My Citibank Visa card is close to expiring. Rather than sending me a replacement, as they have for years, this time they send me a Citibank Mastercard.
This card has a new account number and everything. So now I have to go change my account info with various places where I do regular business, and it’s a big pain in the ass.
Do I have recourse here? Can I demmand they give me a Visa? Or should I get a Visa through another company? Could I get my old account number back?
I’ve had my account for over ten years. Will this change affect my credit rating?
Call them. Perhaps you are getting a Mastercard in addition your VISA?
Either way, if your VISA hasn’t expired yet there should be plenty of time to fix the problem. Citibank’s customer service has always been surprisingly helpful to me.
Citibank did this to me too. Though I understand the two brands are basically interchangeable, it was really annoying. I don’t know why, but I prefer Visa to Mastercard. So I went to my local bank and got a Visa with a lower APR than Citibank was charging, and quit using the Citibank card. That may be a little extreme for you; if so, calling customer service would be a good start. If they won’t help, shop around.
I’ve called the bank, and they say they are no longer doing business with Visa. So they’ve changed everyone over to Mastercard.
I have no problem jumping ship and getting a Visa somewhere else, but I still want to know if cancelling a long standing account will adversely affect my credit rating.
Gassendi, Citibank did this to me too, except that it was, yikes, last year? Year before? Bought a house in September and my credit was still excellent, says the mortgage broker. I wouldn’t worry about it - after all, isn’t the account through Citibank, not through Visa? Even if it isn’t, I don’t think it’ll matter much.