Citibank is okay, AAdvantage Debit card Great!
Written: Jun 17 '04 (Updated Jun 17 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Citibank AAdvantage Debit Card, International Presence
Cons: Difficult Customer Service at times, slow to post transactions
The Bottom Line: This is a pretty good bank and I'm staying with them. But it depends on your own needs.
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| tmikeyt's Full Review: Citibank |
My review of Citibank, mostly applies to the Citibank AAdvantage card programs they offer, but I have listed a couple of other experiences I think are important for the majority of users and customers.
I have been associated with American Airlines for several years, and have had a FF account for all that time. I had not however accumulated miles, because as an agent, you aren't entitled miles for tickets which you are given for free.
But as I began to fly on my own a few years ago, I have accumulated some miles on many of the major carriers.
A little more than a year ago, I happened to notice while looking at American Airlines website, that there was either, a credit card or a debit card available through Citibank.
Well, I had and still have for the time being, an account with Bank of America and I decided to simply split my accounts, and have half at one bank, half at the other, and would have my paycheck, direct deposited between the two.
But my reason for initiating this change in my life and joining Citibank was two-fold. I liked the idea of using a product I used very frequently already, to allow me to use a product I used only a little less frequently, a lot more so. Also, I noticed that unlike Bank of America, Citibank was more of an International presence and that I should be able to gain help and assistance as I frequently travel abroad, particularly to Europe.
So that I could pop into a Citibank in another country, go to the ATM or the cashier and get whatever I needed for usually no fees or surcharges, since I am after all, an account holder. This is not the case with BOA, although they are of course a huge bank and known the world over, instead chooses not to have this more Universal recognition.
So I joined Citibank, took the AAdvantage debit card, but at first, only the version where you gain 1 mile for each $2 you spend. Of course, the stipulation is that these dollars must be spent as a credit card, and not a debit card. This makes no difference to the end user, consumer. It only matters to all these financial institutions and merchants who worry with whom pays and collects fees and all that stuff.
So after some months with this version of the card, I switched to the full version. With this version, you are at a 1:1 ratio and for each dollar you spend, that's a frequent flier mile in your AAdvantage account at the end of the month.
I speak of this card and this program because without a doubt, it is the best thing about Citibank. They probably aren't happy about that, but then I'm sure there is some mutual benefit for each of those major industrial players.
It costs you $60 for which isn't directly refundable to get this card, over and above the free debit card which Citibank supplies to checking account holders.
It has been worth each and every of those $60 and I would repeat it again and again. But it is a one time fee.
I use this card for any and every possible purchase and bill I can. A coke for $1.09, AAdvantage card, new tires, $700, AAdvantage card. DirecTV bill, AAdvantage card. I pay every possible thing with it, and my mileage account is climbing like crazy. And the neat thing of course is that when you buy your airline tickets, you get miles too, and sometimes there are more miles offered for getting your tickets directly from American Airlines website, as opposed to buying them from let's say, Travelocity. You simply won't lose with this card. It's wonderful.
Now about the bank itself. I keep a low profile with Citibank, as I only have a checking account. And, having dealt with customer service on a number of occasions, I'm likely to keep it that way for some time to come.
Customer service is where this bank is the weakest in my opinion.
I am not certain with whom they have contracted most of their customer service. I'm not sure if it's the popular choice of late, of India, or some other country, like Malaysia. But it is quite difficult to deal with some of these people. They may be trying to be friendly, possibly, but if you disagree with them, this is when the fun begins. They simply don't seem to understand that regardless of their explanation, you may not agree to it and this may not be satisfactory to you.
I can't remember the reason right now, but for some reason which truly and honestly was partly my fault and partly their fault, they allowed my checking account into overdraft. I called and tried to talk with whomever I was gifted and it didn't take long to turn into a battle.
After some 30 minutes of extraordinarily fatiguing phone war, which I think is some of the tactic I think they apply in regard to overdrafts and strange and unique fees (any of you, who have called and fought with those wonderful people at AOL's customer service know what I mean), I think I finally won and the person I was speaking with put me on hold, and I actually got a manager. And this guy actually spoke and understood American English and American fundamental attitudes toward service and wasn't simply reading a situation chart for each particular kind of phone call.
Together we worked the problem out and both parties came to a mutual agreement. I was charged for my mistake and they ate numerous charges that he more than agreed were their mistakes.
And he apologized, seemingly tongue in cheek for the difficult communication I endured.
This is easy to say here, but I really have no problem with speaking with people from other countries, after all, that's the very reason I travel. But the thing is, if you are an American company, who primarily engages in business with American customers, you need to be certain that the voice and face of your company is transparent to the customer. It doesn't matter if that voice has a bit of an accent. But they must realize that they must employ a bit of problem solving skills and not simply the ability to utilize school taught English language. There is a bit more to working with an agitated customer who may switch brands, because of frustration.
Another complaint I have with Citibank is that with their online banking, they are particularly slow in this users opinion, to post debits and credits to your account. It sometimes takes 5 or more days to see some items, and sometimes the description of the transaction is rather vague, as well. Keeping in mind that this user, uses their debit card extremely frequently for the purposes outlined above. So I have a lot of activity on my account. And it can be rather adventurous sometimes to balance a checkbook, when not only is the transaction not posted for days on end, but also the description sometimes doesn't match your own, in your check register and your balance sheet.
In November of 2003 was my first opportunity to use the card abroad, and I was in Berlin, Germany with it and found the nearest branch to my hotel and went there the very first day after arriving at the hotel.
I had no problem at all to walk into the lobby, pick out one of several ATM's located there, and withdrawal money in local currency with no fees attached to the withdrawal and no charges at all for exchanging currency. Hey, this stuff adds up.
Then, near my last days there, I took the U.S. dollars I had, to the cashier and told her I wanted to exchange them for Euros. She asked if I had an account with Citibank and seemed of course a bit surprised, that yes I did. I showed her my debit card and she entered my number into a computer and became rather helpful. For some reason of which I'm not quite certain (Hmm, maybe I fit the profile of a counterfeiter or terrorist, I'm not sure) they scrutinized my dollars of varying denominations. But upon completion and satisfaction of authenticity, they figured the exchange rate and gave me the rate given to a customer for the regular fee (not very much at all).
So my experience there was really quite pleasant.
So other than some issues, I'm basically happy with this account. I'd like to see them concern themselves a bit more to interfacing with their American customers, and working on the expedition of transaction postings to the account. But aside from these issues, they are a pretty solid bank.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tmikeyt
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Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
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