Citi Credit Card Rejects Firearms Industry

[TexasRifleman]

I also cancelled an American Airlines point card that I've had with Citi for 12-13 years now. It pained me to do it since I've been getting a decent interest rate and the AAdvantage miles, but this is just too much to take after seeing the letter send to NSSF.

As others have posted, I don't think it's gonna matter long anyway, they will be bankrupt and bought out soon I suspect.

 

[Old Fuff]

I don't know about them going bankrupt, but notice where the "new" money is coming from. Your observations about them being bought up would seem to be on target.

WSJ: Citi May Get Cash From Saudi Prince
January 12, 2008 5:11 AM EST

NEW YORK - Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Citigroup shareholder that came to the bank's rescue during the credit crisis of the early 1990s, might do so again now, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The billionaire from Saudi Arabia, along with China Development Bank, is expected to invest about $2 billion in Citigroup Inc., one person said, according to the Journal. The Journal also said, however, there is a chance the deal could fall apart.

The cash-strapped Citigroup, hurt by the mortgage crisis that boiled up last year, has already gotten $7.5 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. On Nov. 26, the ADIA bought a 4.9 percent stake in Citi, becoming its largest shareholder.

Alwaleed may take back that title if he makes another investment in Citi, though the report said his total stake is likely to remain below 5 percent to avoid regulatory scrutiny.

Citigroup spokesman Michael Hanretta declined to comment to the Associated Press about the report.

China Development Bank, which was established in 1994 and is now preparing to become a commercial lender, got a $20 billion injection Dec. 31 from China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp.

Asian funds have been buying up the pummeled shares of U.S. banks in need of capital. The deals not only dilute the value of the stock, but also worry some investors who are wary about foreign ownership of U.S. companies.

In recent months, China Investment Corp. said it is investing $5 billion in Morgan Stanley; Singapore's state-run Temasek Holdings invested $4.4 billion in Merrill Lynch; and China's government-controlled Citic Securities Co. and U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. agreed to invest $1 billion in each other for minority stakes that could be expanded.

http://my.earthlink.net/article/bus?guid=20080112/47884950_3ca6_1552620080112-713689823

 

[Old Fuff]

Now it would seem that the National Rifle Association may be coming on board. They sponsor a credit card for their members, and it seems likely they'd push to have members cancel other Cti-associated cards and transfer the balance to their card. Unquestionably holders of the NRA card could use it to make on-line gun purchases.

NRA-ILA Investigating Citigroup Issues:

In late December, 2007, a large and well-known firearms dealer was informed by a company called First Data -- which operates as Citi Merchant Services under license from Citigroup, Inc. -- that it would no longer handle the dealer's credit card processing business.

http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3358

 

[feedthehogs]

I wonder if this is some kind of requirement from the foreign investors?

You can bet if this were a real liability issue, other banks and CC processing companies would/will follow suit.

Your gonna start seeing a lot of foreign dollars in the next year bailing out companies. Keep an eye out for similar problems maybe.

Certainly is an interesting way to support gun control.

They sponsor a credit card for their members

I wonder who processes NRA's credit card transactions?

 

[Old Fuff]

I wonder who processes NRA's credit card transactions?

I don't know, but if it "is" Cti/First Data it will soon be "was."

Yes, foreign money is taking over, and they are getting it from us - in the form of balance of payment deficits and oil. So long as we keep exporting jobs and taking their stuff while they won’t take ours, this is the way it will be.

This country is digging it’s own grave.

 

[Old Fuff]

Well as was expected, Cti has taken a big hit, and it couldn't of happened to nicer people. Why their brain-dead management would want to start a war with the firearms industry at this time isn't clear, but their excuses for objecting to non face-to-face credit card transactions don't hold water, considering that firearms transactions of this kind are the only ones that do have a face-to-face requirement (plus a lot of record keeping and a background check) before the product is turned over to the buyer.

Citi Loses Almost $10B, Slashes Dividend
By MADLEN READ

NEW YORK (AP) - Citigroup Inc. lost almost $10 billion in last year's final three months, the largest quarterly deficit in the bank's 196-year history, and slashed its dividend as it recorded a mammoth write-down for bad bets on the mortgage industry.

The nation's largest bank wrote down the value of its portfolio by $18.1 billion. It also boosted loan-loss reserves by $4.1 billion, signaling further problems in its consumer businesses as deflated home prices, high energy and food costs, and rising unemployment weigh on people's ability to make their loan payments.

To cut expenses, it slashed 4,200 jobs in the fourth quarter in addition to the 17,000 layoffs announced in the spring, and chief financial officer Gary Crittenden said during a conference call that more job cuts would be on the way.

Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, who replaced Charles Prince in December, said the fourth-quarter results were ``unacceptable'', and that he was ``not yet finished'' in his review of whether any of the global bank's core operations need to be cut or sold.

To bolster its capital, the bank also said Tuesday it has lined up $12.5 billion in new investments from sovereign wealth funds and existing shareholders.
That includes $6.88 billion from the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. for a 4 percent stake. Other investors were Capital Research Global Investors, Capital World Investors, the Kuwait Investment Authority, the New Jersey Division of Investment, shareholder Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and former chief executive Sanford Weill and his family foundation.

The $12.5 billion in fresh equity adds to the $7.5 billion that Citi got in November from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in exchange for a 4.9 percent stake in the company.

Citigroup's shares, which were trading around $55 a year ago, fell 56 cents to $28.50 in premarket trading on Tuesday.

The loss for the quarter totaled $9.83 billion, or $1.99 per share, compared with earnings of $5.13 billion, or $1.03 per share, during the same quarter a year earlier. Citigroup's revenue fell to $7.22 billion, down 70 percent from $23.83 billion in the final quarter of 2006.

Citigroup said the 41 percent cut in its quarterly dividend to 32 cents a share from 54 cents - along with the Asian investments and a stock offering of about $2 billion - will help boost its Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of its financial strength.

Financial companies have been the highest dividend-paying sector in the stock market, but many - including Washington Mutual Inc., National City Corp. and the government-sponsored lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - have pared those payouts in recent months.

Citigroup's decision to cut its dividend and seek new cash from outside investors was widely anticipated on Wall Street after months of scrutiny over the bank's deteriorating operations. The biggest was Citigroup's bad bets on mortgage-backed bond instruments called collateralized debt obligations. It also was forced to bring $49 billion in hemorrhaging funds known as structured investment vehicles onto its books.

Over the past several weeks, Asian funds have been buying up the battered stocks of struggling U.S. banks. Early Tuesday, Merrill Lynch said it will receive a total of $6.6 billion from the Korean Investment Corp., Kuwait Investment Authority and Japan's Mizuho Corporate Bank - in addition to the $4.4 billion it has already gotten from Singapore's state-run Temasek Holdings.

Pandit said Citigroup would continue to sell off ``non-core'' assets. The bank has already sold shares in Redecard, a card business in Latin America, and an ownership interest in a unit of the Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial it bought last year.

Citigroup's $18.1 billion writedown was significantly wider than the $6 billion writedown it took in the third quarter last year, and bigger than the $8 billion to $11 billion it guessed in October that it would take for the fourth quarter.

Citigroup said as of Dec. 31, it had a total of $37.3 billion in direct subprime mortgage exposure, down from $54.6 billion three months prior.

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http://webcenters.netscape.compuser...10&idq=/ff/story/0001/20080115/0912655489.htm

 

[cpileri]

First National

On the back of the NRA Rewards visa card in front of me is First National Bank of Omaha.
FWIW.
C-

 

[30 cal slob]

your credit scores could be adversely affected if you close out a card. the longer you have a card, the better your FICO score.

here is a suggestion. cut your existing citibank credit card lines to something really de-minimus ($100). just tell the CSR you are using it to buy gas. or forward your RKBA beef to CSR as well.

make a charge once in a blue moon (100 round WWB 9mm or a box of ex-lax at your local wally world). like every 3-6 months. then pay it off.

get another charge card from a more RKBA friendly or at least neutral bank.

it will cost Citi $$$ to have you as an inactive customer. (they'll be losing money on you).

 

[Mark Whiteman]

Don't cut your limit too much. Your score partially depends on the ratio of what you owe to what credit you have available. $1000 limit is plenty if you limit purchases to gas and groceries and pay them off every month. Most fees will be paid indirectly by you anyway. The seller pays a percentage on each card swipe. You don't think he actually pays that...?


Re: CITI:

We don't need their business.

 

[hotpig]

Anyone else get Citi balance transfer offers with rock bottom interest rates for the life of the loan today?

 

[strat81]

Anyone else get Citi balance transfer offers with rock bottom interest rates for the life of the loan today?

Not today, but regularly. Anti-gun bigots get nothing from me.

 

[1KPerDay]

What's a good bank, then? What's a good credit card company? I have no trouble cancelling my citi card/s... I was planning to anyway as their customer service sucks. I only kept them because I have balance on a 0% card. Every time I've called to cancel they offer me another 0% offer if I stay.

BTW I never pay them any interest.

 

[Mark Whiteman]

Last Consumer Reports I saw gave Cabela's card high marks for not bumping up the interest rate at the drop of a hat and having good customer service. I don't know what bank it was through. CR is pretty good about rooting out smaller banks that have attractive credit card attributes. Citi and Chase landed somewhere near the bottom of the CR list.

 

[Citroen]

Credit Cards

I don't think your cancelling a credit card will hurt your credit rating, but I know that having too many cards will hurt it! Weird but the logic they use is that if you were to max out a bunch of cards you might not be able to pay the bills!! I actually had a lender turn down a loan because I "had too much available credit" - talk about mad!

As to a good credit card, I use a Visa from First National Bank of Omaha - this is the same bank that advertises in American Rifleman and offers the NRA Visa card - NRA gets a small percentage of every sale using the card.

Their customer service number is (800) 228-7070.

I pay them off every month but for those that carry a balance I think the APR is 14 percent, not the normal 18 percent.

On a related subject, my checks are NRA checks, have the NRA logo on them but are through a local bank. You can order these checks for use through any bank.

John
Charlotte, NC

 

[Mark whiz]

I would have to disagree with Consumer Report's report on Cabela's Card. Those guys screwed be over big time and are still harrassing me daily almost.

I had to file bankruptcy 3 years ago because of a divorce. I intentially kept my Cabelas account out of it. It was always kept paid on-time and in fact had been paid off a couple of times previous to that. As soon as they got wind of the bankruptcy on my credit report, they doubled my interest rate. Then just a couple months later, when the card was coming up for renewal, they just didn't bother sending a new card NOR did they bother notifying me of the cancellation. I had over 1000 credit points at the time that I had planned on using to buy more supplies - but those points were stolen from me when the account was cancelled without notification.

This crappy way of doing business I'm convinced is a function of their sponsering company (World's Foremeost Bank) and not Cabelas itself - but either way they have not endeared themselves to me.

 

[orb]

I think I personally would prefer to lend to gun-totin folks rather than on sub-prime mortgages.

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

Is there a list of common merchants we use that uses the citi banking system for transactions.
I would love to start contacting them to advise I will not be using thier company as long as they use citi in any transactions.

 

[Mark Whiteman]

Card companies often do that, Mark, especially with bankruptcy. Doesn't matter if it was "out of it" or not, if its in your name. They will even up your rate if you are late with too many utility bills, obviously nothing to do with your credit cards. All this is in that fine print nobody makes glasses to read. I doubt even an "NRA" card would be exempt from those "features" unfortunately. Those sorta of cards are at least marginally better than those issued by blatently gun-banner banks who support Gun Control Incorporated, which would include much of the Democrat political machine.

 

[quatin]

your credit scores could be adversely affected if you close out a card. the longer you have a card, the better your FICO score.

What happens is that a small percentage of your score is determined by such acts like opening/closing credit cards. The big factor is your credit to debt ratio.

I saw a financial adviser say if you don't need a credit card, cancel it and simply apply for another credit card with the same credit limit as the one you canceled.

 

[Mark Whiteman]

Its also not good to "churn" your cards- closing one and immediately opening another- too often. I'm sure they do a credit check every time you apply for one, and that itself can lower your credit score. That problem will also occur if you go shopping for a car loan and they check your credit each time.

Face it. These have you coming and going.


Now, how did this get in ahead of HK91, which I read before I posted this? and how did his post time end up 8 minutes after mine?

 

[Hk91-762mm]

Now it would seem that the National Rifle Association may be coming on board. They sponsor a credit card for their members, and it seems likely they'd push to have members cancel other Cti-associated cards and transfer the balance to their card. Unquestionably holders of the NRA card could use it to make on-line gun purchases


I have a NRA card ----First national bank of Omaha...........My interest rate is about 10% Oh yes you can buy guns and ammo!

 

[hotpig]

Mark Whiteman
Is there a list of common merchants we use that uses the citi banking system for transactions.
I would love to start contacting them to advise I will not be using thier company as long as they use citi in any transactions.

Very simple, Almost every merchant that takes credit cards.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Citigroup, the largest bank by assets in the United States, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $9.82 billion, which had a rippling effect on the stock market.

That sure didn't take long, did it?

I know it has already been posted, but I just caught wind of this yesterday from my marketing management professor and it made me smile a bit.

I don't guess they will be around much longer with those numbers.

Wait a second, 9.82 billion is a lot right? I just want to make sure I'm doing my math correctly.

 

[TallPine]

Geez - all this came to light last week while I was out of state on a business trip, using my citi m/c for expenses

I think I will call First National Bank of Omaha and see if they will let me have a second NRA card in my name only to use for business trips.

 

[Superlite27]

Bump. I don't forget anti-2A businesses. This crap isn't likely to fall off my radar any time soon.

If a business is anti-2A and honest about it, fine. That's just the way they are.

But if an anti-2A business who already screws over their customers starts screwing an honest, law-abiding, firearms business over a trumped up policy in order to seize $75,000.............

.....I'm remembering this crap.