [@Ellecram](#):
>
> I like to pay off the full current balance which they do not have an option for at this time.
This is not something you should do in general–since if you just pay the statement balance you can keep the rest of the money in your account earning interest.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/25 "2024-10-17T14:29:22Z")
I don’t need to worry about that. I would rather pay it off in full every month.
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/26 "2024-10-17T14:31:51Z")
It’s unlikely that anybody’s checking account is _paying_ a higher rate of interest than their credit card company is _charging_.
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### Author:  [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/27 "2024-10-17T14:37:26Z")
They’re saying don’t pay the full balance, just the balance due… Not a usual problem but we found the hard way if you push a payment larger than $10,000 from USBank electronically they mail a physical check (without notifying you). Luckily Chase was understanding and refunded a substantial late fee.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/28 "2024-10-17T14:40:36Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> > [@Ellecram](#):
> >
> > I like to pay off the full current balance which they do not have an option for at this time.
>
> This is not something you should do in general–since if you just pay the statement balance you can keep the rest of the money in your account earning interest.
I’m confused; aren’t the “full current balance” and the “statement balance” the same thing? If you pay less than either, you start to accrue interest charges.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/29 "2024-10-17T14:50:33Z")
No. Say your credit card cycle runs from the first of the month to the end of the month. So by say October 21 you have to pay what your statement balance was on September 30. But on October 21 your current balance may be several hundred dollars more than this September 30 balance–since you have been charging a bunch more stuff during the October 1 to October 21 period. I am saying the best thing to do is to pay this statement balance from September 30 while Ellecram is paying her current October 21 balance.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/30 "2024-10-17T14:53:14Z")
OK, I think I understand. Yes, I only pay the statement balance because I have a rewards card. If I pay more than that, I don’t get rewards points on the amount above that. I learned that one years ago.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/31 "2024-10-17T14:54:59Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> I am saying the best thing to do is to pay this statement balance from September 30 while Ellecram is paying her current October 21 balance.
That’s what I do, automatically. My statement cycles at the 20th of each month. I pay that balance on the 19th of the next month. I always have an outstanding balance, but I never pay interest.
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/32 "2024-10-17T15:01:22Z")
You’re right. I totally whiffed the definitions of “minimum due,” “statement balance,” and “current balance” in my head 😉 Mine’s been on autopay for as long as I can remember.
IIRC, the average credit card account [**doesn’t begin to charge interest**](https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/zero-interest/how-to-use-grace-period-to-avoid-paying-interest/?tpt=b#what) until ~21d after a charge posted. As long as you stay ahead of that clock, your interest rate will be zero.
Which, currently, isn’t a _lot_ less than your average checking account is _paying,_ but it’s still a non-zero number.
It’s good to keep the two numbers (credit card interest rate, checking account interest rate) in mind when considering what to pay each month:
> **[What Is The Average Credit Card Interest Rate This Week? October 17, 2024](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/average-credit-card-interest-rate/)**
>
> The average credit card interest rate is 28.46%, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.
>
> The Federal Reserve keeps tabs on the average interest rate that U.S. consumers pay for a variety of different financial products—credit...
> **[Average Checking Account Interest Rates Of October 2024](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/checking/average-checking-account-interest-rates/)**
>
> Interest checking accounts pay interest on your balance while offering the flexibility to deposit, withdraw, spend and send money freely. According to national FDIC data from , the average checking account interest rate is . This would translate to...
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/33 "2024-10-17T15:15:13Z")
I should also make that a bit more general: how much you pay toward your debt should usually reflect both what that debt is _costing_ you _and_ what your money is _earning_ you.
It may or may not have anything to do with credit cards or checking/savings/money market/bank accounts 😉
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/34 "2024-10-17T15:57:08Z")
> [@Ellecram](#):
>
> I do this with one of my credit cards but not the other 2.
>
> I like to pay off the full current balance which they do not have an option for at this time.
You own a credit card that doesn’t allow you to pay off the full balance every month? How does that work? It only allows to you pay off a fraction of what you owe so they can charge you at least some interest every month? What credit card company does that?
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/35 "2024-10-17T16:39:35Z")
I can pay off the full balance but I want to pay everything up to that date. That option does not appear on the Capital One auto pay options.
It only has statement balance or minimum payment options.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/36 "2024-10-17T16:45:37Z")
> [@OldOlds](#):
>
> I am leaving for Europe in a few hours, and I need to get this bill paid.
To avoid even more hassles, tell Citi you’re going to be in Europe if you plan on using the card there. If you don’t contact them ahead of time, they may consider a European purchase as fraudulent and lock the card. The same goes for your bank debit card. Let the bank know ahead of time so you won’t have any problems at ATMs.
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### Author:  [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/37 "2024-10-17T16:47:52Z")
> [@filmore](#):
>
> To avoid even more hassles, tell Citi you’re going to be in Europe if you plan on using the card there. If you don’t contact them ahead of time, they may consider a European purchase as fraudulent and lock the card. The same goes for your bank debit card. Let the bank know ahead of time so you won’t have any problems at ATMs.
My experience has been that this isn’t necessary these days. I haven’t done that in years and I’m in Europe 5-10 times a year, though that might be the reason why. Anyway, since this is a work trip virtually everything will be on my work Amex.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/38 "2024-10-17T16:49:39Z")
> [@filmore](#):
>
> > [@OldOlds](#):
> >
> > I am leaving for Europe in a few hours, and I need to get this bill paid.
>
> To avoid even more hassles, tell Citi you’re going to be in Europe if you plan on using the card there. If you don’t contact them ahead of time, they may consider a European purchase as fraudulent and lock the card. The same goes for your bank debit card. Let the bank know ahead of time so you won’t have any problems at ATMs.
All of my credit cards and bank cards have stopped taking travel notices. I still try to tell them but it’s not required any longer for my cards/bank. I have been notifying them for more than 20 years.
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### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/39 "2024-10-17T18:24:56Z")
> [@filmore](#):
>
> tell Citi you’re going to be in Europe if you plan on using the card there
You can do that on the Citi website by logging into your card, and then the “Services” menu and “Travel Services”. Mine is already populated with an upcoming trip, I’m sure because I bought the airline tickets with my Citi card.
I put in an entry for an overseas trip earlier this year, but I don’t know if it mattered. I just finished a domestic trip and didn’t have any problem using the card. It may have automatically created a travel notice for me, though, because I bought those airline tickets on the Citi card, too.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-losing-my-mind-with-citi-bank/1008912/40 "2024-10-17T18:30:51Z")
Just a word to the wise from a computer user from waaaay back. Don’t believe the actual wording from an actual error message. It’s likely there is an error…somewhere…but the description is likely not correct.
This is often due to the lack of care in diagnosing possible errors during testing. That’s when the developers are desperately trying to get the product out the door so they can make some money. They know that they won’t be held responsible for errors days, weeks, months, or years after, and they probably won’t be around when that happens, anyway.
My legacy example is the error message from 50 years ago (and still with us). In those privative computing days, it wasn’t possible to give highly-detailed error diagnostics, so sub-routines would often return with a simple success/fail flag. The fail flag was interpreted by the calling software as best it could, often erroneous.
So if a disk write instruction failed _for whatever reason_, it was interpreted as “disk full”, something which was rarely the case, IMHO.
So if you have a problem, try alternative methods to accomplish the task (different browser, different computer, etc.) but don’t consider the error message to be gospel.
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