hello all,

i've been using citibank cc for dunno how many donkey years - it was my first credit card back then. it was so old that the design was of current choice card (light blueish) but without the "choice" wording on it ... i supposed citibank dunno which category to put me when they re-designed their card ...

so, to take advantage (if there's any) of new benefits, would appreciate if anyone can advice me on how to deal with it - should i change my card to some other citibank cards such as the latest Citibank Rewards Platinum Card (for example)?

i mostly use my citibank for petrol and light shopping - use cash for majority shopping as i do not wish to drill into deep debts since credit-card is a great animal in such seduction ... and of course the bonus points earned from citibank never expires ...

so, kindly advice ...

cheers ...

noted with thanx alvin89 ... yeah, i remember it was called classic card or something like that ... during those days, to enable gold card, you need at least RM48K / annum while platinum requires RM120K / annum ... but now you've all sorts of cards and platinum has lost its shine ...

i hope to be able to keep this card as souvenir even if i decide to upgrade for reward platinum ... but do you've any idea if the annual fees (for reward platinum) can be waived as easily as my current card?

cheers ...

just my humble opinion - based on my past experience, standchart is the easiest foreign bank to approve yr cc ... after gotten it, use it for about 1 year, then try citibank - your success rate will be higher ...

if you can't even get standchart, go for local bank cc - any tom, d*** and cat's local bank will do ... after gotten it, use it for about 1 year, then go try foreign bank issued cc ...

but youngsters / freshie should note that cc is a loan shark dressed in bikinis - so don't get trap trying to be champion in accumulating points or buy un-necessary just to top your cash-rebate ...

always consider cc as a tool to help u when u don't have access to cash during emergency only ... if you can't help swiping cc non-stop everyday, then it's good to have very low credit limit cc ... using cash is not such a bad idea after all because you will stop buying if your ATM is out of cash ... if you don't / can't balance between using cash and cc, you're on your way to huge debts ...

and it's not wrong to have the very basic cc instead of platinum ... it's your spending habit that counts ... i've a silver citibank card since graduate and never plan to upgrade it (though many times citibank kept asking me to, to the extent they sent me pre-approved cards many times) b'cos i know i don't need a ferrari to travel from Sg Wang to Bukit Bintang

over time after u finished servicing yr housing and car loans (if u have any), any banks will approve your cc b'cos of your track record in credit history ... again, we're not in the cc spending competition so spend wisely ...

just my opinion ... cheers ...

good morning guys, gals,

citibank just called me to offer rewards platinum card:

- within 2 mths, swipe 3 times (any amount) and the GST will be REBATE back to me
- first year annual fees waived

i suppose citibank is playing catching up now when consumers are flocking to other banks ... anyway, any idea if i should give this a try?

cheers ...

hello guys, gals,

terribly sorry, just got the email from the sales lady ... it's citibank cash back platinum, not rewards platinum ... she kept on talking about rewards, rewards & rewards over the phone so i thought it was rewards card ... but after received the email, confirmed it's cash-back platinum ...

but i think this is less attractive than ocbc titanium & maybank 2 amex right?

so, any existing citibank cash back platinum cardholder can advice?

cheers ...

noted with thanx ... i suppose can keep this card as backup till the month of 10th, before decide if i should get rid of my standchart platinum business, which currently supposedly provides 15% petrol cashback ...

in the meantime, let me ask the saleslady if there's any free gift, as one of the forumners here suggest ...

agreed, since me don't really need another card but the sales are more desperate than me, i might just play hard-to-get ... muahaha

Latest Citibank CASHBACK 30% Starts this Saturday (13-Apr-2013)

- Groceries (any amount)
- Dining (any amount)
- Petrol (any amount)
- Anything Else (any amount)
- TOTAL Weekly Spend = RM500.00
- Promotions ends 21-June-2013

https://www.citibank.com.my/english/promo/3...back/index.html

cheers ...

Groceries - Giant, Cold Storage, Mercato, Jasons Food Hall, AEON, Tesco, AEON Big (formerly known as Carrefour), Mydin, Econsave, The Store/Pacific, Village Grocer, Jaya Grocer, Billion, NSK, Servay, 99 Speedmart, and Everrise, in Malaysia.

Petrol - MCC 5541 Service Stations, MCC 5542 Automated Fuel Dispensers

Dining -
MCC - Descriptions
5812 - Eating Places, Restaurants
5813 - Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs, and Taverns
5814 - Fast Food Restaurants
5441 - Candy, Nut, Confectionery Stores
5451 - Dairy Products Stores
5462 - Bakeries
5499 - Miscellaneous Food Stores
5811 - Caterers

Cheers ...

hello ronnie ... you can actually buy aeon "voucher" and citibank will consider that as part of grocery purchase? if that's the case, then easier to accumulate RM500 within a week ...

noted ... then i'll buy vouchers, in order to be able to spend it later (probably weeks/months later) ... because to push/spend RM500 within 1 week is rather overkill ... so if can buy vouchers to be spent at later date, then it's acceptable

This post has been edited by -Matrix-: Apr 15 2013, 12:06 PM

i wonder if top-up starbucks is considered dining and qualified for this 30% cashback ... anyone can advice??

cheers ...

okie, thanx ronnie ...

citibank replied me to confirm my name was not in their list for the 30% cashback ... they further said it was on first come first serve basis - NO guarantee ...

fortunately i just tried for the first week and not fall for it by participating continuously ... otherwise would have lost the 5% guaranteed cashback from ocbc instead ... citibank sucks

i think citibank is toying with consumer's mentality ... it's like rat-race ... psychologically, citibank is hoping everyone spends like crazy even though they do not need the goods ...

just for the sake of winning 30% cashback, suddenly citibank's business skyrocket ... but it's the consumer who needs to pay at the end of the day ...

so in my personal opinion, unless it happens that you need to spend on that particular week, it's not a wise move to swipe just for the sake of (hoping) to "win" the 30% cashback, which is not a guaranteed ...

in this game, citibank is setting the rules with no transparency of who will win / lose ... so why get trapped in their game? ...

i would rather spend RM200 on necessities that i need but didn't get the 30%, rather than spend RM600 (or higher) on stuffs that i do not need but ended up paying the bill eventually just to enter the game, with no guarantee that i would get the 30% cashback in the first place ... anyway, this is just my opinion & spending habit ...

cheers ...

agreed ... with enough people writing to Bank Negara to complain about this unhealthy promotion which lack transparency in determining the winners / non-winners, which seems to contain element of "scam" in luring customers, i think it may raise citibank's eyebrows ...

i'm thinking of doing so ... but let's see what they have to say with my email sent to them ...

you know what, after i terminated my HSBC credit cards, nobody cares to call me to confirm my termination, let alone sending me a letter acknowledging the matter ... worst still, their telemarketing dept had been calling me non-stop offering their grandfather and grandmother investment plans etc etc, even after i terminated their credit cards ... so in another words, my account seemed to be still active when in fact it should be closed ...

to protect myself, i sent them another nasty letter, cc to Bank Negara ... guess what!!! they call me and talk like long lost lovers, assuring me my account has been closed for good and their relevant department will be notified of my case blah blah blah ... since then i've a peaceful life ...

the issue here is participants spent above RM500 in all the categories required but still do not know if he/she will get the 30% cashback ... you're happy here because you got your 30% by spending RM600+ ... but if you had spent RM700+ but still not qualified, wouldn't you want to know the reason why?

it's the grey area of not knowing how much is enough to get the 30% ... what if you don't even get it if you had spent RM999+ ... still happy and assume you belongs to the lowest spender so it wasn't your lucky week and keep trying again? if yes, then cool, keep spending ...

cheers ...

i do not believe in email as it could ended up in spam folder ... i normally send an official "letter" to the bank and c.c. the official "letter" to Bank Negara as well ... of course in my letter to the bank, i'll mention that this letter is being c.c. to Bank Negara ...

of course in this case, i may just send an official letter to Bank Negara since i've already mentioned that i'll do so in my email to the bank, of which i've all the records ...

agreed ... i think mbb2card is way better than citibank's 5x because of the conditions imposed ... in this area, maybank leads while citibank follows - if not because maybank2card was so successful, i think citibank would not have given 5x to re-grow their cards customer base ...

some of the people who still prefer citibank to maybank is largely due to the logo - citibank's logo is more prestige than maybank's, so they fell prouder when presenting their card when making payment ...