Rant: CitiBank Business Credit Card Services Need Some Help

My business credit card experience with CitiBank and specifically on the Aadvantage business card has been abysmal and its just not that hard to drastically improve it. 

If you are considering booking travel LiveAndLetsFly.com appreciates your support.

If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.

Cautious Credit Limits Lead To Low Utility

I enthusiastically signed up for the Citi Aadvantage Business credit card, my first American Airlines card in perhaps a decade. While my experiences onboard in international business class trails its peers both on the ground (lounges, check-in, basic at-gate communication) and in the air (food and beverage is abysmal), its partners are amongst my favorites and redemption rates are reasonable.

During the application process I was asked about my business, its needs, ownership, and other critical financial information. It asked how much spending we were likely to put on the card on a monthly basis, and I said about $35,000 knowing what we commit to other cards for targeted spending. I received a very low, nearly unusable $16,000. By comparison this is 96% less than another card we have had for less than two years. Still another card we’ve had less than six months started us more than twice that limit when, at the time we indicated lower monthly spending on our application.

A cautiously low credit limit can make sense to limit potential losses with new businesses, a prudent decision. But it can also render the card nearly useless. For example, the most common charge we make is $13,000 in one transaction. This means that we can only make one charge, we are unlikely to add any more and fully utilize our line because our line is so tight and we don’t want to push it over the edge with a range of smaller charges.

No Credit Line Increases In The First Six Months

One solution proposed by a a support rep was to request a credit line increase which I have done in the past with other banks on both a personal and corporate level. I followed her advice, despite only applying a few months prior. I was almost immediately declined which became a laugh line given the willingness of other banks to extend meaningful lines, and our flawless payment history (with multiple payments every month it would allow.)

It was only weeks later that I reached a Citi representative that informed me the bank has a policy to not increase credit lines in the first six months of opening. That’s some important information before I submit for an increase.

Payments Made Don’t Free Up Your Credit Line

In perhaps the most surprising customer impediment, payments directly from your bank account to the credit card (which can be done online quickly and easily) will not immediately post. Worse still, and least defensible is that a payment may be accepted via bank transfer, set the balance to zero owed, yet the credit line is not reset.

And it may stay that way for weeks, long after the payment has clearly been processed out of your account and cleared into theirs. It was only after every other customer service interaction over three months that I learned debit card payments (which cost the bank a small percentage to process vs just pennies in an online transfer) clear instantly and reset the credit line immediately.

More Bad Advice When Adding An Account Administrator

To add insult to injury, unlike every other bank I’ve ever had an account with, CitiBank doesn’t provide a secondary login for administrators. Our accounting firm will not use or accept any logins that have the ability to make changes to the account, rather they only access read-only versions so they can file payments and classify expenses properly. Upon requesting an administrator account we were first told that we needed to collect their social security number – obviously wrong.

I hung up and called back. I got the same answer from a new rep and when I explained that this was either a misunderstanding or miscommunication but either way no accounting firm would allow their employee to submit their social security number to us. I was told I was incorrect. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the phone representative tried to talk me out of it before ultimately ending the call.

When I finally spoke to the right person about the topic, they set up a named administrator on  my account confirmed in an email, but with no login credentials. I contacted the business department yet again and they advised I should just give them my account credentials – which I have never heard a bank utter before in my life – and this appears to remain the only way to access the statements they need themselves online.

Customer Service Is Atrocious

Online chat support is a bot, and a bad one at that. In the age of impressive AI that can be trained on your every procedure and document, this is an unforgivable sin. Telephone support is outsourced and unqualified to answer basic questions with accuracy. Much worse, that same call center, time after time, were uninformed about the bank’s policies and led me to take a credit hit for an increase they would never approve. There’s no local bank in Pittsburgh to walk into and get the support that’s needed, but even if there was, the ability to affect change on my credit card account is doubtful.

Email?

Rather than discontinue use of the account in favor of competent bank options, I came across an interesting article that said many CEOs receive random emails from customers and some like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs occasionally answered them or sent them on to the right department for action. Surely, CitiBank CEO, Jane Fraser, would want to know about a frustrating customer experience that could easily be cleaned up so I wrote a brief note. It couldn’t hurt, right? If nothing else, I’d expect whoever receives emails for Mrs. Fraser would send me a canned response that they took my concerns seriously and would forward it to the correct department.

Nothing.

Twitter/X, Our Only Solace

I finally reached out to Citi on Twitter and garnered a response. I was able to speak to a rep during business hours based in the US that filled in the details of the missteps taken by their colleagues. It was at this stage that I learned the credit limit increase I was advised to request would never have been approved, that there was an admin account (but it’s only for phone service and not online access) and that if I paid by debit card, counter productive for the bank as it may be, would clear my credit line instantly.

I’m never leaving that app no matter what they call it.

Conclusion

It shouldn’t be this hard to do business and a lot of it is solvable. Rather than running call centers abroad, perhaps during daytime hours in the US utilize branch employees to pick up the phone when they don’t have customers. Or just train the current staff to answer questions appropriately, stop disincentivizing them from seeking help either from their supervisors or peers.

All of these moves scream cheap and in a way that is saving a penny but costing a dollar. For example, they have invested in a chatbot but it’s useless. It would be better to have nothing because now you’ve wasted your client’s time and the bank’s money. The overly cautious credit line limits business owners that can process more charges and pay them off. It may limit risk of smaller business owners that may not be able to handle their debt load, but it also misses out on bigger rewards for those who are low risk and swipe often. But an inexperienced call center (the only customer service option) who cannot help clients and refusing to train that staff will ultimately cost them.

CEO Jane Fraser was tasked with a turn around at CitiBank, but from my experience, that job is far from over. It has a long, long way to go to catch up to Chase or American Express. American Express assigned an account manager who asks me what we need, how he can help, and what problems we have that they might be able to solve. If I weren’t so close to American Airlines Executive Platinum status, I’d leave and never come back.

What do you think? Have you had problems with CitiBank or other credit card companies not understanding how to positively effect your business?